Innovative Satcom Security System for Ships

Supported by ESA TELECOM, the i4s project has resulted in a maritime dedicated service based on an application hosted on the existing Novacom platform and called the "generic application". Current clients such as ship owners and shippers use the Novacom platform in an Application Service Provider mode, just like road carriers currently do: access over the internet with the possibility to retrieve regular position information and to send in return messages to the field in real-time. However, the i4s maritime application has required a number of substantial improvements in terms of maritime maps, GIS performances, alert management, information sharing and space segment integration. Though the i4s application is at the heart of the project, the service could only be complete with a hardware terminal installed on the ship. Our primary decision was to build on the existing ARGOS beacon dedicated to piracy prevention. Yet, our strategy has always been clearly to keep the service open to the largest range of equipment: in fact, several manufacturers have proposed (and still do) SSAS equipment since 2004. As a result, we have led a trade-off study between GEO and LEO systems (Iridium, Inmarsat D+ and C) based on technical and economical criteria; we have then improved the space telecom interface in order to integrate transparently the elected terminals into the Novacom platform. In parallel, the second objective was to build a commercial offer based on the GMDSS Inmarsat C equipment existing on all ships even smaller one in order to enlarge the maritime market potential. Yet, it appeared that the process to get the ship-owner authorisation is lengthy and that technical problems linked to Inmarsat satellite handover resulted in data loss. This project item was consequently dropped. In short, the i4s SSAS service meets both requirements: help fight piracy in compliance with international regulations; provide fleet management tools.