Inmarsat C is not broadband and was never meant to be. It is a low-data-rate store-and-forward
service, and its value is that it is dependable, global and recognised by regulation. A distress
alert sent over it reaches a rescue coordination centre; a broadband link that happens to be
working does not carry the same standing. That is why Inmarsat C equipment remains a carriage
requirement rather than a legacy item.
The SAILOR 6110 sends and receives data over the Inmarsat C network including distress alerts,
and supports distress priority messages and Enhanced Group Call services. EGC is the part worth
explaining: it is a broadcast service rather than a message to one ship, and EGC SafetyNET is the
international safety service that broadcasts to all vessels in a defined geographical area -
navigational warnings, meteorological warnings, search and rescue information. A vessel does not
request them; it receives whatever applies where it is. Receiving SafetyNET is a GMDSS
requirement, and it is the reason the equipment stays powered and monitored rather than being
used only when someone wants to send something.
What Cobham describe as true triple functionality is the commercially significant feature.
The same system handles GMDSS, SSAS and LRIT. Those are three separate regulatory obligations -
GMDSS for distress and safety, SSAS for the ship security alert system required under the ISPS
Code, and LRIT for long-range identification and tracking - and they have historically meant
either three sets of equipment or awkward combinations. Handling all three safely in one system
reduces the equipment on the bridge, the number of antennas, and the number of separate service
arrangements to maintain.
The system is built from named units, which is useful for planning an installation or
identifying an existing one: the SAILOR 6018 Message Terminal is the operator interface for
sending and receiving messages, sending distress alerts, viewing system status and configuring
the system; the SAILOR 3027 GMDSS Terminal is the transceiver unit; and the SAILOR 6101 or 6103
Alarm Panel provides the alarm and distress interface at its mounting position.
The most practical recent change is the printerless operation. GMDSS installations
traditionally required a printer on the bridge to produce a hard copy of safety messages, and
that printer is a genuine nuisance - it consumes paper and ribbons, it jams, it makes noise on a
quiet bridge at night, and it is one more thing to keep working to stay compliant. Cobham state
the SAILOR 6110 is now the only mini-C system available offering printerless operations onboard,
with vessels remaining fully compliant with IMO regulations without installing a printer. For a
newbuild that removes a unit and its consumables; for a retrofit it removes a recurring
irritation. Whether it applies to your vessel depends on the flag state's acceptance, which we
confirm as part of specifying it.
1 / 3
