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26 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • JUNE 2014 C ommercial shipping will al- ways remain a pivotal link in the global transport chain, but the very nature of the in- dustry is changing rapidly as the current group of mariners age and there is a de- cided lack of ample replacements avail- able. Quite simply, the “millennials” are a generation more enamored with the computer screen than the operation and management of ships at sea. While technology is part of the prob- lem, it also is potentially a part of the solution, as increasingly ship owners – whether they like it or not – are provid- ing mariners on commercial ships and boats a more dynamic and robust inter- net connectivity, allowing for an experi- ence closer to shore side solutions and providing mariners the means to stay in touch with friends and family, as well as broadening entertainment options. “When I go out and talk to seafarers and ship owners, what I hear is ‘we don’t want to give them internet because they will use it when they are on watch. We don’t want to give them movies because they’ll watch them into the middle of the night.’ So they (ship owners) put controls around it or they restrict it all together,” said Frank Coles, President of Inmarsat Maritime. Obviously it is in the best interest of Inmarsat and Coles … and for that matter all high-end suppliers of maritime communication solutions … that those attitudes change. “First, don’t put internet access on the bridge. Second, if you give them access to the internet, and you give them tools and treat them like grown adults, then they will behave like grown adults. The moment you try to restrict it, they will abuse it.” Coles is determined that Inmarsat stay on the forefront of connectivity matters for mariners, and was a driving force in the in the creation and recent introduc- tion of Fleet Media, a new service to de- but in July 2014. Fleet Media will allow the latest ? lms, as well as television program- ming, sport and news, to be viewable by the world’s shipping ? eet. A globally- exclusive, ? ve-year agreement allows for the content’s digital distribution via Inmarsat FleetBroadband. A selection of movie and television packages will be offered every month, beamed directly to participating vessels over the Inmarsat network for ‘of? ine’ viewing on PCs, laptops and tablets. Fleet Media will be available to all Staying Connected The maritime indus- try is at a crossroads, with a dearth of next- generation talent will- ing and available for a life at sea, yet in- creasing demands for ef? ciency and clarity of operations. At this crossroads lies modern communication tech- nology, the connective tissue that can help to cure many of the in- dustry’s ills, as Frank Coles, President of Inmarsat Maritime, contends. By Greg Trauthwein MARINE COMMUNICATION Clarksons Research es- timates that by 2020 the convergence between IT and shipbuilding will be worth $35 billion. MR #6 (26-33).indd 26 5/29/2014 9:10:01 AM
