SBM Offshore is an expert in deepwater energy installations. One of their newest ships is the SBM Installer. The SBM Installer is an all-in-one, multi-purpose Dive Support & Construction vessel. Driven by their key concepts of safety, versatility and redundancy, SBM Offshore sought out TECHfirm Canarias for a connectivity solution that allowed the SBM Installer to display her full potential.
Challenge
As a construction vessel, the SBM Installer often alternates spending extended periods of time at sea and in port. Due to this, the original solution was only VSAT. Not only was this expensive, but the high latency and inconsistent signal resulted in an unreliable connection that affected communications between the crew, the company, and family members. Further complicating the situation, the technical room was located in the ship where the signal quality was poor. Lastly, the deployment needed to be finished in a short period of time as the SBM Installer was soon to be deployed on a mission to replace a buoy.
Solution
Taking the environmental and deployment challenges into consideration, TECHfirm Canarias devised a solution of deploying a MAX BR1 IP67 router outdoors, in a location with good signal reception, and running an RJ45 cable into the technical room. This was only possible thanks to the router’s IP67 rated housing providing secure protection against the elements. Another reason why TECHfirm Canarias selected the MAX BR1 IP67 was because it was an all-in-one router, containing both the cellular modem and the antenna in the same protected enclosure.
Rounding out the deployment, the MAX BR1 IP67 was managed with InControl. This provided technicians with detailed monitoring services and remote management capabilities. In addition, with the help of TECHfirm Canarias engineers, technicians were able to set up, integrate, and deploy cybersecurity policies via InControl, ensuring that company communications were protected.
Result
The resulting benefits from this deployment were immense. The SBM Installer now had 4G cellular WAN as their primary WAN over VSAT. This greatly improved their bandwidth and latency while decreasing costs and enabling real-time data applications such as video conferencing, VoIP, and streaming. The crew were now able to effectively communicate with the company and with family, increasing crew efficiency and morale. Best of all, the entire deployment took less than a day.
Deployment
- Ruggedized Single Cellular Outdoor Router
- Zero-touch configuration for minimal user interaction
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About TECHfirm Canarias
TECHfirm Canarias is a service company that offers telecom solutions to the Maritime and Oil and Gas industries. It was created by experts of the discipline who have been on interventions on rigs and offshore ships for years, in all parts of the world.
About SBM Offshore
With a rich history dating back to the 1800’s, SBM Offshore achievements include constructing the first Single Point Mooring facility in 1959. Other firsts include the first jackup drilling rig, the first dynamically positioned drillship, and the first semi-submersible pipelay vessel. Today, they are committed to providing ocean-based energy solutions that are sustainable and environmentally friendly.