Page 43: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (May/Jun 2019)

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“We provide MSC Cruises with a cloud of bandwidth concept, where the huge amount of capacity they have can be distributed according to demand around the

ÀHHW:HHQVXUHWKDWFDSDFLW\LVDYDLODEOHIRUYHVVHOVZKHQDQGZKHUHLWLVQHHGHG but our space segment team works at least 18 months ahead with access to future customer itineraries to support planning. Of course, the service can be reactive as well, should a short notice change be applied to a vessel’s routine for instance.” – Tommy Konkol Dybvad, Director Cruise and Ferry at Marlink

ALL IN: LOW COST, HIGH QUALITY “It’s essentially a closed-loop,” explained Tommy Konkol Dy-

The practice of providing very low cost for passengers (on ex- bvad, who adds, “Hitting the right price point and service quality pedition ships, it is likely to be an all-in situation) is a remarkable delivers more consumers on board, and this revenue goes towards development, and one which most will be able to afford. funding the high levels of capacity that a cruise ship needs. With

Tommy Konkol Dybvad explained, “The idea that lower-cost a continuous revenue stream, cruise companies can continually connectivity would be popular is not ground-breaking of course. improve the connectivity services they offer, providing an even

Cruising isn’t cheap so high bills for posting photos of your holi- more attractive offering which will attract even more users will- day to social media are particularly unwelcome. Guest satisfaction ing to pay for the experience.” is any cruise company’s top priority and improvements in cost and In the end, Marlink helps to turn what has been historically quality of the connectivity on board is very important aspect. As an expensive cost center into a revenue stream that can defray an added driver, pictures and videos of a cruise on Facebook or at least a portion of these costs, while allowing passengers to do

Instagram are new marketing channels for a cruise company.” the work of (and augment) marketing through social media at the

It is the ability to throttle bandwidth per voyage and/or switch same time.

capacity from vessel to vessel, depending on demand for a par- ticular voyage that is the key to keeping costs down and service THE FULL PACKAGE: ADVANTAGE MARLINK high. This must involve close collaboration with the customer; Network quality is key to meeting the demanding requirements

MSC in this case. “We provide MSC Cruises with a cloud of of expedition cruising and while Marlink deploys state-of-the-art bandwidth concept, where the huge amount of capacity they have on-board systems and makes capacity available globally, it also can be distributed according to demand around the ?eet. We en- focuses development efforts on ensuring that customers have im- sure that capacity is available for vessels when and where it is proved support tools to optimize their communication services. needed, but our space segment team works at least 18 months In parallel, Marlink is also committed to ensuring its clients can ahead with access to future customer itineraries to support plan- minimize the risk of cyber-attack through inherent security at the ning. Of course, the service can be reactive as well, should a short network level and the fully integrated ship and shore-based Cy- notice change be applied to a vessel’s routine for instance.” ber Guard portfolio, offering harmonized solutions for detection,

A very straightforward process handled by a simple script de- protection and recovery.

?nes all available connectivity carriers. As soon as the primary With the cruise market in focus, the company has also intro- system becomes unavailable, the script is de?ned to automati- duced several new capabilities that can be accessed via an online cally jump to alternative carriers de?ned in a prioritized way to portal, including an onboard internet Wi-Fi landing site or cap- ensure least cost with highest throughout and lowest latency at tive portal with capabilities to connect APIs to the clients own any given time. customized cruise management systems for more automated pro- “Delivering global availability and reliability can really only be cesses. This in turn reduces manual labor. The new support tool achieved through a multi-band and multi-orbital approach. Mar- also features a dashboard which provides information on best line link customers essentially don’t need to choose a speci?c single of sight between the vessel and available satellites, which is es- service as we deliver their bandwidth using the best satellite net- pecially relevant close to the poles with low elevation where ob- works for their needs,” says Tommy Konkol Dybvad. structions such as icebergs or cliffs could affect link availability,

The availability of relatively low cost bandwidth to cruise pas- and therefore the quality of service that guests experience.

sengers is a great selling point for MSC, but it also bene?ts that The Marlink cruise offering is truly a ‘win-win-win’ situation; operator in so many ways. These include (a.) the partial funding convenient and affordable for guests, easy to administer for cruise of business Internet/satellite coverage costs, (b.) providing more lines on board, and, of course, it represents another promising for less to cruise customers, and (c.) the transfer (and leveraging) line of business for this innovative company. And now, no matter of marketing costs through social media goodwill from happy where the cruise lines go next, they’ll always be cruising safely cruising customers. in the cloud.

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