Companies partner on resilient navigation for commercial ships

NAL Research is partnering with SGM Technology, a maritime technology company, and Tschudi Shipping, a maritime logistics company, to deliver a resilient navigation and tracking product line for the commercial shipping industry enabled by Iridium’s low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite network.

NAL Research is a U.S.-based firm specializing in assured positioning, navigation and timing (APNT) solutions.

The partnership aims to provide reliable asset tracking and assured navigation in high-risk maritime environments. Threats to GPS and GNSS signals —  such as jamming, spoofing and interference —  are reaching unprecedented levels worldwide. In some regions, maritime authorities reported a 350% increase in affected vessels over the past six months, according to NorthStandard. These disruptions are leading to serious consequences, including collisions, delays, financial impacts on global trade, and heightened security risks for crews at sea.

Under the partnership agreement, the companies are leveraging NAL Research’s 25+ years of expertise in APNT, tracking, and connectivity to develop solutions built on the Iridium PNT service, a powerful and fully authenticated L-band signal resilient to spoofing and jamming.

The partnership will also benefit from SGM’s 15+ years of experience delivering technology to the commercial maritime sector and Tschudi Shipping Company’s global presence and 140+ years in commercial shipping and logistics. Together, the collaboration aims to provide maritime users with unmatched resilience and reliable navigation for GPS/GNSS-compromised environments. Trials of this state-of-the-art solution are underway.