Inmarsat announced as The Ocean Race’s official satellite communications…

5 May 2021

Exclusive agreement will deliver advanced digital content capabilities, safety services and onboard connectivity for The Ocean Race Europe 2021 and The Ocean Race 2022-23

DownloadThe Ocean Race 2017-18
© Yann Riou/Volvo AB

With a promise to create one of the most connected sporting events in history, Inmarsat, the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications, will power The Ocean Race with its cutting-edge technology as Official Satellite Communications Partner for the sixth consecutive time.

Inmarsat has been selected to deliver its global satellite communication and safety services for The Ocean Race Europe 2021 and The Ocean Race 2022-23 in a new exclusive agreement, which continues the successful partnership, which began with the 2001 Volvo Ocean Race.

For the 14th edition of sailing’s greatest round-the-world challenge, Inmarsat’s reliable connectivity, accessed via the world’s most reliable global mobile satellite L-Band network, is set to enable ground-breaking advancements in onboard communications as the Race management and competing teams utilise the technology to produce engaging and immersive content at a level never seen before.

Inmarsat’s L-Band network will provide the crucial connectivity, safety and tracking services for the IMOCA 60s and one-design VO65s race yachts, even in the most remote ocean regions and most adverse weather conditions. Inmarsat’s solutions will drive the Race’s digital content delivery including live drone footage, with the aim to beam more information, images and video ashore than ever before and bring all the excitement of the event to fans and media back home.

Using Inmarsat airtime services and IsatPhone 2 satellite phones, the teams will be equipped with FleetBroadband 500 and FleetBroadband 250 to provide an ‘always-on’ connection through the Inmarsat FleetBroadband service, allowing applications such as internet access, emails, calls, weather reporting and telemedicine. It also features streaming IP available on demand, for live applications such as high-quality video streaming. Inmarsat C will also enable a two-way data connection for emergency services and 24/7 tracking. Inmarsat will also demonstrate its Fleet Xpress high-bandwidth services for yachting during the race.

Inmarsat services will also support the real-time transfer of scientific data as teams measure ocean conditions as they race across the world, including through some of the most remote parts of the planet.

Ronald Spithout, President, Inmarsat Maritime, said: “Inmarsat is delighted to once again partner with The Ocean Race to showcase our leading technology and support the teams facing one of the greatest endurance challenges in world sport with onboard connectivity. I am confident that the advanced communication capabilities including live streaming we deliver for this awe-inspiring challenge will create new firsts for the upcoming edition, such as the ground-breaking live drone footage we witnessed of the racing in the Southern Ocean from 2017-18. Plus, there will be more social media posts and content than ever before sent from the sailors and Onboard Reporters to portray the real drama and bravery of the personalities to the rest of the world.

“Advancing performance and safety levels for the teams, they will be able to tap into the full benefits of digitalisation and connectivity, through access to applications and value-added services. We are excited to watch Inmarsat services open up more opportunities for the teams to utilise the modern performance application of onboard communication tools and functionality, developing new solutions to interpret data in real-time to gain a racing advantage, analyse damage and monitor equipment.”

Since 1973, The Ocean Race has been described as the longest and toughest professional sporting event in the world. The next edition of The Ocean Race, scheduled to start from Alicante, Spain in October 2022, will visit 10 international cities, including the start port and the Grand Finale finish in Genoa, Italy in the summer of 2023. Two classes will compete, with the addition of the high-tech, foiling IMOCA 60 class adding a design and technical element. The one-design VO65 fleet will race on its third lap of the planet in 2022, with an emphasis on competition, youth and crew diversity.

Richard Brisius, the Race Chairman of The Ocean Race, said: “It is rare in sport to have a partnership that extends past 20 years, but with Inmarsat, we have a perfect fit in terms of technology and values. This new agreement will allow us to further push the boundaries with our race communications. Over the past 20 years, we have advanced from sending short text messages and small image files to streaming live video from Southern Ocean. As we look ahead, I am confident that by working with Inmarsat, we can continue to make breakthroughs that will allow fans to feel closer to the race than ever before.”

Held for the first time, The Ocean Race Europe will start on May 29, 2021in Lorient, France, and finish three weeks later in Genova, Italy. Crews from all over the world will race in foiling IMOCA 60s and one-design VO65s from the North Atlantic coast of Europe into the Mediterranean Sea, with stops in Cascais, Portugal and Alicante, the home port of The Ocean Race.

DownloadInmarsat and The Ocean Race.
© IAN ROMAN/Volvo AB

ABOUT INMARSAT

Inmarsat is the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications. It owns and operates the world’s most diverse global portfolio of mobile telecommunications satellite networks, and holds a multi-layered, global spectrum portfolio, covering L-band, Ka-band and S-band, enabling unparalleled breadth and diversity in the solutions it provides. Inmarsat’s long-established global distribution network includes not only the world’s leading channel partners but also its own strong direct retail capabilities, enabling end to end customer service assurance.

The company has an unrivalled track record of operating the world’s most reliable global mobile satellite telecommunications networks, sustaining business and mission critical safety & operational applications for more than 40 years. It is also a major driving force behind technological innovation in mobile satellite communications, sustaining its leadership through a substantial investment and a powerful network of technology and manufacturing partners.

Inmarsat operates across a diversified portfolio of sectors with the financial resources to fund its business strategy and holds leading positions in the Maritime, Government, Aviation and Enterprise satcoms markets, operating consistently as a trusted, responsive and high-quality partner to its customers across the globe.

For further information, follow us on LinkedIn or on Twitter @InmarsatGlobal.

DownloadInmarsat has provided communications technology to The Ocean Race for 20 years
© Jesus Renedo/Volvo AB

DownloadThe Ocean Race 2017-18
© Ainhoa Sanchez/Volvo AB

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For more on The Ocean Race, visit our website: www.theoceanrace.com

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About The Ocean Race

Since 1973, The Ocean Race has provided the ultimate test of a team and a human adventure like no other. Over four decades it has kept an almost mythical hold over some of the greatest sailors and been the proving ground for the legends of our sport.

The last edition of the race was the closest in history, with three teams virtually tied, approaching the finish line. After 126 days of racing spread across 11 legs, the winning margin for Charles Caudrelier’s Dongfeng Race Team was only 16 minutes. The top three teams were separated by just four points.

The next edition of The Ocean Race will start from Alicante, Spain in the autumn of 2022 and will finish in Genoa, Italy in summer of 2023. 

The Ocean Race Europe

In May/June of 2021, IMOCA and VO65 teams will take part in the inaugural edition of The Ocean Race Europe, starting in Lorient, France on May 29 and finishing in Genova, Italy on June 19, with stops in Cascais, Portugal and Alicante, Spain. 

Sustainability in The Ocean Race

We have a proven commitment to sustainability, and with the support and collaboration of 11th Hour Racing, Founding Partner of the Race Sustainability Programme and Premier Partner of The Ocean Race, we are inspiring action and creating tangible outcomes.

Building upon our award-winning legacy in sustainability, our innovative Racing With Purpose programme is acting as a catalyst for positive change and accelerating the application of innovative solutions to help restore ocean health.

The Ocean Race 1973 SL Registered Office: Muelle 10 de Levante, Puerto de Alicante, Alicante, 03001, Spain. Registered in Spain No B76239177. This email and any files transmitted are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed. If you have received this email in error, please notify webmaster@theoceanrace.com.

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Operation Magic Carpet

The dauting task of returning the troops home after WWII

Operation Magic Carpet

U.S. troops returning from Europe on board of a British ocean liner
(Photo: U.S. Navy)

The U.S. military experienced an unimaginable increase during World War II. In 1939, there were 334,000 servicemen, not counting the Coast Guard. In 1945, there were over 12 million, including the Coast Guard. At the end of the war, over 8 million of these men and women were scattered overseas in Europe, the Pacific and Asia. Shipping them out wasn’t a particular problem but getting them home was a massive logistical headache. The problem didn’t come as a surprise, as Army Chief of Staff, General George C. Marshall had already established committees to address the issue in 1943. The repatriation of military personnel was done in Operation Magic Carpet.Soldiers returning home on the USS General Harry Taylor in August 1945
(Photo: U.S. Navy)WebsiteFacebookInstagramYouTube

When Germany capitulated 76 years ago in May 1945, the U.S. Navy was still busy fighting in the Pacific and couldn’t assist. The job of transporting 3 million men home fell to the Army and the Merchant Marine. 300 Victory and Liberty cargo ships were converted to troop transports for the task. During the war, 148,000 troops crossed the Atlantic west to east each month; the rush home ramped this up to 435,000 a month over 14 months.
 
The conditions of a soldier returning home and getting discharged from military service were set out in the so-called Advance Service Rating Score (ASRS) better known as the Points System. Servicemen could obtain points for different actions in combat, number of dependents, number of months served, etc. More points meant less months until repatriation. An enlisted serviceman needed a score of 85 points to be considered for demobilization. With the end of the war getting closer, the Points System was revised almost every 3-4 months.Hammocks crammed into available spaces aboard the USS Intrepid
(Photo: U.S. Navy)

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In October 1945, with the war in Asia also over, the Navy started chipping in, converting all available vessels to transport duty. On smaller ships like destroyers, capable of carrying perhaps 300 men, soldiers were told to hang their hammocks in whatever nook and cranny they could find. Carriers were particularly useful, as their large open hangar decks could house 3,000 or more troops in relative comfort, with bunks, sometimes in stacks of five welded or bolted in place.Bunks aboard the Army transport SS Pennant
(Photo: U.S. National Archives)

The Navy wasn’t picky, though: cruisers, battleships, hospital ships, even LSTs (Landing Ship, Tank) were packed full of men yearning for home. Two British ocean liners under American control, the RMS Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, had already served as troop transports before and continued to do so during the operation, each capable of carrying up to 15,000 people at a time, though their normal, peacetime capacity was less than 2,200. Twenty-nine ships were dedicated to transporting war brides: women married to American soldiers during the war.WebsiteFacebookInstagramYouTubeTroops performing a lifeboat drill onboard the Queen Mary in December 1944, before Operation Magic Carpet (Photo: MARAD)

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The Japanese surrender in August 1945 came none too soon, but it put an extra burden on the operation. The war in Asia had been expected to go well into 1946 and the Navy and the War Shipping Administration were hard-pressed to bring home all the soldiers who now had to get home earlier than anticipated. The transports carrying them also had to collect numerous POWs from recently liberated Japanese camps, many of whom suffered from malnutrition and illness. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of German and Italian POWs held in camps outside Europe had to be returned to their countries, too. This was also done under Operation Magic Carpet.U.S. soldiers recently freed from Japanese POW camps
(Photo: historycollection.com)

The time to get home depended a lot on the circumstances. USS Lake Champlain, a brand-new Essex-class carrier that arrived too late for the war, could cross the Atlantic and take 3,300 troops home a little under 4 days and 8 hours. Meanwhile, troops going home from Australia or India would sometimes spend months on slower vessels.Hangar of the USS Wasp during the operation
(Photo: U.S. Navy)

There was enormous pressure on the operation to bring home as many men as possible by Christmas 1945. Therefore, a sub-operation, Operation Santa Claus, was dedicated to the purpose. Due to storms at sea and an overabundance of soldiers eligible for return home, however, Santa Claus could only return a fraction in time. On top of that, the rapid demobilization of American servicemen threatened to create a shortage of manpower for occupation of Germany, Austria, and Japan. Many soldiers driven by homesickness protested worldwide, involving soldiers in Guam, Japan, France, Germany, Austria, India, Korea, the United States, and England. For instance, four thousand soldiers in the Philippines had demonstrated against the cancellation of a repatriation ship on Christmas 1945 and stormed the city hall of Manila. Some soldiers were arrested in the demonstrations but most commanders took a tolerant approach. In light of the protests, the armed forced sped up demobilization with measures like the further liberalization of the Points System.The crowded flight deck of the USS Saratoga which transported home a total of 29,204 servicemen during the operation
(Photo: U.S. Navy)

Many freshly discharged men found themselves stuck in separation centers on American soil. The nation’s transportation network was overloaded: trains heading west from the East Coast were on average 6 hours behind schedule and trains heading east from the West Coast were twice that late. Luckily, the soldiers faced an outpouring of love and friendliness from the locals. Many townsfolk took in freshly arrived troops and invited them to Christmas dinner in their homes. Others gave their train tickets to soldiers and still others organized quick parties at local train stations for men on layover. A Los Angeles taxi driver took six soldiers all the way to Chicago; another took another carload of men to Manhattan, the Bronx, Pittsburgh, Long Island, Buffalo and New Hampshire. Neither of the drivers accepted a fare beyond the cost of gas.Overjoyed troops returning home on the battleship USS Texas
(Photo: U.S. Navy)

All in all, though, the Christmas deadline proved untenable. The European phase of the operation concluded in February 1946. The last 29 troop transports, carrying some 200,000 men from the China-India-Burma theater, arrived to America in April 1946, bringing Operation Magic Carpet to an end, though an additional 127,000 soldiers still took until September to return home and finally lay down the burden of war.

Those interested in history might have heard about another Operation Magic Carpet, too. Under the same codename, between 1949 and 1950, the newly-founded state of Israel evacuated nearly 49,000 Yemeni Jews from Yemen to Israel due to the economic crisis and the expanding anti-Jewish violence in the country.Yemenite Jews on their way to Israel from Yemen
(Photo: Wikipedia)

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