SpaceX delegates and Hyundai Glovis officials inspect Starlink equipment and its operational status aboard the car carrier Glovis Stella, docked at Gwangyang Port in South Jeolla Province, on Aug. 5. [Hyundai Glovis]
SpaceX delegates and Hyundai Glovis officials inspect Starlink equipment and its operational status aboard the car carrier Glovis Stella, docked at Gwangyang Port in South Jeolla Province, on Aug. 5. [Hyundai Glovis]

Hyundai Glovis said Wednesday that a SpaceX delegation, including the company's vice president of enterprise sales, recently visited the car carrier Glovis Stella to review Starlink operations aboard the vessel and hear directly from crew members about their experience.

The SpaceX team boarded the Glovis Stella at Gwangyang Port in South Jeolla Province, where they examined Starlink equipment and the ship's onboard communications environment. They then met with crew members to gather feedback on communication quality during deep-sea voyages, data transmission conditions for work purposes, and the ease of making video calls and accessing online content.

Crew members said communication quality on the open ocean — long constrained by conventional maritime communications — had improved significantly, as had the convenience of video calls and video streaming.

Hyundai Glovis has been rolling out Starlink across its fleet of 47 company-owned vessels, including car carriers and bulk carriers, since January, and has completed installation on 45 of them. The rollout has enabled faster data transmission compared with conventional satellite communications and strengthened real-time information sharing between ships and shore-based operations.

The high-speed, low-latency communications environment provided by low-earth-orbit satellite technology supports rapid information sharing with onshore teams during emergencies such as severe weather, equipment failures or crew medical incidents. It also enables remote technical support and improves vessel operational efficiency through real-time sharing of navigation and maintenance data.

The high-capacity communications infrastructure is expected to serve as a critical foundation for expanding smart shipping technologies — including AI-based predictive maintenance, vessel safety management and navigation optimization — by enabling rapid collection and analysis of operational and equipment data generated at sea.

Building on this, Hyundai Glovis plans to keep improving the safety and efficiency of vessel operations while further strengthening digital welfare for crew members. The upgraded internet environment allows seafarers to stay in touch with their families more easily and to access online education and information with greater convenience.

The company aims to leverage its Starlink-based digital communications infrastructure to deliver more stable and competitive maritime transport services and to expand its customer base among global automakers and manufacturers.

"SpaceX's visit to our vessel was a meaningful opportunity to confirm the potential of low-earth-orbit satellite communications at sea and to hear firsthand how crew members are using it in practice," a Hyundai Glovis official said. "Digital communications infrastructure is a core foundation that will determine future competitiveness in shipping, so we will actively incorporate feedback from the field to continuously advance our communications infrastructure and AI- and data-driven smart shipping systems, and provide customers with safer and more efficient maritime services."

Meanwhile, Hyundai Glovis has been accelerating its push to expand its non-affiliate customer base, recently signing a series of transport contracts with major Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers and leading battery companies.


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