The Russian fishing sector recently began exclusive use of Russian domestically manufactured satellites for monitoring fishing vessels at sea.
The move came following an order from the Russian Ministry of Agriculture that called for relevant organisations to cease their reliance on British Inmarsat satellite terminals and to instead transition to domestic satellite terminals as technical control means (TCMs) on vessels.
The foreign-made terminals that have been used as TCMs on Russian fishing vessels of more than 80 GT and with main engine outputs of over 55 kW were already replaced in the 18 months since May 13, 2024.
The transition will ensure Russian stakeholders will continue to be able to monitor their vessels' activities without the risk of being disconnected from an existing satellite network.
The Russian Federal Agency for Fishery had earlier conducted an assessment of the reliability of the Inmarsat satellite system and of the similar Russian-developed Gonets system.
The assessment showed that Gonets offered significantly greater stability in addition to ensuring lower communication transmission costs for vessel owners.
