Chinese fishing vessels equipped with Mini C terminals

2,500 Chinese fishing vessels to be equipped with Inmarsat

22-08-2008 - A total of 2,500 Chinese fishing vessels are to be equipped with Inmarsat Mini C terminals in the first stage of a landmark deal backed by the Chinese government.

The contract is the first to be awarded as part of the Chinese Zhejiang project, which seeks to equip a total of 16,000 Chinese fishing vessels with satellite-based safety and communication services by the end of 2009.

First provinceThe project is being developed to allow vessels to report their locations and appeal for emergency help, receive navigation maps and automatic warnings when they cross bordering territory.

Inmarsat distribution partner MCN is one of four providers picked to bid for the project offering Inmarsat's Mini C service and Thrane & Thrane 3026S terminals.

Zhejiang Province was the first of 11 Chinese provinces to choose the services and providers it would prefer for its vessels - and opted for MCN.

Quality serviceHe Huiliang, a deputy director general of MCN, said: "We have been working on this project for the last three years and we are very proud to have been chosen by Zhejiang Province.

"Inmarsat won the major portion of the project because it was able to offer both a stable and good quality service and hardware terminals.

"We hope to win further parts of the contract and our technical team is developing messaging terminals to support SMS using Chinese characters -which is a future requirement of the project."