Communication on the Voyage in Numbers: How Much do Seafarers Spend on the Internet and How to Reduce Costs?
Date of posting: 30.03.2022
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Saving should be cost-effective. That is what we have been taught since childhood. Modern society dictates new conditions; gadgets are becoming more and more progressive and require more and more investments.
But is it necessary to “go on” on an Internet diet when you are on the voyage or are there any other ways to use the Internet reasonably and stably without special restrictions? Let us consider several Internet options on the voyage and compare them below.
Satellite Internet
The Crewing Guide made a study among seafarers in its groups on social networks and it turned out that most of them use satellite Internet on board.
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Which Internet do you use on the voyage?
Anonymous Poll
51% Prefer satellite Internet on board
11% Roaming
13% International SIM-card
25% Local SIM-card
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If the “office” words are reliable, then the satellite equipment is very expensive, its cost with installation amounts to tens of thousands of dollars. In light of this, the amount of traffic offered on different vessels is different. So, in one company 1GB per month is given for free for a crew member, in the other one 50MB cost $20, and somewhere you are just given 2 hours a day at low speed without a traffic limit.
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“There was dualog satellite Internet on my vessel, they gave 1250Mb of traffic per week, but the speed was only enough for text messages. Local SIM cards were sometimes brought to the ports. For example: in Finland there was a SIM card for 10 € with the balance of 6 €. It was enough for about 2 GB in Europe, but there was an opportunity to refill the account. In China there was a SIM card for $ 13 with 9GB of traffic for a month,” acting seafarer, our Instagram follower Slava Luzhetsky (@luzhetskit_photo) says.
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Local SIM Cards
Is it cheaper to use local SIM cards?
Another Facebook subscriber Roman Trinoga told the Crewing Guide that he used a local giffgaff SIM card of a British communications service provider. At the same time, he spent 20 pounds per month for 81 GB, 20 GB of which are given for Europe in roaming.
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“It’s really cool. There is no limit at all in Klaipeda. But if the on-berth periods are short and the voyages are to all continents, then on the contrary, it is very inconvenient. It is not suitable,” another subscriber Vasiliy Savkin adds. |
Therefore, when purchasing a local SIM card you need to understand:
- Sometimes they are very expensive, including due to port mobile middlemen making money from seafarers;
- The card must be refilled regularly if you plan to return to this country and continue using the SIM card. Otherwise, the card will be blocked and you will have to buy a new one.
- Many cards for foreigners have an expiration date. From a month to a year.
- And most importantly: the COVID situation in the world RESTRICTS ACCESS TO THE SHORE in many ports. On that basis going on a voyage, it is worth finding out whether there will be an opportunity to purchase a local card at the port or you need to see about it at home.
THE SITUATION IN THE WORLD
It is interesting!
The price of the most expensive and cheapest gigabyte of mobile data varies almost 305 times in different countries!
The experts of Cable.co.uk publication collected and analyzed information on 6148 price plans for mobile data services in 230 countries in recent years (2020-2021). And what do we see?
- Ukraine ranks the 31st in the world: 1GB of mobile data costs $0.7 at average.
- Israel is the cheapest country to buy mobile data: 1GB costs $ 0.05 at average here.
- The United States is one of the most expensive developed countries to buy mobile data: it ranks the 154th in the world and the average cost of 1GB is $ 3.33 here.
- Equatorial Guinea is the most expensive place to buy mobile data. The average cost of 1GB is $ 49.67 there - this is almost a thousand times more expensive than the cost of 1GB in Israel.
- Six of ten countries with the highest prices for mobile data transmission are located in sub-Saharan Africa. Island states in Oceania and the Caribbean are also among the most expensive in the world for the most part.
Coastal Wi-Fi
In the “Articles” section on our website https://ukrcrewing.com.ua/articles there are Wi-Fi passwords in different ports of the world. However, they are updated and the relevance of such passwords unfortunately is not durable. Therefore, even if you are given the password by friends of friends of your friends it is not a fact that it has not changed during this time.
In addition, free open access points are being reduced and encryption protocols which have been previously hacked easily are almost not used anymore, not everyone is ready to spend several hours on hacking to sit online for an hour.
If you are still lucky enough to connect to the coastal Internet for free, that is what Wikipedia says about the countries with the highest Internet speed:
Singapore is in the first place with a speed of 135.7 (Mb/s). Further:
- Hong Kong 105.2 (Mb/s)
- South Korea 95.3 (Mb/s)
- Macau 83.1 (Mb/s)
- Japan 82.9 (Mb/s)
- Indonesia 79.8 (Mb/s)
- Mongolia 78.9 (Mb/s)
- Taiwan 78.8 (Mb/s)
- Qatar 77.8 (Mb/s)
- Romania 73.6 (Mb/s)
How much money is spent for the Internet at sea at average?
Surprisingly, it turned out to be difficult to deduce some general figures from the study on social networks. Some people say that they spend 60-80 euro for 4 months at average, other people spend $ 60-100 per month excluding the purchase of SIM cards in ports.
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“During the voyage the satellite Internet is $ 20 - 500Mb, in ports is differently, now in the USA I took Unlimited $ 50, before that in Europe $ 20-15 GB and so on" - seafarer @rinat1407 says
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Therefore, many people are looking for the ways to save traffic and go on “Internet diet”
INTERNET DIET
Often after joining the network, the phone starts madly updating everything that is possible and impossible, megabytes fly away at cosmic speed.
The largest “eaters” of traffic are multimedia files: videos, flash clips, sound and animation files, any graphic image, pop-up advertising banners. Therefore, the simplest thing you can do is not to watch HD videos, disable Wi-Fi and firewall with restricted access to applications.
Here are some more ways to save traffic:
1. If you opt out of automatic app updates you can save up to 60% of traffic.
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Android |
Apple |
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From a mobile phone go on the Internet, open Play Market. Go to Google Play menu. Select “Settings”. Go to “Auto-update apps”. 3 update options will appear in the window that opens. The most profitable one is “Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only”
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Go to “Settings”. Select “Basic” section. Go to “Update apps”. In the window that opens you need to uncheck the boxes next to those programmes which updates the user wants to disable. You can tick the permission at the top to “Auto-update over Wi-Fi”. |
2. Saving traffic in Browsers. For example, in Google Chrome. You can open “Settings”, go to “Save Traffic” and turn on the save mode.
3. Setting traffic limit. This feature has been already available in modern Android smartphones by default. To enable it you need to enter “Settings”, go to ”Data Use” section, then to “Set limi” section. On iOS the limit can be set in a free third-party app from App Store (as an example, TrafficMonitor utility).
4. Blocking Adobe Flash plugin. To save the Internet traffic you can configure a permission request before using the Adobe Flash plugin. The flash animation player will not start and, accordingly, consume the Internet traffic without the user's permission.
5. Data compression. The most popular compression programmes are as follows:
- Opera Max for Android
- Data Status
- Osmino Wi-Fi
DO NOT WANT TO BOTHER? USE THE “TRAVEL-SIM CARD”!
An alternative card offered by the Ukrainian operator TravelSIM will allow you to save up to 85% on communication.
At the same time you are not required to change the Ukrainian number (the card has the ability to forward calls from your usual Ukrainian number).
How does it work?
The TravelSIM card is active in more than 190 countries around the world. You can make roaming calls at a low 4G tariff rate - $1 for 24 hours with its help.
There is a TravelChat for those who like to communicate in messengers. TravelSIM offers unlimited messengers for a year!
By activating it you can send and receive unlimited text messages for free in FB Messenger, Viber, WhatsApp, Line, WeChat throughout the year. Even with a zero balance!
And also “TravelTariff” is an in-network tariff rate for TravelSIM subscribers.
The cost of such a card is fixed and is $ 1; the rest of the deposited amount automatically goes to the subscriber's balance. Thus, you can consult with a mobile operator specialist who will tell you the optimal amount that will be enough for you for a voyage basing on all your wishes.
TWO TYPES OF CARDS
You can choose a universal 3-in-1 physical SIM card for use in any device or digital eSIM which is loaded into a smartphone online and does not need a physical slot.
IF YOU ARE ON THE VOYAGE - THIS QR code is for you! Here is an electronic SIM card. It remains only to select the number and scan the code.
IF YOU ARE AT HOME - THIS QR code is for you! A 3-in-1 physical SIM card for any mobile device.
And remember there is nothing more important and valuable than your family members who are waiting for you on the shore.
Make sure to always stay in touch with them!
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