OCEAN

•  B2B crew entertainment platform for the international merchant marine

•  Content: licensed feature films, music channels, training videos, safety information, internal company communication

•  Daily digital transmission via Starlink

•  Anonymised usage analytics and crew-driven wish lists

•  Programme customisation per ship and per crew

•  Supports compliance with the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC, 2006) — in particular the “social connectivity” mandate in force since 23 December 2024

•  More than ten years of market experience, anchor customer Oldendorff Carriers

•  Suited to bulk carriers, container ships, tankers and comparable cargo vessels

•  Addresses the structural shortage of STCW-certified officers through measurable crew retention effects

OCEAN is the crew infotainment system MOTECO built for the international merchant marine. One platform. Films, music, training, safety and internal shipowner communication — all under one roof.

OCEAN has been in the market for over a decade. The system was designed together with the crew welfare team at Oldendorff Carriers. It is the first digital platform to bring education, safety, internal communication and entertainment into a single on-board infrastructure.

OCEAN combines four content pillars: licensed international feature films, curated music channels, training and safety videos, shipowner corporate content. Tailored to the working and living realities on board. Available in multiple languages.

Content components overview:

•  Feature films with rights cleared for playback in the maritime sector (Non-Theatrical Public Performance Rights), internationally selected for diverse crew nationalities

•  Music channels featuring curated programmes for common rooms and personal devices

•  Training videos for safety drills, technical upskilling and regulatory briefings

•  Safety information for routine ship operations and emergency situations

•  Corporate content from the shipowner: internal news, HR communication, management updates

OCEAN content is transmitted via Starlink. Daily. No more mobile media servers physically carried on board. Content updates, anonymised usage analytics and the crew’s wish lists move both ways — between MOTECO and the bridge — every day.

This creates three operational advantages for shipping companies:

•  Currency: films, news, safety and training content are served close to real time, rather than updated monthly via physical media.

•  Analytics: anonymised usage data show which content the crew actually consumes — a robust basis for ongoing programme curation.

•  Individualisation: crews submit wish lists; the programme adjusts per ship and per crew.

Crews access OCEAN on personal devices and on shared displays in common rooms.

Because Spotify is licensed for the living room and Netflix for the home screen — not for the mess room on a bulk carrier. Use of these services in common areas of commercial vessels is copyright infringement. Shipping companies need dedicated B2B licences for public performance — Non-Theatrical Public Performance Rights, in the trade vocabulary.

In film, Swank Motion Pictures acts as the exclusive licensor for the major Hollywood studios in the maritime sector. In music, the rights of international collecting societies such as ASCAP, BMI, PPL and PRS apply. OCEAN bundles the relevant licences in a single platform — replacing the precarious patchwork of private streaming use in crew areas.

There is also a technical reality: even where bandwidth would suffice, Starlink Maritime tariffs are sharply throttled once the “Priority Data” allocation is exhausted — typically to 1 Mbps download and 0.5 Mbps upload. Conventional consumer streaming cannot function under these conditions. OCEAN is built for the real-world maritime bandwidth envelope.

The 2022 amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC, 2006) entered into force under international law on 23 December 2024 and have been enforced since 2026. Standard A3.1, paragraph 17 obliges shipping companies to provide on-board recreational facilities that include measures to promote “social connectivity”. OCEAN delivers the infrastructure and the content to meet that obligation in practice.

Specifically, OCEAN provides:

•  Structured leisure content — licensed films and curated music addressing on-board well-being

•  Internal shipowner communication channels that systematically connect crew with the company

•  Bandwidth-optimised distribution that does not compromise the free social-connectivity allowance recommended by UK guidance MGN 707 (M)

•  Training and safety content that strengthens competence and operational safety on board

Non-compliance with the MLC connectivity mandate can, under national implementation — such as the UK’s Merchant Shipping (Maritime Labour Convention and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2026 — constitute a criminal offence by the shipowner and result in port state control sanctions, up to and including detention of the vessel.

OCEAN strengthens crew retention — and retention is currency in shipping right now. BIMCO and the International Chamber of Shipping project a global shortage of roughly 90,000 STCW-certified officers for 2026. Newer estimates put the gap above ten percent of demand. Every officer kept is recruitment, onboarding and medical repatriation cost avoided.

The economic leverage of crew welfare operates along several vectors:

•  Retention: better on-board conditions reduce attrition and the replacement costs of qualified personnel.

•  Psychosocial stability: studies indicate that over 50 percent of crew members spend more time in common areas after the introduction of shared entertainment systems. Social interaction counteracts isolation.

•  Health costs: psychosocial strain and fatigue are leading causes of musculoskeletal and cardiovascular conditions, which in turn drive expensive medical repatriations.

•  Safety: a rested, mentally stable crew reduces the likelihood of human error in ship operations — particularly relevant given shrinking crew sizes, shorter port stays and the increasing technical complexity of new propulsion systems.

OCEAN listens. Anonymised usage data and crew wish lists feed back to MOTECO via Starlink, continuously. We see which films are actually watched, which music channels the crew turns on, which titles are missing. The programme adapts per ship and per crew.

What changes is the role of the provider. No more one-off content drops. Over time, each shipping company — and sometimes each individual vessel — develops its own content profile, shaped by the nationalities, the languages and the preferences of the crew on board.

Bulk carriers. Container ships. Tankers. OCEAN is built for the international commercial cargo sector. The system scales across vessels of every size — content selection and delivery stack adapt to the available bandwidth and the size of the crew on board.

Typical use contexts:

•  Dry bulk fleets (bulk carriers) in the global liner or spot market

•  Container ships on intercontinental liner services

•  Tanker fleets (crude oil, product, chemical)

•  Multipurpose and heavy-lift vessels with longer port stays

OCEAN is developed and operated by Mobility Technology Consulting (MOTECO) in Hamburg. Twenty-plus years in the entertainment industry, brought to the maritime sector. The current system was built side by side with the crew welfare team at Oldendorff Carriers.

Oldendorff Carriers is one of the largest privately held shipping companies in the world, with a globally active bulk carrier fleet operated from Lübeck and Hamburg.