Connected: Broadband LTE Connectivity for Offshore Operations
Situation:
When a major offshore vessel operator needed to enhance its on-board communications solution aboard its operational fleet, it turned to BATS to provide its industry-leading, long-range 4G LTE communications solution.
What the operator needed was a cellular communications solution that could connect to public and private LTE networks offshore at multiple ports of call, while delivering the high-throughput, 100Mbps cellular data link needed for production, crew comfort, and communications needs of their various assets.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the offshore construction operator faced a dilemma. While they were still required to maintain their tight timelines, due to the worldwide lockdowns, they were unable to reasonably house their specialized workforce at various project host countries around the world.
As such, the operator determined that the best path for the safety of its workers and to maintain its critical timelines was to house and manage their entire operation offshore in specialized accommodation vessels.
While they had compelling solutions for their office and housing needs, they quickly realized the biggest barrier to a working solution would be acquiring and maintaining high-speed, resilient internet connectivity in different operational areas around the world.
Through their initial research, the operator unfortunately confirmed that building out their go-to wireless solution using BATS’ FAST running on a 5GHz high-capacity private point-to-point network would not work, due to the lockdown restrictions limiting their ability to install the necessary equipment on land. They also concluded that running an entire network via satellite downlink was both prohibitively slow and expensive.
What they did notice, however, was that while many of their employees could access LTE while working closer to shore, once they traveled back to the accommodation vessels located further out at sea, that connectivity quickly vanished.
What the operator needed was a solution that was flexible enough to operate all around the world, while delivering high-speed, long-range LTE communications as far as 40km offshore. They needed a solution that would handle their bandwidth-intensive production and security applications, such as teleconferencing, surveillance, and video-augmented remote control.
They also needed additional capacity to handle crew-comfort applications like video streaming, VOIP and video chat, social media and email — all without a significant boost to their operational costs.
Solution:
BATS Wireless worked with the offshore construction operator, to deliver SLA-minimum 100Mbps 4G LTE connectivity across their entire fleet of accommodation vessels, with peaks in some areas of over 350Mbps. The solution was able to deliver resilient, high-speed LTE links for their vessels operating at long ranges in various ports of call around the world — on both public and private LTE networks.
The high-capacity solution was achieved by placing multiple FAST 4G LTE smart antennas, paired with Sierra Wireless RV55 LTE-A Pro CAT-12 modems on the accommodation vessels, while link aggregation routers were used to bond the multiple LTE connections to provide redundancy for the SLA-minimum, while also allowing for increased speeds where available.
With the long-range, flexible, SLA-defined LTE communications solution in place, the operator was able to ensure the integrity of their offshore operations, while delivering a compelling work and lodging environment for staff operating offshore.
