Cross-border, deep-sea fishers stay connected

General Santos City – It has been a year since master fisherman Danilo Soberano last saw his wife and three kids. But he is not worried. Though he is literally in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and is likely to stay there for another six months, satellite telephony allows him to make phone calls from time to time and stay connected with his family.

Ever since the management of General Santos City-based RD Fishing Industry Inc. started installing Smart Link prepaid fixed satellite phones in their fishing vessels early this year, they noticed a positive change in the crew’s disposition – morale went up and productivity improved significantly.

RD Fishing is engaged primarily in the tuna business and its fishing vessels are not confined in Philippine waters. The vessels reach Indonesia to as far as Papua New Guinea, where RD Fishing’s owner, the Rivera family, has a 20-year fishing license as well as a tuna cannery. As such, catchers usually stay for more than a year in the high seas, says Milan Tibong, electronics manager of RD Fishing.

"Our catchers stay 17 to 18 months in the high seas. We have an average of 26 crew members for every superseiner or catcher boat. After calling and talking with their loved ones, they tend to work faster. I think it’s because they have peace of mind. Staying in touch with their respective families help boost their morale. This is very important," he says.

Tibong says that since last May when a Smart Link unit was installed in the vessel assigned to Soberano, the captain and his crew have used up about P17,500 worth of Smart Link prepaid cards. At present, industry leader Smart Communications Inc. is the only local wireless service provider with satellite phone services.

RD Fishing initially purchased 15 Smart Link units for its fishing vessels and has installed nine of them. The Smart Link satellite phone is designed for use by multiple subscribers. One plug-and-play unit may be shared by the crew. It consists of a main terminal that contains the phone functions and the SIM, an all-weather-resistant dome antenna and cable, and a telephone handset. One can easily insert or take out the SIM card without turning the unit off.

"It takes about five days by boat to navigate to Papua New Guinea from General Santos. With Smart Link, we can also better locate or track our vessels using the Global Positioning System," says Walter Sumajit, MIS department head of RD Corp.

Another advantage is if breakdown occurs in one of the vessels, troubleshooting can be done directly by phone – unlike when one is using the radio.

"With radio, one has to go through the operator, who will encode the message, print and distribute it only during office hours," says Tibong.

The company finds the Smart Link satellite phone more efficient than the traditional radio communications used in ships. Smart Link enables faster, more private and clearer communication between the crew of a fishing vessel and those in General Santos and to as far as Malang, Papua New Guinea.

Thanks to the large footprint of the ACeS satellite technology, Smart Link’s coverage spans the Asia-Pacific region, allowing RD Fishing to utilize the service even outside the country.

In mid-July, Smart lowered the price of its Smart Link satellite phones to enable wider access to the service. The price was cut by 67 percent to P4,990 from P14,990, making it comparable to the purchase of a mid-range cellular handset.

A major player in the industry, RD Fishing has grown from having only one purse seiner in 1981 to a fleet of eight superseiners with fish holding capacity of 500 to 1,200 metric tons; eight reefer carriers with fish holding capacity of 350 to 2,500 MT; and 18 light and ranger boats with gross tonnage of 40 to 70 tons. It has a license in Papua New Guinea to field 12 sets of superseiners complemented by carriers, ranger boats and light boats.

RD Fishing also operates eight medium-sized catchers, 18 medium-sized fish carriers, 27 light and ranger boats and a tanker vessel which serves as a supply boat for the fuel and water requirements of all fishing vessels in the high seas.