In May 2018, the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) officially recognized Iridium as a provider of GMDSS services. This was a significant achievement as the recognition ended a decades-long monopoly and will allow for coverage where none existed before, including Arctic and Antarctic waters in Sea Area A4.

 

Less than a year later, Iridium announced the signing of a Public Services Agreement (PSA) with the International Mobile Satellite Organization (IMSO) detailing the conditions for IMSO to act as a regulator and maintain oversite of Iridium GMDSS services. The signing of this agreement is a key step towards

IMSO issuing Iridium a Letter of Compliance, stating that the company is ready to begin providing its GMDSS service.

 

For the first time, Iridium will bring competition and truly global coverage to mariners sailing any of the world’s oceans. As Iridium works with its partners to develop GMDSS solutions, the new competition is expected to drive supplier diversity and reduce the costs of shipboard equipment.