Stena Line, one of the world's largest ferry operators, has renewed and upgraded its contract with Marlink, the global provider of maritime satellite communications. As part of the renewed contract, Marlink will provide fully integrated satellite telephony access to 34 vessels and Internet access to 27 vessels. The system will position Stena Line as one of the first ferry operators to offer free WiFi Internet access for passengers.
Signing this important milestone contract with Niclas Ingeström, CIO, Stena Line IT services, Tore Morten Olsen, CEO, Marlink commented, "To provide free WiFi Internet access puts Stena in a strong competitive position. To achieve this they have purchased a significant upgrade of the system bandwidth, with access to 8 Mbps satellite closed user group capacity, which will give their passengers total contact throughout their voyage. We have worked with Stena for some years breaking new ground as we have developed unique services. They were our first customer to provide pay-per-use on our Internet@Sea Prepaid Surf service. We are delighted that we can continue to innovate with our partners and look forward to more exciting developments in the future."
Marlink will upgrade the ship-to-shore network on the entire Stena Line fleet of fast ferries, traditional combi ferries, RoPax freight and passenger ferries and its pure cargo ships operating in Scandinavia and the North and Irish Seas. The fleet includes the world's largest Superferry, Stena Hollandica, which sails between Hoek van Holland and Harwich.
Marlink's Sealink(TM) service will provide administration of LAN-LAN services between ships and land, TV reception in the Nordic region and company ship-to-shore networking with terrestrial back up and rerouting functionality at Marlink's Eik Teleport. The service will offer 3rd party bandwidth access and IP management, SealinkT Prepaid Talk and Eik Internet access.
Stena Line carried over 15 million passengers in 2009 together with 3.3 million cars and 1.6 million freight units. The company has already commenced promotion of its latest market leading offering: Free WiFi Internet access and can now provide mobile coverage for the entire crossing between its busy Harwich (UK) to the Hook of Holland route. The new contract with Marlink is effective for the next 4 years.