Irish company Blue Ocean Wireless (BOW) has announced a deal that will enable seafarers to use their existing mobile phones on board vessels in deep ocean water.
The agreement between BOW, which provides GSM communication capability for the merchant maritime sector, and Stratos Global Corporation will provide Inmarsat satellite services to Blue Ocean Wireless's merchant maritime customer base.
It follows trials aboard two container vessels in late 2006 by Blue Ocean Wireless, Stratos and Inmarsat.
Stratos will host Blue Ocean Wireless equipment at each of its Land Earth Stations around the world and provide terrestrial connectivity to GSM operators for BOW via its StratosNexus network.
The service will allow ship owners, insurers and government authorities, as well as suppliers and customers, to track and monitor individual containers on board merchant vessels as they traverse the globe.