Support

24/7/365 Support

Pole Star’s global support team operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. With our multilingual team of product experts based across London, Hong Kong, Panama, Singapore, and the USA, we provide service support, technical support, training, troubleshooting and diagnostics around the clock.

Contact Support

Urgent issues 
Call: +44 20 7313 7403

Non-urgent issues and queries
Email: [email protected]

LRIT Queries 
LRIT Testing: [email protected]
LRIT Certification: [email protected]
LRIT Testing and Certification for Panama-Flagged Vessels: [email protected]
LRIT Data Centre Tracking: [email protected]

*Pole Star communications notice: Please remember that Pole Star and its employees will never send emails that ask for unsolicited confidential information pertaining to business, or request for certain business transactions by email. Moreover, Pole Star official communications are never sent from personal email addresses hosted by domains such as Yahoo, Gmail, etc. Please verify the sender email address carefully. If you receive an email that you are uncertain about, please refer to your Account Manager to ensure that it is authentic.

LRIT Conformance FAQ

With more than 40,000 completed LRIT tests on behalf of global ship operators to date, Pole Star is the world leader in LRIT testing. Our system manages all aspects of the test, including terminal commissioning, satellite communications network management, post-test de-commissioning, and provides detailed test results and conformance test certificates (if required).

As such, we have answered our most frequently asked questions for clients like yourself to refer to in case of difficulties.

1. Which services does Pole Star provide for each Maritime Authority?

Please note: If your flag does not appear on this table, we do not supply any LRIT services for this administration.

Flag Registry Testing Certification Data Center Special requirements
Albania All LRIT testing and Certification (CTR) orders must be conducted via Realcom. Please contact: [email protected]
Algeria
Antigua and Barbuda
Australia
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados LRIT CTR’s issued by Pole Star prior to 01/01/2016 remain valid
Belgium
Belize
Bermuda
Bolivia
British Virgin Islands
Brunei Darussalam
Canada
Cabo Verde
Cayman Islands
Colombia LRIT Certificates (CTR’s) issued by the Maritime Authority
Cook Islands
Côte d’Ivoire
Croatia
Curaçao
Cyprus
Denmark
Ecuador
Ethiopia
Faroe Islands
Falkland Islands
Finland
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Guinea Bissau
Guyana
Honduras
Hong Kong
Indonesia All LRIT testing and Certification must be conducted via [email protected]
Iraq
Ireland
Isle Of Man
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jersey
Jordan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kuwait
Latvia
Liberia LRIT Certificates (CTR’s) issued by the Maritime Authority
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malaysia All LRIT testing and Certification should be ordered via [email protected]
Malta
Marshall Islands
Montenegro
Mozambique
Nauru
The Netherlands
Netherlands Antilles
New Zealand
Niue
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Panamá
Papua New Guinea
The Philippines
Portugal
Qatar
St Kitts and Nevis
St Vincent and the
Grenadines
San Marino
Sao Tome & Principe
Saudi Arabia
The Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore LRIT Certificates (CTR’s) issued by the Maritime Authority
Slovakia
Solomon Islands
South Africa
Spain
Sweden
Syrian Arab Republic
Togo
Tonga
Turkey All LRIT testing and Certification should be ordered via [email protected]
Tuvalu
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States of America LRIT requests must be received via United States Coast Guard Navigation Centre. Please contact: [email protected]
Vanuatu
Yemen

2. If Pole Star does not manage the DC for a Flag, who do I contact?

If Pole Star is not the recognised LRIT ASP for the Flag you require, we do not have access to or visibility of the LRIT tracking after the conformance test. Please contact the Flag administration directly for further information.

European Cooperative DC (EMSA) – Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.

Web: http://www.emsa.europa.eu/

Vessel traffic and Reporting Services-

Tel: +351 21 1209 206

Fax: +351 21 1209 217

Email:  [email protected]

Collecte Localisation Satellite (CLS) – Chile, Egypt, Mexico, Vanuatu.

Web: http://www.lrit-services.com/

Flag Administrations: [email protected]

Ship Owners: [email protected]

Collecte Localisation Satellite UK (CLS UK) – Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Comoros, Mauritius, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, United Republic of Tanzania.

Web: http://www.lrit-services.com/

Flag Administrations: [email protected]

Ship Owners: [email protected]

3. How do I conduct an LRIT Test?

To conduct an LRIT Conformance Test, you will need a user account for our LRIT On Demand Porta (ODP)l.

If you have an existing LRIT PurpleFinder account please get in touch with [email protected], who will initiate your ODP account set-up for you.

If you do not have an account, then please self register here.

  1. Log into your account
  2. Click on the Registered Vessels menu, and either register an individual ship or upload vessels from our legacy platform
  3. Click Run Test, following the instructions.  Please note that Pole Star performs a sanctions screening check on all vessels as part of it’s compliance checks
  4. Once payment has been processed (either immediately if a credit card transaction or when funds have cleared if paying by Proforma Invoice), your test will either start automatically, at the time you scheduled it to start, or start when you initiate the test directly – depending on which Test Start option was selected when purchasing the Test.
  5. Once the test has started you can monitor progress through the LRIT CT Dashboard
  6. Once the test has passed, you’ll be notified via email and then then place your order for a Conformance Test report via the CTR request link from the page menu.

4. Once the test is complete, how do I order a CTR?

1) Consult the table in Q1. to confirm whether Pole Star is authorised to certify for the vessel’s flag state. If the answer is yes – proceed to step 2.
*If the flag issues their own certificates, Pole Star will notify the flag automatically after the LRIT test has been successfully completed together with all required test information. You should contact the flag registry directly to obtain the LRIT CTR.

2) Fill in the online certificate order form.
*For urgent cases, please choose the FAST TRACK delivery option (this charges an additional fee to guarantee that the CTR is issued within 24 hours).

3) Please allow up to 1 working day for Pole Star to issue an invoice for the certificate charge. The
invoice will be sent to the email stated on the certificate order form.

4) Process the relevant payment to Pole Star and send a copy of the remittance in
response to the email sent to you which included your order’s Pro Forma Invoice, also CC: [email protected]

5) Upon confirmation of payment, Pole Star’s finance department will issue a final invoice and the certificate will be dispatched within 3 working days under the Standard Service or within 1 working day under the Fast Track service. A scanned PDF copy will also be sent via email on the day the CTR is due to be produced and dispatched.

5. What CTR delivery services does Pole Star offer?

We offer standard & fast track service options.

STANDARD SERVICE: CTRs will be produced and dispatched within 3 days of our receipt of cleared funds. (GBP 15.00/USD 26.00 – in addition to the cost of your CTR)

FAST TRACK: Within 24 hours, we will email a PDF copy to you and dispatch the hard copy via express courier, provided your application is received before 15:00 GMT. This ‘Fast Track’ service, whereby you apply and pay for your certificate immediately, guarantees you will receive the PDF before 15:00 GMT on the following working day. Fast Track requests that are received after the cut-off time of 15:00 GMT will be issued the next working day. (GBP 115.00/USD 201.00 – in addition to the cost of your CTR)

6. How do I make an amendment on my CTR?

On the CTR order form, select ‘Make changes to an existing CTR’.
If the required change is a change of Flag to a Flag that Pole Star do not issue CTR’s for, Pole Star will send an XML containing the test data to the new Flag. Pole Star will then inform you when this has been completed. No charge is required for this service by Pole Star, but you will then need to contact the Flag directly to make payment.

7. What do I do if I have forgotten my LRIT account login details?

Contact Pole Star Customer Support via [email protected].

8. I have lost my CTR, how do I get a new copy?

If you have lost the original copy of your CTR, you will need to place an order for a new one via the Pole Star website.

9. How do I find the Pole Star Test Number to place my CTR order?

If you have recently conducted an LRIT test, you can find your test number within your results. If you have recently taken over management of the vessel and do not have this detail, please contact [email protected] who will be able to provide you with it.

10. Why did my LRIT test fail?

We provide an explanation in the email containing test results, however for more detail, please contact us at [email protected].

11. Why is my LRIT equipment not reporting?

There are several reasons why equipment may not be working. Please follow our troubleshooting advice below.

If the vessel is at sea:

  • Ask the Master to reboot the transceiver. This will force the transceiver to resynchronise with the Inmarsat network.
  • To reboot the transceiver: log out the transceiver, switch it off, wait one minute, switch it back on and log back in. (To reboot a Mini C: switch off, wait one minute, switch back on.)
  • Once the transceiver has been rebooted and cleanly logged in, we should expect to receive a position report within one hour.

If the vessel is in port:

  • When the vessel is alongside in port there is an increased probability of communication problems. In a port there is likely to be a high concentration of interference sources. High power VHF, UHF and microwave equipment can all cause interference problems. Buildings, gantries and other large structures can also cause problems in port by blocking the line of sight to the satellite.
  • Once the vessel is at sea we should expect to receive a position report within 24 hours.

If the problem persists and the vessel belongs to a Flag that Pole Star manages the DC for, then we will be able to assist with troubleshooting. For assistance, please contact [email protected].

12. When am I required to conduct a new LRIT test?

You will be required to conduct a new LRIT test if your equipment has changed since the last test, or if the vessel has changed flags. Reasons for conducting a new LRIT test are not limited to the above. Contact [email protected] if you have any questions.

13. Which Iridium units are compatible for testing with Pole Star?

  • E.M.A, Bluetraker LRIT
  • Faria, Watchdog 750
  • Thorium, LRIT-TST 100
  • Trident, Polaris
  • Polaris, SIRIUS One
  • Lars Thrane LT-3100 GMDSS