Ship's Internet Access - The Untold Truth

Used to work as an IT support engineer. One of our customers operated several container carriers. A piece of software on board needed a hotfix. Sent them a link to download it. They came back and informed me that they would not be able to install it for another 3 weeks. Being curious and having no idea how ships are operated I asked why they couldn’t download it on board. The guy then explained that while the ship technically does have internet access, it is satellite based and slow af, to the tune of about 10 USD per MB at the time. (This was 10+ years ago). Therefore anything beyond emails was out of the question. So what they did is they usually mail a flash drive to the next port with any software updates and other bulk data required by the crew or the company to be copied over. Because of potentially unreliable internet access where the ship was. (And probably because postage is cheaper than data volume, I imagine.) He mentioned one exception, where something needed to be downloaded that could not wait. Apparently someone had forgotten to put the required data on the last drive that was mailed. That ended up being a 5000 USD download…

Watching this on a cargo ship at sea with free, unlimited wifi 😬

When I was on an aircraft carrier I had a job with open access to internet. They said I was the number 2 user of the most data. An admiral onboard was number 1.

The real reason why most ships still don't have internet is due to lousy regulations. Seafarers are always marginalized because they are out of sight and therefore out of mind.

A happy crew is more productive and safer, it’s about time some companies learn this and treat crew properly

At the risk of repeating myself. Chief MAKOi you are a credit to your profession.

Missed you brother! Much love from Atlanta, GA USA. You’re a one of a kind teacher and a blessing to anyone who hears you.

There you go again! Getting to the heart of the matter and truly caring about your shipmates . . . setting a dangerous precedent!

That sucks for you guys. When I was in the US Navy all of our ships had internet via a DOD intranet. It was extremely slow, was down often, and was monitored by someone. It was great being able to check email and FB, and stay in touch with family and friends. We also had these sea phones that looked like pay phones but they never worked

In 1984 I was working for a tech company and they received a contract to evaluate LOWES (Low Earth Orbit Satellites). The estimate was 1,200 communication satellites to service the entire world. The objective was inexpensive worldwide communications. Spacex has begun to place small, inexpensive satellites into orbit. The system is called Starlink and the operational system will have approximately 4,000 satellites. The first test will be this year. If it is successful, then cell phone and internet services will be available anywhere. The cost? I don't know.

You should get in touch with my Grandmother.. She "installs" and "deletes" internet from her PC twice a day :D

Hi Chief great video! i can assure you that things are getting better in this sector, several companies like Intellian Iridium Inmarsat has launched systems that dropped the prices for global fast speed internet and several companies that have the "quality of life" in mind and installing VSAT systems on their fleet. they even offer free initial cost for the owners and a "pay as you go" plan. Couple of years ago we had only some expensive allocated data size for each crewmember but nowadays most of our ships have free data package for each crewmember, i know its not perfect but things are improving. Fast!

From my experience, keeping in touch with loved ones at home while being away actually makes things worse, you miss them even more...

During my time, i don't even have a personal mobile phone onboard. The only option is the payphone booth near the ship gangway or at the seaman's club, but were ridiculously expensive. Brings me back old memories.

I'm a Land lubber and I work in land transportation but Chief you come off as a kindred brother. Thanks for getting the word out about you folks and I hope you make your trade better for yourselves . I'll be sharing this video. Thanks Chief.

I love that you sponsor these videos with companies that help you. Great video, as usual

watching using sim4crew 😊

You would think that smart companies would offer good WiFi and internet access in the hopes of attracting better crew members. A high paid crew member might even be willing to take a small pay cut if it meant that they had 24/7 internet access. It seems like a no brainer to me.

Another interesting and informative video. It sounds as though your roving sim card system would be the way to go at the present time. Hopefully the Starlink system will be in place in the reasonably near future which should resolve at least most of the non or iffy internet problem for mariners. In my day we had ship to shore single sideband transceivers which were limited in range and awkward to use. As I stated your sim card system sounds like the way to go, at least for the present. Thanks again Chief, always a pleasure to watch your videos. All the best to you and yours!

You are a great spokesman and educators for your fellow seafaring workers. I was able to work for the U S Coast Guard for 22 years. You do an excellent job educating the public. Great video also. Thank you.