MARSAT –Satellite Services for the Maritime Industry

MARSAT consortium, a network of six private companies and a research institute, is ready to provide innovative integrated satellite-based services for the maritime and coastal industry to improve safety and efficiency in shipping, offshore industries, emergency response and rescue operations.

“MARSAT is an ambitious project, which brings together competence of specialists in satellite data provision and analysis, IT and the maritime industry. This team will lay the ground for improved decision making for shipping route optimization, offshore planning and maintenance as well as emergency events”, said Dr. Knut Hartmann, Project Coordinator MARSAT, EOMAP GmbH & Co KG.

MARSAT is a network of five private companies, EOMAP GmbH & Co KG, Drift & Noise Polar Services GmbH, European Space Imaging GmbH , SevenCs GmbH and TRENZ AG, and a research institute, Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL) and is financed and coordinated by the DLR Space Administration and funded by BMWi, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The kick-off meeting was successfully held in 2016 at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Space Administration in Bonn, Germany and marked the starting point of this 2.5 year project.

“The use of satellite data and Earth Observation products in the maritime world has an enormous potential. We are at the very beginning, just starting to get a glimpse at the possibilities and huge benefits these innovative technologies will offer.” Dr. Nils Meyer-Larsen, Project Manager, ISL.

The technical goals of MARSAT aim to create and integrate operational services and to allow the maritime industry to take advantage of the most up-to-date satellite information in their day-to-day work. This requires setting up an efficient IT infrastructure to share, integrate and implement satellite-derived data quickly and efficiently from various satellite sources. Services such as ice detection and drift, obstruction and bathymetry mapping will be integrated in maritime information systems so that, e.g., shipping routes can be optimized, up-to date information made available for rescue or emergency events, and base data provided for environmental and coastal use cases within user friendly applications.

MARSAT is a dynamic and steadily growing network of data suppliers, users and academia.

For more details on MARSAT, visit the MARSAT project homepage.

About EOMAP
EOMAP is a leading global service provider of satellite-derived solutions for maritime and coastal applications for the commercial offshore industry and government agencies. EOMAP is coordinator of the MARSAT consortium.

About European Space Imaging
European Space Imaging (EUSI) is a leading supplier of global very high-resolution (VHR) satellite imagery, direct satellite tasking and derived services to customers in Europe, North Africa and CIS countries. They offer customers access to the highest resolution imagery (50-30 cm) from the largest constellation of sub-meter satellites and to the most extensive worldwide VHR data archive. With a reputation for expert and personalized customer service they have been providing tailored VHR imagery solutions to meet their customers’ diverse project requirements since 2002.For more information, visit www.euspaceimaging.com.

About Drift & Noise Polar Services GmbH
Drift & Noise Polar Services (DNPS) is a spin-off of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. DNPS consults and assists polar activities with innovative geophysical and satellite based surveying techniques.  Key technologies are methods for air- and shipborne ice thickness measurements and algorithms for a near-real-time delivery of areal ice information to the user on-site.

About Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL)
The Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (ISL) founded in Bremen in 1954 combines tradition with modern science; we have since positioned ourselves as one of Europe’s leading institutes in the area of maritime logistics research, consulting and knowledge transfer. On behalf of our project partners from the public and private sector, both on national and international level, we ensure that innovative ideas become solutions with practical applicability. At our offices in Bremen and Bremerhaven, we handle projects from all over the world in interdisciplinary teams.

About SevenCs GmbH
Based in Hamburg, SevenCs develops software modules (S-57 Chart Display Kernel SDK) for electronic chart systems (ECDIS, ECS) and other maritime applications, ENC production and distribution software, and professional maritime navigation software. In addition to our software we provide a complete range of complementary services, including training, consultancy and customer support.

About TRENZ AG
The TRENZ AG, an internationally operating company based in Bremen and Hamburg, develops customized software solutions for the seafaring sector. Each and every German sea and harbour pilot uses software and hardware solutions made by TRENZ. The company has built long and proven experience in the area of processing AIS data and designs ETA systems for predicting arrival times of ships.