April/May 2007

A new option for tracking freight containers on the high seas has been announced with the launch of a satellite-based system by Irish technology company Blue Ocean Wireless.

The company is working with Inmarsat, the navigation and communications satellite operator, and Altobridge, which has specialised in creating a practical infrastructure for mobile communications at sea.

Blue Ocean envisages consignments being tracked via RFID technology, which would interact on board ships with the satellite communication platform. It says operators will be able to monitor the location, temperature, humidity and security of containers in transit.

At the launch of the system this spring the company focused primarily on a different use of the technology, which it is promoting as the first GSM phone network for merchant seamen. The idea is that they will be able to make and receive mobile phone calls just as they would on land, with the signal being handled via the satellite link.

 

A key to the viability of the system is the fact that under Altobridge's AM Gateway Platform architecture there is no need for permanent satellite connections. The satellite link is set up on demand. The radio base station itself is said to be the smallest of its kind in the world, being based on 'nano' technology.