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46 st / July 2014 www.sea-technology.com protection. Proving the strength of the C-Bird antenna, Mar- itime Broadband's "test" antenna installed on their offce roof in Brooklyn, New York, not only withstood Hurricane Sandy in 2012, but tracked perfectly throughout the storm and required no post-storm maintenance. The C-Bird package was designed to provide always- on, unlimited Internet within the typical communications budget of a commercial ship, which usually costs between $1,000 to $1,500 per month and includes only 1 to 2 giga- bytes of email-only traffc without Web access. In today's world, seafarers require more access to the Internet. Prices for C-Bird lease and Internet service start at $1,300 a month and provide unlimited access to the Internet at contract speed. With competing C-band solutions priced at $3,500 and $5,000 per month for similar service, C-Bird is by far the low-cost, high-value leader. Maritime Broadband offers three levels of service speeds: Green, 64K CIR/ 128K MIR ($1,300 per month); blue, 128K CIR/256K MIR ($1,700 per month); and silver, 256K CIR/512K MIR ($2,500 per month). The above cost includes a lease of the equipment over a 36-month term, and the equipment is under a full war- ranty for the life of the contract. Lastly, shipping companies enjoy the fexibility of being able to transfer an antenna and service from one vessel to another without a transfer fee or new contract. With other companies, that is usually not the case. ronment. In addition, proprietary software allows the C-Bird antenna to stabilize and track with a two-mechanical-axis platform, versus the standard three. All this adds up to a 70 percent reduction in cost of the antenna when compared to traditional maritime VSAT antennas. C-Bird Advantages The C-Bird system operates in any weather condition without rain fade, and transmission speed remains consis- tent. This is a signifcant advantage over Ku-band technol- ogy, which is highly susceptible to signal degradation in bad weather. In addition, C-Bird is certifed to operate in wind speeds of up to 85 knots and to survive wind speeds of up to 110 knots. It has an automatic self-locking feature for storm (Top Left) Using common tools available on com- mercial ships, the Nordic Aurora crew was able to install the C-Bird antenna in six hours. (Top Right) Nordic American Tanker's Nordic Aurora integrat- ed the C-Bird system in August 2012. (Bottom Left) The C-Bird antenna offers continuous connectiv- ity and provides crew and ship offcers reliable, always-on Internet access at sea. (Bottom Right) Maritime Broadband's C-Bird is operational in all seven seas, from 70° North to 70° South.