RoRo operator Wallenius Wilhelmsen has completed a communications upgrade across 41 ships, combining Starlink and Eutelsat OneWeb low-Earth-orbit satellite services with Iridium Certus and LTE backup connectivity, according to a Speedcast statement.
Soya IT Marine Solutions delivered the fleetwide programme, with Speedcast providing a global wide-area network and hybrid connectivity services. The Speedcast statement is dated 21 October.
The system gives vessels managed access to corporate applications on the bridge and provides higher-capacity connectivity for crews, including streaming and social media services during off-duty hours. Installation and commissioning were carried out remotely because Wallenius Wilhelmsen vessels can spend only a few hours in port.
Antennas and other hardware could be shipped to the vessels and installed by crews without taking ships out of service. The project began in April 2025 after two proof-of-concept tests in October 2024. Completion of the 41-vessel rollout had initially been targeted for mid-2026. The original contract also covered data management, continuous service and 24-hour support.
“This new partnership isn’t just about connectivity; it’s about making vessels digitally ready for the future,” Speedcast executive vice president of global sales James Trevelyan said.
“With the new solution, we get a robust, redundant connection that improves the communication between ship and shore,” said Adriana Briseno, fleet connectivity engineer in Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s Marine Operations Management.
The additional capacity is intended to support real-time ship-to-shore data transfers and greater use of vessel sensor data in operations and decision-making. Wallenius Wilhelmsen ASA is headquartered in Oslo and operates around 127 vessels on 15 trade routes across six continents. Its operations also include 70 processing centres and eight marine terminals, and it has about 12,000 employees, including seafarers.
Soya IT Marine Solutions is a Stockholm-based marine IT organisation involved in vessel connectivity and digital systems.
Speedcast is a US-headquartered communications provider supplying managed connectivity services for maritime and other remote operations.
