Dubai: Shipowners are increasingly irritated with rising bills for maritime communications, argues Samer Halawi, the ceo of comms giant Thuraya in today’s Maritime CEO profile. Owners are after “price security”, says Halawi. Raising price plans or cancelling plans is something owners have been subjected to for years with Halawi saying there have been “no good alternatives out there”.
“Thuraya is now set to provide a strong alternative,” he states. His company has put together flexible and logical price plans, which, in the future, Halawi says, will only change in the direction of more value, rather than less.
Owners are also asking for anything that increases the operational efficiency of their vessels, Halawi notes.
Over the last few years many of the applications that drove the sales of satellite equipment and airtime have been focused on driving the vessel efficiency up and the costs down. “In all but the most severe stages of the downturn, this focus has never moved with the smart operators and owners spending to save,” says Halawi.
“Communications are traditionally a very small part of the operational expenditure of a vessel so even though owners are looking for value for money from their communications providers they appear to be focused on systems that increase the fuel efficiency of the vessel,” he says.
For example, systems that monitor a vessel’s trim and enable its adjustment during the course of a voyage can save significant amounts of fuel. These systems use various inputs to determine the trim of the vessel such as current and forecast weather, sea state and cargo distribution and can give a return on investment within a few months.
“Our role in this as a network operator,” Halawi explains, “is to ensure that there are reliable and cost effective products and services available to facilitate the transfer of data to and from the shore so that these systems have all the information they need to generate the promised savings.”
Among new products being marketed by the Middle Eastern comms firm is the Thuraya SatSleeve, an adaptor that turns an iPhone into a satellite phone.
“The response has been phenomenal – not just from land mobile users but also from the maritime and energy sectors which quickly grasped its potential,” relates Halawi.
Other new products include broadband terminals designed specifically for maritime use.
Thuraya is a UAE-based private joint stock company founded in 1997. Investors consist of a diverse mix of mobile, fixed and satellite communication companies, as well as a number of US and UK private equity firms and other institutional investors. [27/08/13]
