Maritime vessel communications system and related methods

1. A maritime vessel communications system comprising:

a satellite communications network;

a plurality of maritime communications terminals associated with a plurality of maritime vessels and operable over the satellite communications network; and

a communications management server configured to

obtain vessel geographic position and heading data associated with the plurality of maritime vessels,

obtain historical vessel travel route data associated with the plurality of maritime vessels,

use machine learning to determine predicted vessel travel routes based upon the vessel geographic position and heading data, and the historical vessel travel route data,

obtain historical satellite communications network usage data associated with the plurality of maritime communications terminals,

use machine learning to determine predicted satellite communications network usage for the plurality of maritime communications terminals based upon the historical satellite communications network usage data and the predicted vessel travel routes, and

operate at least one of the satellite communications network and the plurality of maritime communications terminals based upon the predicted satellite communications network usage.

2. The maritime vessel communications system of claim 1 wherein the communications management server is configured to:

obtain current weather data associated with the plurality of maritime vessels;

obtain historical weather data for the historical vessel travel route data associated with the plurality of maritime vessels; and

use machine learning to determine the predicted vessel travel routes based upon the current weather data and the historical weather data.

3. The maritime vessel communications system of claim 1 wherein the historical vessel travel route data comprises day-of-week travel data.

4. The maritime vessel communications system of claim 1 wherein the communications management server is configured to:

obtain historical satellite communications degradation data associated with the plurality of maritime vessels corresponding to the historical vessel travel route data;

use machine learning to determine predicted satellite communications degradation for the plurality of maritime communications terminals based upon the historical satellite communications degradation data and the predicted vessel travel routes; and

operate the plurality of maritime communications terminals based upon the predicted satellite communications degradation.

5. The maritime vessel communications system of claim 4 wherein the historical satellite communications degradation data comprises signal-to-noise ratio data.

6. The maritime vessel communications system of claim 4 wherein the historical satellite communications degradation data comprises terrain data for terrain adjacent the plurality of maritime vessels and associated with the historical vessel travel route data.

7. The maritime vessel communications system of claim 1 wherein the historical vessel travel route data comprises automatic identification system (AIS) data for the plurality of maritime vessels.

8. The maritime vessel communications system of claim 1 wherein the historical satellite communications network usage data comprises at least one of vessel committed information rate (CIR) data, vessel bandwidth usage data, and satellite capacity.

9. The maritime vessel communications system of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of maritime terminals comprises an antenna comprising a plurality of antenna feeds operable at respective different frequencies, and communications circuitry coupled to the plurality of antenna feeds and being configurable for a selected antenna feed.

10. The maritime vessel communications system of claim 9 wherein the communications management server is configured to operate the plurality of maritime communications terminals by selecting an antenna feed from among the plurality thereof.

11. The maritime vessel communications system of claim 1 wherein the satellite communications network comprises a plurality of communications satellites; wherein the plurality of maritime communications terminals each comprises an antenna and a positioner to mount the antenna to the maritime vessel and point the antenna; and wherein the communications management server is configured to operate the positioner to point the antenna to a selected satellite from the plurality thereof.

12. A communications management server for a maritime vessel communications system comprising a satellite communications network, and a plurality of maritime communications terminals associated with a plurality of maritime vessels and operable over the satellite communications network, the communications management server comprising:

a processor and an associated memory configured to

obtain vessel geographic position and heading data associated with the plurality of maritime vessels,

obtain historical vessel travel route data associated with the plurality of maritime vessels,

use machine learning to determine predicted vessel travel routes based upon the vessel geographic position and heading data, and the historical vessel travel route data,

obtain historical satellite communications network usage data associated with the plurality of maritime communications terminals,

use machine learning to determine predicted satellite communications network usage for the plurality of maritime communications terminals based upon the historical satellite communications network usage data and the predicted vessel travel routes, and

operate at least one of the satellite communications network and the plurality of maritime communications terminals based upon the predicted satellite communications network usage.

13. The communications management server of claim 12 wherein the processor is configured to:

obtain current weather data associated with the plurality of maritime vessels;

obtain historical weather data for the historical vessel travel route data associated with the plurality of maritime vessels; and

use machine learning to determine the predicted vessel travel routes based upon the current weather data and the historical weather data.

14. The communications management server of claim 12 wherein the historical vessel travel route data comprises day-of-week travel data.

15. The communications management server of claim 12 wherein the processor is configured to:

obtain historical satellite communications degradation data associated with the plurality of maritime vessels corresponding to the historical vessel travel route data;

use machine learning to determine predicted satellite communications degradation for the plurality of maritime communications terminals based upon the historical satellite communications degradation data and the predicted vessel travel routes; and

operate the plurality of maritime communications terminals based upon the predicted satellite communications degradation.

16. A method of maritime vessel communications comprising:

using a communications management server to

obtain vessel geographic position and heading data associated with a plurality of maritime vessels,

obtain historical vessel travel route data associated with the plurality of maritime vessels,

use machine learning to determine predicted vessel travel routes based upon the vessel geographic position and heading data, and the historical vessel travel route data,

obtain historical satellite communications network usage data associated with a plurality of maritime communications terminals associated with the plurality of maritime vessels and operable over a satellite communications network,

use machine learning to determine predicted satellite communications network usage for the plurality of maritime communications terminals based upon the historical satellite communications network usage data and the predicted vessel travel routes, and

operate at least one of the satellite communications network and the plurality of maritime communications terminals based upon the predicted satellite communications network usage.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein using the communications management server comprises using the communications management server to:

obtain current weather data associated with the plurality of maritime vessels;

obtain historical weather data for the historical vessel travel route data associated with the plurality of maritime vessels; and

use machine learning to determine the predicted vessel travel routes based upon the current weather data and the historical weather data.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the historical vessel travel route data comprises day-of-week travel data.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein using the communications management server comprises using the communications management server to:

obtain historical satellite communications degradation data associated with the plurality of maritime vessels corresponding to the historical vessel travel route data;

use machine learning to determine predicted satellite communications degradation for the plurality of maritime communications terminals based upon the historical satellite communications degradation data and the predicted vessel travel routes; and

operate the plurality of maritime communications terminals based upon the predicted satellite communications degradation.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium for maritime vessel communications, the non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions that when executed by a processor of a communications management server cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

obtaining vessel geographic position and heading data associated with a plurality of maritime vessels;

obtaining historical vessel travel route data associated with the plurality of maritime vessels;

using machine learning to determine predicted vessel travel routes based upon the vessel geographic position and heading data, and the historical vessel travel route data;

obtaining historical satellite communications network usage data associated with a plurality of maritime communications terminals associated with the plurality of maritime vessels and operable over a satellite communications network;

using machine learning to determine predicted satellite communications network usage for the plurality of maritime communications terminals based upon the historical satellite communications network usage data and the predicted vessel travel routes; and

operating at least one of the satellite communications network and the plurality of maritime communications terminals based upon the predicted satellite communications network usage.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20 wherein the operations comprise:

obtaining current weather data associated with the plurality of maritime vessels;

obtaining historical weather data for the historical vessel travel route data associated with the plurality of maritime vessels; and

using machine learning to determine the predicted vessel travel routes based upon the current weather data and the historical weather data.

22. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20 wherein the historical vessel travel route data comprises day-of-week travel data.

23. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 20 wherein the operations comprise:

obtaining historical satellite communications degradation data associated with the plurality of maritime vessels corresponding to the historical vessel travel route data;

using machine learning to determine predicted satellite communications degradation for the plurality of maritime communications terminals based upon the historical satellite communications degradation data and the predicted vessel travel routes; and

operating the plurality of maritime communications terminals based upon the predicted satellite communications degradation.