Inmarsat has confirmed that there will be no delays to the launch schedule for its next generation Global Xpress service.

The communications company used its first quarter results conference call with analysts and the media to state that it had “received confirmation that sanctions imposed by the US on Russia would not delay the next two launches for its next generation GX constellation”. The second of the three planned satellites will ship within weeks, it said, with no fallout from the crisis in Eastern Ukraine.

Two Inmarsat launches are currently scheduled to take place by International Launch Services (ILS) at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan later in 2014 using the Russian Proton launch vehicle.

In an April 28 statement outlining a tightening of sanctions against Russia, US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki had said that the US would be expanding its export restrictions on technologies and services regulated under the US Munitions List (USML), which includes certain types of satellite technologies, DigitalShip reported.

The launch of a Canadian military satellite that was to be put into orbit using a Russian rocket was cancelled this month, leaving maker Com Dev searching for an available slot on a long waiting list of launches.

Senior vice president for external affairs Chris McLaughlin had previously told news agency Reuters that the Satellite Industry Association had advised Inmarsat that the sanctions on launches that “[contribute] to Russia’s military capabilities” would not apply to the Global Xpress satellites.

Iridium eyes GMDSS role

Meanwhile rival Iridium Communications has moved forward with plans to unseat Inmarsat from its role as sole provider of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GDMSS) on behalf of the IMO. Iridium has submitted an application to the IMO for the provision of mobile satellite communications for GMDSS ahead of the IMO’s Navigation, Communication, Search and Rescue (NCSR) Subcommittee meeting in June.

If the application is approved, Iridium could begin providing GMDSS services in late 2015. Iridium’s constellation of 66 Low Earth Orbiting satellites is the only other L-band service that provides global coverage, including in the polar regions, something the company hopes will sway the IMO’s deliberations.

Inmarsat has maintained that the Iridium network, while global, lacks the resilience in busy areas to provide the 99.9% coverage reliability that the IMO demands. Recent manufacturing problems with Iridium equipment have also highlighted the need to provide equipment that is robust enough to meet IMO requirements.

Iridium says it is already working with equipment manufacturers on the production and certification of GMDSS terminals on the Iridium network and says that should its application be approved, shipowners would be able use a single communications terminal to satisfy both safety and business communications requirements.

EEDI compliance software

Japan classification society ClassNK has released its PrimeShip-GREEN/MinPowersoftware developed to help shipbuilders comply with the requirements of the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) by calculating the minimum propulsion power necessary to maintain the manoeuvrability of ships in adverse conditions.

The propulsion power requirements suggested by the application will comply with the IMO’s guidelines for minimum propulsion power and go some way to allaying industry fears that the EEDI, by encouraging the maximum energy efficiency in propulsion risks resulting in vessels that are underpowered for diverse sea conditions.

ClassNK says that it has developed a simplified formula to calculate the added resistance from irregular waves based on ship’s lines using only basic information such as main ship specifications, allowing designers to evaluate the minimum propulsion power requirement for their ships.

ClassNK has also released an updated version of its PrimeShip-GREEN/PSTA software, initially released in June 2013 to help shipyards conduct progressive speed trial analysis, an important contributor to the verification of eco-design vessels.

Beautiful games

It’s going to be a game of two halves this summer as leading satellite operators and service providers move further into the provision of value-added content to mariners.

US-based VSAT provider KVH has announced that it has secured agreement to distribute highlights of this summer’s football World Cup and the entire final, to its merchant maritime customers.

The satcom provider has reached a deal with IMG Media, a London-based producer and distributor of sports programming, to distribute the coverage to all customers except passenger vessels, cruise ships, and ferries. Access to the World Cup coverage can be bought as a one-off package without a subscription to the KVH TV service.

Inmarsat also announced its own five-year agreement with NT Digital Partners to distribute films, television programmes as well as sports and news content to commercial ships via its satellite services.

The new service, called Fleet Media, is expected to be launched by July, comprising a monthly selection of Hollywood movie releases and TV packages sent over the Inmarsat network for offline viewing on PCs, laptops and tablets.

Inmarsat said Fleet Media will be available via any of its broadband packages with multiple tiered offerings and the service would be available on FleetBroadband and XpressLink, upgradable to Global Xpress when fully available.

IMO rules on the move

Classification Society Korean Register (KR) has released what it claims is the first mobile App containing up-to-date information on all IMO conventions. The App is based on KR’s KR-CON database program which lists the full texts of all IMO Conventions, Codes, Resolutions and Circulars.

KR-CON is currently being used by surveyors, port state control inspectors, shipping companies, shipyards and design houses in more than 30 countries across the world. The app version will allow users on the move to identify regulations relevant to specific tasks and ensure all IMO requirements are applied correctly.

The App includes photos, diagrams and videos related to the IMO conventions and codes rather than the previous text-only format of KR-CON which KR says will help users better understand complex IMO communications. The App can be downloaded from Google Play and the iOS App Store.

Life imitates art on Wall Street

A book written by Matt McCleery, editor of US ship finance title Marine Money has helped to drive investor appetite for shipping among Wall Street investors keen to place billions of dollars of client money.

McCleery’s 2011 novel The Shipping Man features Robert Fairchild, the fictional protagonist of a New York hedge fund who becomes captivated by the volatility (and earnings potential) of shipping, buying a bulk carrier from Greek owners and becoming more closely involved with the maritime industry than he imagined.

In recent months, references to the book have turned up in hedge funds’ mailings to clients, billionaire Wilbur Ross’s speeches, conference calls with traders, investment-bank research reports and syllabuses for university courses in London, Hamburg and New York, Bloomberg reported.

US investors are reading the book amid a surge of interest in shipping. Marine Money estimates that private equity firms had pumped more than $7.2bn into the industry during 2013, ordering vessels or buying debt at the fastest pace since 2008.

The book appeared on an annual list called “What Wall Street Is Reading This Spring Break,” distributed to more than 7,000 traders and money managers and while the book is fiction, McCleery reckons it has helped readers understand an eccentric business. A German ship owner recently wrote to McCleery to tell him that his wife read the book and “now she finally understands what I do.”