Starlink Trials Personal Maritime Broadband Plan for Small Boat Owners

Starlink’s (SpaceX) ultrafast satellite broadband service has finally responded to complaints from small boat owners about the company’s recent restrictions on international roaming, which threatened to make the service untenable for those who sail around different parts of the world – sometimes for months. But a new Personal Maritime Plan may be the answer, albeit with caveats.

According to Starlink, the new Personal Maritime Plan is aimed at the sort of active small boat owners that we highlighted above and will set customers back $185/month (£136), excluding applicable taxes. For that you’ll get unlimited data and use in territorial waters worldwide; Ocean Mode available beyond 12 nautical miles for $6/GB (i.e. for when you’re travelling beyond the coast and in international waters) and no 30-day Roam international travel limit (except in extremely rare cases when required by local regulations).

However, the high cost of $6 per GigaByte on Ocean Mode is likely to disincentivise serious use while travelling over the open ocean away from land (this also used to cost $2 per GB on general roaming plans), which is far from ideal. But this isn’t the only significant caveat of the new plan.

The small print also states that it “is available exclusively for personal, small watercraft use. Use on larger craft or yachts (e.g. watercraft exceeding 40 ft. in length overall) is prohibited. Any commercial, business, or enterprise use of the Personal Maritime service plan is prohibited. Use of the Personal Maritime service plan on land is prohibited.”

On the one hand, we can well understand the restriction on commercial vessels, yet quite why Starlink has then completely restricted use on any watercraft exceeding 40 ft. in length overall is a tougher sell. A lot of personal sail boats, particularly those used for crossing rougher seas, will often slightly exceed that length by a few feet (just take a stroll around some boat yards in the UK and you’ll see plenty slightly above 40ft).

According to a related report on PC Mag, the new plan seems to be in a sort of trial phase as Starlink currently only appear to be offering it to a few select users who have used the service on the ocean before. At present it’s unclear when this might become more widely available and, lest we forget, this is Starlink.. so packages, prices and service features tend to change more frequently than the skin of a chameleon.

Copy of Starlink’s Customer Email

Stay Connected on the Water

Your Starlink has operated at sea in the past year. We have a new plan—Personal Maritime—for people who use Starlink on a vessel and stay on the water for extended periods before returning to their home country.

Your current Roam plan includes coverage in territorial waters, with Ocean Mode as a paid option beyond 12 nautical miles. International use is limited to 30 days at a time outside your registered home country, after which you can return home to continue service. Effective September 27, Ocean Mode will be $6/GB.

If that 30-day limit doesn’t fit how you travel, Personal Maritime may be the better option.

Introducing Personal Maritime

Personal Maritime keeps you connected on the water as you move between countries, without the 30-day Roam travel limit.

• $185/month USD, excluding applicable taxes
• Unlimited data and use in territorial waters worldwide
• Ocean Mode available beyond 12 nautical miles for $6/GB
• No 30-day Roam international travel limit, except in extremely rare cases when required by local regulations

This plan is for small personal vessels—not yachts or commercially operated vessels (including ferries and commercial fishing)—and is not intended for use on land.

To switch to Personal Maritime, you will be asked to provide information about your vessel:

• Vessel name
• Flag state
• Length overall (LOA)
• A unique ID (such as Hull Identification Number, Craft Identification Number, MMSI, or ITU Call Sign)
• A copy of your vessel’s Registration Certificate

If you are interested, you can create a ticket with support below. We’ll follow-up with next steps, including terms of service.

Starlink currently has around 11,100 satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) – mostly at altitudes of between c.340-550km. Residential users in the UK pay from £40 a month for the 100Mbps unlimited data plan, which also promises uploads of c.15-35Mbps and low latency connectivity (c.20ms). Faster packages exist at greater cost, while more restrictive (data capped) options also exist for roaming users (e.g. £55 per month for 100GB of data).