Marlink entered into an agreement with OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) to supply its market-leading satellite voice & data connectivity services for use on 5 adventure cruise vessels in the O.A.T. fleet.
Marlink will provide O.A.T. Small Ships with sophisticated solutions, bandwidth, equipment, and operations to meet and exceed passenger voice and data requirements; flexible connectivity services to support the integration of a 3rd-party GSM operator; uninterrupted voice & corporate connectivity to facilitate management tasks.
Starting in 2019, when the small ships of O.A.T. set sail for destinations beyond the scope of bigger, mainstream cruise ships, they'll benefit from the versatility of Marlink’s global Ku-band, L-band, and C-band coverage, which crucially encompasses the Arctic and Antarctic operational capability. The bespoke satellite service of Marlink will enable bandwidth to be shared dynamically between each of O.A.T. Small Ship guests, depending on current demand for each ship.
The first vessel of O.A.T., MV Corinthian, was connected by Marlink’s Sealink maritime VSAT service in January 2019. The remaining ships, MV Athena, MV Artemis, MV Arethusa, and MV Clio, follow later in the year.
The ships are due to be fitted with Marlink’s dual-band antenna system: the newly-developed solution automatically switches between frequencies and provides coverage regardless of where they sail. It also provides compliance with local authorities when near shore.
The onboard system is due to be reinforced in turn via an L-band out-of-band back-up enabling remote access to the Maritime Network Operations Centre (MNOC) of Marlink. The VSAT support service allows experienced antenna and network engineers to proactively monitor onboard connectivity performance as well as manage any bandwidth and coverage amendments during the life cycle of the contract.