Inmarsat has announced that Ben Palmer OBE will be joining the company as President of the company;s Maritime Business Unit as of November 8, 2021.
Most recently head of Northrop Grumman’s Mission Systems division across Europe, Ben brings 25 years’ experience of driving transformational change in technology-heavy industries, including maritime, with a strong customer-centric focus and a track record of delivering results.
Inmarsat has been a world-leader in maritime satellite connectivity for more than four decades, delivering flexible and reliable communication services for ship operations and crew welfare. Since the introduction of Fleet Xpress (FX) in 2016, the product has become one of the industry’s leading digital connectivity platforms and is now installed on over 11,000 vessels.
“Inmarsat is a company with growing momentum and I am delighted to welcome Ben Palmer to our executive team and as president of our maritime business at this pivotal time”, said Rajeev Suri, CEO of Inmarsat. “Supported by our market-leading technology platforms, including the recently announced ORCHESTRA and ELERA networks, Inmarsat is driving a step-change in growth. Customer-centricity is central to everything we do and Ben is the ideal leader to support our maritime partners and customers as they navigate a rapidly changing world and embrace the benefits of digitization.”
Rajeev Suri continued, “I wish to pay tribute to Ronald Spithout for his long and distinguished career at Inmarsat and his years of service to our maritime customers and partners. His leadership helped make Fleet Xpress the success it is today and I am delighted to report that our maritime business continues to show enhanced performance which forms a solid foundation for the future. We wish Ronald every success in the future.”
Ronald Spithout had been with Inmarsat since 1988 (including his time at Stratos, Xantic and Station 12) and his numerous career highlights as a leading voice in the maritime industry include the rollout of Fleet Xpress and the work he has done spearheading the digitization of shipping.