Fishing logbook application

Product innovation is an Alphatron Marine spearhead. So we have started making innovative inroads with the LEO satellite terminal, in cooperation with the French manufacturer CLS and software developer E-Catch. Up till now fishing vessels could only send their position data to the VCC but this new application means that they can also let the VCC know of their catch via LEO. They no longer need to buy an extra terminal. Alphatron Marine, as one of the few distributors in the Netherlands, is introducing this cost-saving application. Approved by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority Urk based software developer E-Catch tested the application’s functions extensively and had the first devices undergo trials on board. Alphatron Marine facilitated the process by installing the equipment and making it available. The results were presented to the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, which approved the application. Cost-saving LEO is a satellite terminal that is connected to the Iridium satellite constellation and automatically transmits the ship’s position data to the VCC. When a fishing vessel has LEO on board, only the E-catch fishing logbook application has to be installed, something that Alphatron Marine can do for you quickly and easily. Users of other fishing logbook applications are offered the E-Catch software free-of-charge. We advise fishing vessels that currently send fishing logbook data via the Inmarsat satellite constellation to install LEO. This is a much cheaper option since Alphatron Marine offers a subscription to LEO at a very affordable fixed rate. LEO is simple to install, has its own internal battery and saves on maintaining other satellite terminals. Extra applications LEO has even more to offer. Shortly there will be spin-offs to expand this satellite terminal with a variety of applications, such as a bluetooth interface that enables it to be connected to an Android smartphone. This means that the captain is able to receive mails and weather forecasts on his smartphone on board when he is out of range of a 3G network. This connection is made via the short burst data service (SBD) of the Iridium satellite that LEO uses to correspond.