Sea trials are anything but a trial with Space Norway

To build a ship of this nature normally takes upwards of two years from laying of the keel to delivery, but the final period in the build process consists of intensive testing of all the infrastructure and systems to identify any issues. This is the point where Space Norway comes in.

Through our trusted partner AST, we have been contracted to supply satellite communications to the ship as it is put through its paces in the seas around the Nordic region. Our THOR 7 satellite is supplying Ka band High Throughput Satellite (HTS) services for the testing of all the electronic systems onboard the vessel such as telemetry, navigation systems, engine management, video conferencing, air conditioning services, reporting and every other communications system linked back to shore.

Our flexible service and excellent coverage from our prime position at 1°West makes us ideal providers for sea trials running as they do for a relatively short time period only in this specific regional area. We are agile enough to be able to supply a super high bandwidth, high quality service for a limited period with an option to extend if the sea trial needs to continue for longer.

AST is a global satellite communications services and equipment supplier with over 25 years’ experience, and Space Norway has been supplying communications through the company for more than six years. During this time, a very strong relationship has developed between our companies, and we share an ethos of always putting the customer at the heart of business and believing that partnerships between like-minded companies facilitate that.

Chris Schonhut, AST’s Head of Maritime Sales and Operations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, explains why AST was selected to provide satellite services throughout the sea trials:  “AST, via a trusted local partner, provides the full end to end service for the customer, not only does the customer get use of Space Norway’s HTS THOR 7 service they also get full visibility of the data being passed over the link via our INTEGRA services, all backed up by AST’s 24/7 Global Customer Support.”

In terms of the sea trial, data from every single system installed on the ship is being transmitted back to shore where it is analysed. To support this, Space Norway is making available 50/5 Mbps, or even higher if needed, on Ka band to provide the best possible results, a provision that can be extended at short notice if required.

This is combined with AST’s unique INTEGRA services, ensuring the shipyard has complete visibility as to where the data is being used at any time, and demonstrating that they are gaining the maximum benefit from the service. Furthermore, INTEGRA provides real time application control so that some categories can be blocked without affecting others, for example video streaming can be disabled while still allowing texts or calls.

“From our point of view, Space Norway provides us great flexibility combined with a very rapid response time”, he adds, “and our two teams are now so used to working closely together that issues are resolved in as short a time as possible. Everything in the maritime world is time critical but that is particularly the case with sea trials where the financial imperative is to complete the checks and deliver the vessel.”

Sea trials can certainly place very specific demands on communications services but, because of the close collaboration between all the different parties involved, the end result has been that of a flexible, visible and high-quality provision that has performed extremely well.

“At Space Norway, we are thrilled to support AST on such missions, as they require the high performance we are able to offer, as well as speed and responsiveness in our service provisioning,” noted Jan Hetland, Director, Data Services, Satcom at Space Norway.

We at Space Norway love the challenges that arise from systems’ testing and look forward to our next ‘shakedown cruise’.