Ship Operators Balance Cost, Value Of Keeping Crews Plugged In

Crew connectivity for mariners, particularly on blue-water vessels, has emerged as an important issue in the “care and feeding” department. At the same time, the growing demand to integrate all aspects of maritime business electronically is putting a new focus on expanding communication capacity, particularly via the Internet.

- Alan R. Earls

It need hardly be noted that until the recent past, most mariners expected to be out of touch with the rest of the world while at sea. Aside from whatever recorded programming they brought with them, the only other distraction might have been what came from a shortwave radio. And, while the bridge might have been able to get in touch with other ships or “home,” for the average mariner, not much had changed from the days of Herman Melville.

“When I first went to sea, you sent letters; they would be two weeks old or more when they arrived, so you would number them because they might arrive out of order,” said Capt. Nathan Gandy, commandant of midshipmen at Maine Maritime Academy.

To go from that to having email at sea was a huge leap, but the bar keeps getting reset. Nowadays, Gandy doesn’t call his daughter — they Face Time. “Having that kind of access is worth the cost for many of us,” he said.

It’s a new era. Almost every part of the terrestrial world is plugged into a communications backbone that supports landline phones and the Internet as well as mobile and Wi-Fi communications. An entire generation has grown up almost completely connected, and almost everyone else has grown accustomed to plugging in at will. So when mariners have to unplug at sea, it can be disruptive and demoralizing.

The Crewtoo Seafarers Happiness Index, issued last year by United Kingdom-based KVH Media, found an overwhelming desire among mariners to have more or better Internet and Wi-Fi access on board with “decent” speed. Connectivity, or lack thereof, was one of the most persistent complaints and a source of increasing dissatisfaction.