Inmarsat has installed its Fleet Xpress on-board Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic’s new adventure cruise ship, National Geographic Venture.

Built by Nichols Brothers yard in the US, the 73m-length expedition ship has been designed to explore the coastal waters, shallow coves and fast-moving channels.

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National Geographic Venture is an ice-strengthened expedition ship and caters to more remote destinations. It has a capacity to accommodate 100 guests supported by 50 crew.

Lindblad Expeditions IT director Arthur Theodorou said: “Fleet Xpress is the right fit for our fleet of smaller expedition vessels due to the requirement of a smaller VSAT terminal and the ability to provide high-speed, reliable, global coverage as these vessels sail to remote parts of the globe where connectivity is limited and our guest expectation is always to be connected.”

The latest maritime communications technology, Fleet Xpress, is installed on-board six of the Lindblad Expeditions ships, including National Geographic Quest, the sister ship of National Geographic Venture.

“Fleet Xpress is the right fit for our fleet of smaller expedition vessels due to the requirement of a smaller VSAT terminal.”

The technology is fully integrated with the ship phone systems (PABX), and the internal communications platforms and local area networks that are used to optimise operations of the vessels.

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Inmarsat Yachting and Passenger maritime channel manager Christian Cordoba said: “Combining the high data speed of Ka-band and continuous L-band back-up with purpose-designed and easy to install 1m terminals allows Fleet Xpress to achieve 24/7 coverage, stability and reliability, including high-speed IoT connectivity, whether the ship is in the Arctic or miles up an inland channel.”

Fleet Xpress delivers the high data speeds enabled by Inmarsat’s Global Xpress Ka-band technology combined with the company’s flagship FleetBroadband L-band service.

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