Improvement of life at sea with Maritime Mobile

In the past months I had been very busy, too busy that I ignored writing anything on this blog. Now I'm back! Still very very busy but have more exciting things to share.

The past months I have been helping Seanet (www.seanet.se), a maritime mobile operator, double its fleet sea-going vessels where its services are provided. And I learned a few important lessons along the way. Most especially in the improvement of the quality of life for those who works at sea.

I grew up in a country with 7107 distinct and unique islands, so sailing from one island to another is as natural to me as speaking multiple languages. In the old days (if anyone can remember) most people who work in the shipping industry had to endure long days away from their friends and love ones. It is still true today since no one has yet managed to design and build ships that can travel at the speed of sound. However with the advancement of technology this has changed dramatically.

Now on almost every ships (both passenger and merchant) has access to satellite phones, and recently in most passenger ships both passengers and crew can use their mobile phones while at sea. I have been in the mobile communications industry long enough to appreciate the changes that mobile telephony has brought to society. Today we can reach almost anyone at anytime and anywhere. Be it in the middle of the ocean or in the sky (yes your mobile phone also works in some airlines while flying).

For a ship's crew this is a wonderful advancement since they can now have almost the same working experience and as it is on land. The factor of homesickness is reduced and they can get in touch with friends and family everyday. Such improvement in the quality of life while working at sea solves the fundamental problems most sailors experience. Furthermore with the growing trends in m-commerce they would no longer need to be on land to make financial transactions, making it convenient to manage their finances while enjoying the life on board.

Now then the next step is how we bring a reliable and fast mobile video application to hose who works and leaves on board sea-going vessels.