GeoEye wins Maldives contract

Building Vessel Monitoring System:

GeoEye, Inc, a premier provider of superior satellite and aerial-based geospatial information and services, has won a contract from the Maldives Republic for a vessel monitoring system that is being developed for fisheries management and safety.

This information services project expands GeoEye’s expertise and presence in location-base information products and services.

As part of this contract, GeoEye will build the secure infrastructure for a countrywide vessel monitoring system and supply ten Osprey Personal Tracker terminals for a trial deployment. GeoEye’s vessel monitoring system will display vessel positions and consolidate fish catch reports from the Osprey terminals in near-real-time for review by fisheries management personnel at the Fisheries and Agriculture Ministry. The vessel monitoring system also provides the customer with two-way text communication by satellite for both routine and emergency purposes. An integrated “panic button’ on each Osprey unit will alert Maldives emergency services to vessels in distress.

Vessel positions and messaging will be tracked securely through a comprehensive Web-based control system and database that will include satellite-derived oceanographic charts that GeoEye will update daily.

Fisheries and Agriculture Ministry, Fisheries Development Services Section Director Adam Manik said, “GeoEye scored highest among the competing firms on their technical proposal and offered the most competitive price. We look forward to working with GeoEye to meet our project targets.”

GeoEye Marine Services Operations and Engineering Senior Director Gregory Hammann said, “Our cost-effective tracking and messaging solution is perfect for managing the large artisanal fishing fleets of the developing world. GeoEye welcomes the opportunity to build the vessel monitoring system for the Maldives.”

The Osprey Personal Tracker terminals are manufactured by EMS Global Tracking and sold by GeoEye within the commercial and Government fisheries sectors.

These terminals report latitude and longitue (GPS) positions on a pre-programmed frequency using the Inmarsat global satellite constellation.

GeoEye is an active bidder for the VMS system that is being pursued by the Fisheries and Marine Recourse Development Ministry.

GeoEye proposal for Sri Lanka is similar in most respects to the Maldives project and have added in SUU fishing component to combat illegal Fishing in Sri Lanka waters.