Salvamento Marítimo (Maritime Rescue) awards Cellnex Telecom the Radiotelecommunications system in Spain

The contract is valid for four years, extendable for one more, and worth nearly EUR 39 million.

 It gives continuity to the service Cellnex Telecom has been providing since 2008.

• Cellnex will provide the service through its Network of Coast Stations which allows 24/7 listening on maritime channels, all year round.
• The contract, which was put out to public tender, covers receiving automatic alerts and distress calls, to be sent immediately to Maritime Rescue coordinators, as well as transmitting information for maritime safety and meteorological information, according to the guidelines established by Maritime Rescue. The service also includes the connection between the Spanish Medical Radio Centre and any ships requesting that service.
• Spain has a Search And Rescue (SAR) area of responsibility of 5 million km² –three times the national territory–, which must be covered by the Coast Stations Network.

Barcelona, 9 April 2024. The Maritime Rescue and Safety Society (SASEMAR) of the Spanish Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility has awarded Cellnex Spain the contract for the provision of services included within the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System for the Safety of Life at Sea. Cellnex will provide the service through its Network of Coast Stations distributed in strategic sites along the Iberian peninsula coast in the VHF, MF, HF and NAVTEX frequency bands.

The Coast Stations are connected through Cellnex’s national data transmission network to the Maritime Radio Communications Control Centres (CCR), where Maritime radio operators, also belonging to Cellnex, provide the “Permanent Listening Service” (24×365): receiving alerts and distress calls, emergency and security and transferring them to the Rescue Coordination Centres (CCS).

In addition, the Service includes broadcasting Radio warnings, Bulletins and Meteorological warnings upon request and under the coordination of Maritime Rescue, interconnection with the Spanish medical radio service for medical consultations from the sea, communications service for radio equipment testing, and ships’ inspections.

The Coast Station Network covers the maritime zones A1, A2 and A3 (in the VHF, MF and HF bands) from the Spanish coast; radio coverage of 35 nautical miles in VHF band (maritime zone A1), 150 nautical miles in Medium Wave (maritime zone A2) and Short-Wave coverage between 76 degrees North and 76 degrees South (maritime zone A3).

Providing the service complies with the international conventions signed by Spain, in particular the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention and the International Search and Rescue Convention (SAR), which are the most important international treaties governing the safety of ships.

The Level of Service demanded by Maritime Rescue, with a high degree of availability appropriate for a security and emergency service of these characteristics, requires a very robust network, designed with redundancies and contingency plans to guarantee the operability and assurance of such a critical service.

Cellnex has extensive experience in managing safety and emergency communications networks and services, and its mobile radio systems with their more than 1,300 base stations, serve more than 98,000 users including police officers, firefighters, forest rangers and healthcare personnel throughout Spain.

Automatic Identification System for ships

Maritime Rescue has also awarded Cellnex the Automatic Identification System (AIS) data service for the establishment of a maritime traffic information monitoring and processing system.

Cellnex coastal stations collect AIS data containing ships navigation information, static information (registration, characteristics, flag…) and dynamic information (speed, course, port of origin, port of destination…).

The service includes real-time monitoring and presentation of AIS data as well as its storage for management and processing. Compared to the previous contract, the satellite AIS coverage areas have been extended and a new WMS (Web Map Services) service has been added to provide worldwide coverage. This contract, which is valid for 5 years, has been tendered through another public tender, and amounts to nearly EUR 6 million.

About Cellnex Telecom

Cellnex is Europe’s largest telecommunications towers and infrastructures operator, enabling operators to access a wide network of telecommunications infrastructures on a shared-use basis, and thus helping to reduce access barriers and to improve services in the most remote areas. The company manages a portfolio of more than 138,000 sites, including forecast roll-outs up to 2030, in 12 European countries, with a significant footprint in Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and Poland. Cellnex, which is listed on the Spanish Stock Exchange, is part of the selective IBEX35 and Euro Stoxx 100 and enjoys outstanding positions on the main sustainability indices such as CDP, Sustainalytics, FTSE4Good, MSCI and DJSI Europe.