Besides passenger satisfaction, health, and safety, cruise ships increasingly rely on technology to optimize highly complex day-to-day operations behind the scenes. Cruise ships utilize advanced navigation systems that leverage real-time data and sophisticated algorithms to optimize routes and avoid severe weather conditions. They are also increasingly investing in IoT and AI-driven solutions for predictive maintenance, improved inventory control, and optimized resource allocation. These technologies enable ship operations to streamline tasks and gain insights into water and energy usage, waste management, and other key factors, ultimately improving efficiencies. NAVIGATING SHIPBOARD NETWORK CHALLENGES Deploying high-performance, robust shipboard networks to support a multitude of applications and thousands of connected devices on a cruise ship is uniquely challenging compared to land-based resorts due to the vessel’s construction, harsh environment, power constraints, and space limitations. The compartmentalized design of a cruise ship, with steel bulkheads and vertical fire zones, has a significant impact on the design of shipboard networks. With watertight, fire-resistant walls and doors, cruise ships can seal off fire zones to contain smoke, fire, and water in the event of a catastrophe, allowing the vessel to remain afloat. Large cruise ships
can have between six and 10 vertical fire zones, each of which requires its own sub-network. 3 These sub-networks are typically comprised of multiple remote distribution points (RDP), often at the port and starboard sides of the ship for redundancy, which
often host applications locally instead of using cloud-based solutions. A single cruise ship data center can contain 10 to 15 full racks of dedicated network equipment, including switches, servers, storage arrays, and security appliances. 5 The increased adoption of technologies like AI and machine learning (ML) will require more powerful servers to handle the processing, which in turn will demand even more power and cooling, further straining ship resources. SAILING TOWARDS SAVINGS AND SUSTAINABILITY Cruise ships have historically used traditional switched copper networks. In this scenario, Category 6A or Category 7A shielded twisted-pair copper cabling runs from switches in the RDPs through tight pathways to hundreds of distributed switches, providing connectivity for devices in nearby passenger cabins and other spaces. Although these networks support 10 Gigabit per second (Gbps) data transmission and power over Ethernet (PoE), they are not ideal for the demanding cruise ship environment. The larger cable diameter and minimum bend radius of shielded twisted-pair cabling make them challenging to route through the tight, constrained pathways found throughout a ship. Additionally, the 100 m distance limitation of twisted-pair cabling necessitates a greater number of RDPs, each with its own switches, power, and cooling, to reach all the devices within a zone. Copper is also highly susceptible to corrosion from the salty marine air, which can compromise signal integrity and reduce the network's lifespan, forcing cruise ships to invest in more robust and costly industrial cabling solutions and conduct more frequent upgrades. The hospitality industry has embraced passive optical LAN technology for more than 15 years due to its cost-effective installation and support for multiple services at once. A passive optical LAN is comprised of centrally managed optical line terminals (OLT) that use singlemode optical fiber to connect to optical network terminals (ONT) via passive optical splitters in a point-to-multipoint architecture. Each ONT offers multiple ports to connect and power devices using short, easy-to-replace copper cables.
Passive optical LANs are especially transformative for cruise ships. Singlemode optical fiber’s higher bandwidth, smaller diameter, extended reach, and inherent resistance to both EMI and corrosive marine air make this technology a natural fit for overcoming the unique challenges of deploying a modern shipboard network. Singlemode optical fiber cables, which connect OLTs to ONTs in a passive optical LAN, are approximately one-third the diameter of shielded Category 6A or Category 7A copper cables and offer at least four times the tensile strength. This makes them much easier to route through a ship's tight pathways, dramatically reducing both installation time and costs. Singlemode optical fiber is also highly resistant to corrosion, which improves long-term reliability in harsh marine environments. Because singlemode optical fiber is entirely immune to EMI, it is also inherently more secure than copper cabling, which can help strengthen network security against potential threats that can compromise passenger data or disable critical shipboard systems. In addition, ONTs are simple devices that are exclusively controlled by the OLT, do not have an IP address, and do not locally store any configuration information. This makes a passive optical LAN more secure and reliable, as it reduces the number of touch points on the network and prevents misconfigurations. The long-distance capability of singlemode optical fiber is especially a game-changer for cruise ships. It can span ~20 kilometers (km) (12.5 miles [mi]) or more between the OLT and ONTs, allowing cruise ships to significantly reduce the number of RDPs needed in each fire zone. The space saved by having fewer RDPs can be repurposed as additional cabins or other revenue-generating real estate. Fewer RDPs also means fewer network switches, which in turn reduces power consumption and cooling requirements, leading to even greater savings. The cruise industry, which has historically been criticized for its environmental impact, is actively addressing concerns by implementing more sustainable practices to reduce both operational and embodied carbon emissions. Major cruise lines are designing ships with streamlined hulls for improved
house racks of switches and function as telecommunications rooms (TR).
Environmental factors also present a significant obstacle. The ship’s constant motion and vibrations, as well as corrosive moisture and salt from the ocean air, can damage cables and connectors. The extensive use of metal in the ship’s construction can cause significant electromagnetic interference (EMI). Proper grounding and bonding is essential to prevent electrical currents from flowing through the walls. Furthermore, the metal compartments block wireless signals, requiring the installation of thousands of Wi-Fi access points, including individual access points in each cabin. Specific wireless frequencies are also disabled to avoid interference with ship navigation systems, which can further limit Wi-Fi capacity. Power consumption is another major consideration for cruise ship operators. Cruise ships generate their own power via on-board gas or diesel generators, and some vessels can require as much as 100 megawatts for propulsion, operations, and hotel load. 4 Adding to the challenge is that a cruise ship's internet connectivity relies on satellite communication, which is prone to higher latency and signal degradation during adverse weather conditions. Consequently, cruise ships
FIGURE 1 : Cruise ships are divided into fire zones that each require their own sub-network. Source: APOLAN
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October/November/December 2025
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