October 15, 2020 – Inmarsat and Cobham SATCOM have been awarded a new contract to connect 732 fishing vessels active in the Maldives Economic Exclusion Zone to Inmarsat’s Fleet One maritime broadband services. Cobham’s SAILOR Fleet One utilises the existing Inmarsat-4 satellite constellation to deliver the most reliable global voice calling and internet connectivity via a compact, lightweight antenna, and a simple installation process. The technology’s affordability makes it particularly accessible for smaller boats looking to access maritime satellite communications for the first time. The go-ahead follows trials of Fleet One services and SAILOR Fleet One terminals from Cobham aboard 15 boats, confirming that performance exceeds specifications for a new vessel monitoring system (VMS) under the Maldives’ Sustainable Fisheries Resources Development Project to improve Monitoring, Control and Surveillance in fisheries sector. The VMS project, agreed between Maldives-based Ooredoo and the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture, is funded by the World Bank. The five-year contract envisages the supply and maintenance of the VMS, to include Fleet One satellite communications over L-band from Inmarsat, airtime and secure communications server via Integrated Monitoring (IM) and SAILOR antennas from Cobham SATCOM installed by Ooredoo.