SK Telink, the official reseller of Starlink Korea, said on the 18th it will provide an integrated service that combines Starlink satellite communications and cybersecurity services for the entire fleet of SK Shipping. The company said this is a leading case in Korea of building and operating a combined Starlink low Earth orbit satellite communications service and security solution for an entire fleet, and it is significant in that it goes beyond simple communications to deliver a customized maritime communications service.
As digitalization and smartization of ships accelerate across the shipping and shipbuilding industries, demand has surged for integrated services that meet both communications quality and operational stability and security levels.
To respond to increasing cyber threats, SK Shipping defined security requirements tailored to ships and predesigned an integrated security framework based on UTM (unified threat management).
This adoption was pursued through close collaboration with SK Shipping even before the official launch of Starlink in Korea. SK Shipping conducted prior consultations with SK Telink and carried out installation and activation preparations, taking into account ship operating routes so that high-speed internet could be applied immediately upon Starlink activation.
Based on advance consulting that considered ship operating environments and work characteristics, SK Telink proactively prepared the entire pre-adoption process, including regulatory and technical reviews, per-ship environment analysis, and security architecture design, and established a system capable of immediate service activation simultaneously with the official launch in Korea.
Lee Sin-yong, head of SK Telink's Satellite Business Division, said, "The core of this project is not simply adopting low Earth orbit satellite communications but meeting both the communications quality and security levels required in real ship operating environments," and added, "We plan to continue expanding high value-added solutions that combine differentiated Starlink-based communications services and cybersecurity tailored to each customer's needs across various fields, including shipping and shipbuilding as well as public and defense."