The increasing importance of satellite phones

Commercial fishermen the world over face increasing pressures as they strive to make ends meet. Whether it’s a family business owner with just a few boats dedicated to harvesting sardines off the coast of Spain, or a fleet that measures worldwide catches of tuna in the millions of tonnes, today’s competitive marketplace makes what’s already a tough job even tougher.

Prices of many fish stocks have become unstable and/or have fallen. At the same time, competition has increased. Challenged by fluctuating availability and pricing, some fishing businesses are diversifying, searching to safeguard revenues by fishing new kinds of stock in new regions, and travelling further and further away from home to do it.

In order to thrive, or even just survive in the commercial fishing business today, vessels of all sizes increasingly need to think of themselves as offices on the water, running businesses to the uncompromising rules of demand and supply. Crews need to stay in close touch with their bosses and colleagues who provide support to the fleet from land. And fishermen need to liaise with all other players in the supply chain.

But most importantly, fishing crews today need to stay in close contact with their customers.

Communication
Spain-based Equipos Navales Industriales SA provides communications systems to the maritime sector among other industry groups. The firm’s sales manager for satellite communications Guillermo Salas explains that his commercial fishing customers are increasingly relying on satellite telephony to do this.

“Many fishing fleet owners are also fish dealers,” Salas explains. “They need to know the size and quality of any catch and be able to communicate with buyers rapidly in order to help them to establish informed prices as they take the fish to market.”

The faster buyers and sellers can get a clear understanding of what is being caught, where and in what quantities, the more speedily they can make pricing decisions, negotiate deals, and therefore the greater the chance they can get a competitive advantage.

Salas explains that fish sellers are highly motivated to exchange data with buyers in real time if possible and therefore they regard person-to-person voice calls as the way to relay this information most efficiently. With just a phone call, questions are asked and answered, and agreements struck, voice-to-voice, immediately.

To this end, seafarers in commercial fishing demand clear and reliable voice communications, enabling them to speak directly with fish buyers even while far out at sea. They have come to rely on today’s satellite telephones, the only viable solution for making and receiving phone calls wherever they are, miles outside of GSM range.

Survey
In 2013, Equipos Navales Industriales surveyed commercial fishermen and asked them what they thought of their satellite communications service.

Fishermen responded that they most appreciated a combination of clear voice calls and low prices. For example one Spanish fisherman said: “We must always keep a close eye on all our vessel’s operational costs, so, especially for everyday use, we prefer to make phone calls on a low cost satellite service.”

Salas points out that the crews most appreciate the ability to speak and hear clearly on phone calls while at sea. And they don’t want to be annoyed by latency in the call or interruption due to loss of signal.

Salas reports that a crew’s satellite phone is also regularly used to electronically send regulation-mandated fishing logs to local authorities, as well as for downloading navigation and weather charts and forecasts. It is also valued as a reliable SOS device should fishermen find themselves in trouble and unable to use GSM.

Personal use
Personal use of satphones by fishing crews is on the rise too. The farther away a crew is from home, the more they are keen to hear the voices of loved ones. Offering crew the chance to speak to family and friends is seen as a matter of staff welfare.

Low call charges also help the skipper to offer this gesture free of charge to a hard-working team.

“Christmas time sees a big spike in call traffic, and often, the crew do not have to pay which they really appreciate.” Salas shares.

“The satphone is used even more when a vessel is very far from home port,” he adds, citing Spanish fleets fishing off the coast of Ireland as one example. “Sometimes the monthly bills show that the phone on any vessel was used for 1,000 minutes or more.”

Salas explains that his customers appreciate when a satphone has low airtime charges, and he has begun to see uptake of newly launched pre-paid services, aimed at making satellite calls a truly affordable day-to-day reality.

Good and frequent communications with customers is a basic requirement for any successful business, including fishing. This is not just because crews need to discuss pricing and other commercial terms as the catches are evaluated for marketability. Productive person-to-person communications help build relationships and loyalty that are especially important in a tough competitive environment.

And a crewman who is able to catch up with family when far from home is both more productive and happier. A satphone is indeed a commercial fisherman’s true friend.