Dubai's Elcome Partners With Elon Musk's Starlink To Provide High-Speed Internet To Maritime Industry

Starlink, operated by Elon Musk's aerospace company SpaceX, has partnered with Dubai-based marine electronics company Elcome International to provide internet services to the maritime sector in the country.

Elcome issued a statement Monday, noting that Starlink's satellite service will provide Emirati water vessels such as merchant ships, luxury yachts, and oil rigs with high-speed internet that is up to a hundred times faster than traditional mediums.

This partnership between the Dubai company and Starlink will further enable maritime customers from the most remote waters across the world to have access to high-speed internet, an Elcome representative told The National. It will also allow the availability of a wide range of installation and support options for consumers. Future orders will be fulfilled by Elcome's logistics hubs in Dubai, Singapore, and Spain.

"The UAE is a global hub of the maritime industry, and we are uniquely positioned and equipped to broaden the installed base of Starlink in vessels operating in the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean," said Jimmy Grewal, Elcome Executive Director.

"With Starlink's global service available globally in international waters, we have an amazing aggressive plan to leverage our base in the UAE to bring the benefits of this amazing service to as many customers as possible," he added.

"It's not just about fast internet, but the opportunity for us to implement real-time remote monitoring and autonomy solutions for these customers in ways that were not previously possible. Also, consider the benefit to crew members who will now be able to better stay in touch with family and friends while out at sea," Grewal continued.

Starlink uses satellites orbiting the planet at heights of 200 km to 2,000 km to provide high-speed, low-latency broadband internet access. Explaining why satellite internet is a more viable option compared to regular services, Grewal pointed out, "This reduction in latency with Starlink is especially apparent in voice and video calls, where the delay in conversations is hardly noticeable compared to traditional satellite voice communication systems."

Elcome has already implemented Starlink's multi-antenna arrays delivering hundreds of megabits of low-latency bandwidth on two superyachts that cater to at least 100 crew and guests simultaneously.