Pioneering Development Provides Arctic Situational Awareness

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A new development in situational awareness technology would support operations in harsh environments such as the arctics. Finnish maritime innovators Fleetrange, a maritime startup and KNL Networks, a telecommunications company, have successfully pioneered in providing cost-efficient Arctic situational awareness using a unique combination of IoT, Cloud and 3G/HF hybrid telecommunications technology. The solution includes up-to-date weather-, ice-, ship tracking and sensor data and sustains critical email communications in areas where satellite communications are expensive,unreliable or non-existent.

The two companies have successfully solved Arctic situational awareness and communications challenges with their combined “Fleetrange with KNL” solution. The companies are also allegedly the first in the world to provide Arctic maritime situational awareness, IoT and communications using technology independent of satellites.

According to the statement in KNL’s website, the successful technology trial included the Fleetrange IoT cloud platform which uses KNL’s long-range – up to 10 000 km – 3G/HF hybrid communications technology to provide Arctic situational awareness between the ship and shore side office as well as sustaining critical operational email communications for the Captain.

“Ships in the Northern Arctic waters have been relying on non-existent or lower quality and expensive digital satellite communications for a long time. It is truly amazing for us to be able to change this and be the pioneers with KNL in providing high availability digital communications and situational awareness solutions for these harsh waters”, – says Henrik Ramm-Schmidt, CEO and Founder of Fleetrange Ltd.

During the trial the ship was fitted with KNL’s patented and revolutionary cognitive and software defined radio equipment and Fleetrange IoT units. The Fleetrange cloud-based situational awareness solution was used to deliver up-to-date weather data and ice charts automatically to the ship and receiving IoT sensor data from the ship. The communication and awareness solution was systematically tested and monitored during the trial.

The “Fleetrange with KNL” solution is based on a unique combination of cost-efficient IoT and Cloud technology, where the ship sends IoT data, such as location, surrounding AIS-traffic and motion, and receives up-to-date weather and ice data from shore.