The Future of Maritime IoT

MetOcean Telematics, a global leader in ocean tech, has built a business working in some of the most remote environments on the planet. When it comes to a future in which those environments are increasingly connected to the rest of the world, it’s only fitting that the company has brought forward innovations meant to bridge the gap.

Headquartered beside the Atlantic Ocean in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia—a region with a longstanding connection to the fishing industry and the Navy, as well as a burgeoning ocean tech industry—MetOcean, which will soon celebrate 40 years in business, got its own start in ocean technology, focusing on real-time solutions for environmental monitoring. Over time, the company expanded through a partnership with JouBeh Technologies, a leading global Iridium® Satellite Reseller, and the fruits of that partnership, MetOcean Telematics, is now a pioneer in the field of satellite communications.

MACHINE TO MACHINE COMMUNICATION

These two spheres come together in STREAM+, the company’s latest product. Using the Iridium Satellite Constellation, STREAM+ allows users to send and receive data from anywhere in the world—including its most remote places. “We have no cell towers in the middle of the ocean,” says MetOcean Technical Product Manager Rami Nassif. “So, we have to rely on satellite technology to enable us to get critical communications.”

While other products exist to provide satellite connectivity for the commercial market, Nassif says STREAM+ is filling a gap in the IoT space, offering machine to machine communication—for instance, with vessel monitoring systems, where a device needs to regularly transmit GPS data, or in systems meant to monitor for oil spills, where it’s critical that information is relayed swiftly and securely.

Nassif says a key feature of STREAM+ is that it's designed to be accessible to users who haven’t yet had the opportunity to work with satellite communications. “Where we position ourselves is we try to decrease that learning curve,” says Nassif. This means an easy-to-use serial interface that allows someone to physically connect their device, as well as industry standard protocols such as PPP and FTP that are familiar to those with basic web developer skills; as a result, someone whose expertise is not primarily in satellite can still use the device. The device itself keeps a low profile, and is optimized to be both compact and lightweight while maintaining a competitive price point.

PARTNERING WITH THE IRIDIUM NETWORK

Nassif says the SatCom/IoT space is the direction the company has been looking to move in for years, but it’s only recently that advances in technology and infrastructure have made this possible—including by partners at Iridium. In 2018, the Iridium Network achieved a breakthrough, with the launch of Iridium NEXT Constellation. The Iridium Network is the only truly global satellite network, and the 66-satellite constellation offers pole-to-pole coverage and built-in redundancy, as well as the advantage of using Low Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites, which offer faster data transmission from ground to satellite and back. As part of this breakthrough, Iridium has deployed Certus®, a satellite broadband service allowing for IP-based connection over satellite, enabling products like STREAM+. Data access and transmission through STREAM+ are further simplified by the Network’s integration with Amazon Web Services, allowing user information to be relayed directly to an AWS file management service rather than having to travel through the Network.

As part of MetOcean’s growth in the satellite broadband space—and as an Iridium Value Added Reseller—MetOcean’s offerings go beyond STREAM+ to cover the full range of maritime communication. These include the VesseLINK 200 and VesseLINK 700 from partner Thales, which use the Iridium Network to offer reliable essential voice, text, and web communications for captains and crew on vessels or fleets of any size, in applications ranging from safety services to operational reporting. With a simple interface, the VesseLINK can be easily integrated with existing equipment, offering an L-band connection with download and upload speeds of 176 kbps, for the VesseLINK 200, and for the 700, download and upload speeds of 700 kbps and 352 kbps, respectively. To support users, MetOcean also offers airtime plans for the Iridium Satellite Network, as well as 24/7 technical support for Iridium products.

SUPPORTING USV OPERATIONS

Going forward, cost-effective, reliable satellite connectivity stands to become even more important, as Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USVs)—remotely operated machines that travel on water surfaces—carry out a greater role in at-sea monitoring and data collection, a shift that has been accelerated by the pandemic. “Because of COVID-19 and the way things are progressing within the industry, users are looking for more of a reliable source to get their data,” says MetOcean Director of Sales - SatCom, Emily MacPherson. “Due to operational logistics, costs, and overall safety for personnel at sea, government agencies and companies are limiting the number of personnel they send into the field to conduct studies and deployments. They are looking to more remote command and control options, like Iridium.” This has already translated to significant growth in the global USV industry; from a valuation of approximately US$520 million in 2020, the industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.5% through 2027, reaching US$1.1 billion by that year.

As the benefits of USVs from a cost and safety standpoint—as well as the scale of the issues they can help monitor, like water contamination—become ever more evident, USVs are setting a new paradigm for data collection. The STREAM+—which offers a bi-directional, real-time command and control option for remote applications—helps the USV industry realize this potential, offering reliability in the field while maintaining operational ease and decreasing costs for the end-user. In USV applications where the sizes of datasets being transmitted are larger than the STREAM+ (which offers 100 kbps of data throughput) can accommodate, the VesseLINK offers throughput of 700 kbps, augmenting the satellite coverage for USVs that MetOcean offers.

The growing potential of satellite communication has changed users’ expectations; people no longer want to be limited in how and when they can transmit the data they’re collecting, says MetOcean President and CEO Tony Chedrawy. In the years ahead, MetOcean is well positioned to capitalize on that increasingly limitless horizon. “This is the space we’re [already] in,” he says. “I see us continuing down this path for many years to come.”

For more information, visit: www.metocean.com.

This feature originally appeared in Ocean News & Technology's Magazine December 2022 edition. To read more, access the magazine here.