FORT LEE, N.J. -- ORBCOMM Inc. (Nasdaq: ORBC), a global satellite data communications company focused on two-way Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications and leading provider of space-based Automatic Identification System (AIS) services, announced that ORBCOMM AIS data was used to help rescue two yachters in distress and in detecting low power search and rescue transponders from space.
In a report, dated December 31, 2009, to the International Maritime Organization’s Sub-Committee on Radio Communications and Search and Rescue (COMSAR), the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) highlighted the use of ORBCOMM’s satellite AIS data by Australia’s Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC Australia) to execute a search and rescue in August 2009.
The report explains that ORBCOMM’s satellite AIS data was used to “identify a merchant ship not otherwise known to RCC Australia”. The AIS data was then used to direct the ship to the scene of a yacht in distress off the northern Australia coast, where two people were rescued. ORBCOMM’s satellite AIS data, which was easily incorporated into AMSA’s commercial AIS display tools and Australia’s in-house maritime domain awareness tools, “appeared identical to terrestrial data, with the ‘time from last update’, ranging from two seconds to over nine minutes. When an AIS satellite was over a region where an ORBCOMM ground station had satellite visibility, the AIS traffic had latency in the order of seconds.”
As part of a recent test, ORBCOMM’s satellite AIS data successfully detected one-watt search and rescue transponders from space, which were meant to simulate a life raft and a person in the water. This task was conducted by participants from the U.S. Coast Guard, the UK’s Northern Lighthouse Board, Germany’s Waterways and Shipping Administration, and the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) on January 20 and January 21, 2010, off the coast of Hawaii.
“We are pleased that ORBCOMM’s satellite AIS technology is being applied to maritime safety applications, both live and simulated. It clearly demonstrates the usefulness of space-based AIS technology in conducting search and rescue operations,” said Marc Eisenberg, Chief Executive Officer of ORBCOMM. “We are proud that ORBCOMM’s satellite AIS receivers were able to collect messages from the low wattage search and rescue transponders. The fact that our satellite AIS capability is saving lives is a testament to the reliability of our satellite AIS technology and can significantly benefit SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) in the future.”
About ORBCOMM Inc.
ORBCOMM is a leading global satellite data communications company, focused on Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications. Its customers include Caterpillar Inc., Doosan Infracore America, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Hyundai Heavy Industries, I.D. Systems, Inc., Komatsu Ltd., Manitowoc Crane Companies, Inc., and Volvo Construction Equipment among other industry leaders. ORBCOMM is the leading commercial provider of global AIS data from space, with users that include the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy, U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Lloyds’ Register-Fairplay, a division of IHS, among other government and commercial organizations. By means of a global network of low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites and accompanying ground infrastructure, ORBCOMM’s low-cost and reliable two-way data communication services track, monitor and control mobile and fixed assets in four core markets: commercial transportation; heavy equipment; industrial fixed assets; and marine/homeland security. ORBCOMM based products are installed on trucks, containers, marine vessels, locomotives, backhoes, pipelines, oil wells, utility meters, storage tanks and other assets. ORBCOMM is headquartered in Fort Lee, New Jersey and has its network control center in Dulles, Virginia. For more information, visit www.orbcomm.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements discussed in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements generally relate to our plans, objectives and expectations for future events and include statements about our expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, intentions, assumptions and other statements that are not historical facts. Such forward-looking statements, including those concerning the Company’s expectations, are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from the results, projected, expected or implied by the forward-looking statements, some of which are beyond the Company’s control, that may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: the impact of global recession and continued worldwide credit and capital constraints; substantial losses we have incurred and expect to continue to incur; demand for and market acceptance of our products and services and the applications developed by our resellers; other value-added resellers or VARs and international value-added resellers or IVARs; loss or decline or slowdown in growth in business of any of the specific industry sectors the Company serves, such as transportation, heavy equipment, fixed assets and maritime; litigation proceedings; technological changes, pricing pressures and other competitive factors; the inability of our international resellers to develop markets outside the United States; market acceptance and success of our AIS business; the in-orbit satellite failure of the two remaining quick-launch satellites, satellite launch and construction delays and cost overruns and in-orbit satellite failures or reduced performance; the failure of our system or reductions in levels of service due to technological malfunctions or deficiencies or other events; our inability to renew or expand our satellite constellation; political, legal regulatory, government administrative and economic conditions and developments in the United States and other countries and territories in which we operate; and changes in our business strategy; and the other risks described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Unless required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. For more detail on these and other risks, please see our “Risk Factors” section in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008.
