Russian Fishing Fleet Switches Fully to Domestic Satellite Navigation Systems
As of January 1, Russia’s fishing fleet has fully transitioned away from foreign satellite navigation systems, relying exclusively on domestically developed technologies for vessel monitoring and data transmission.
Import Substitution Completed
Russia continues to accelerate its transition away from imported technologies across critical industries. Beyond reinforcing national technological sovereignty, this shift is also providing domestic manufacturers with a powerful incentive to innovate and scale.
As of January 1, the Russian fishing fleet has completely discontinued the use of foreign satellite navigation systems, replacing them with domestically developed alternatives. The Federal Agency for Fisheries’ industry monitoring system has fully abandoned data feeds from foreign satellite communication providers. Data transmission now runs through three Russian orbital constellations – Gonets, Yamal and Express – operating alongside GLONASS and replacing the previous reliance on Inmarsat and Express-V channels. All required technical upgrades have been completed across the fleet’s 900 vessels.
Under an order issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, British Inmarsat satellite terminals ceased to be used as mandatory vessel monitoring devices starting January 1.
Domestic Systems Outperform Foreign Alternatives
According to the Federal Agency for Fisheries, replacing foreign satellite stations minimizes the risk of vessels being disconnected from overseas satellite networks, ensuring uninterrupted monitoring of fishing activity. The move also strengthens Russia’s technological sovereignty in maritime communications infrastructure.
“In December 2025, we assessed the comparative reliability of the Russian Gonets satellite system and the British Inmarsat system in transmitting monitoring data to the industry monitoring platform. The results showed that in 2025, the operational stability of Gonets terminals on fishing vessels exceeded the performance of foreign Inmarsat ship equipment by more than two times,” said Alexander Mikhailov, Head of the Fisheries Monitoring and Communications Center.
Eighteen Months of Fleet-Wide Upgrades
The transition of the Russian fishing fleet to new satellite navigation systems took just over 18 months, beginning in May 2024. The retrofit covered all vessels equipped with engines exceeding 55 kW and with a gross tonnage above 80 tons.
Accurate satellite navigation is critical for the fishing industry. Real-time information about vessel location and movement underpins national resource management and quota enforcement. It also serves as a key tool in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities.
The Gonets satellite navigation system operates using approximately two dozen low-Earth orbit spacecraft. This constellation enables global coverage, allowing subscribers to access services anywhere in the world. Built on this infrastructure, a portfolio of digital services has been developed for multiple industries. Its flexibility allows both mobile and stationary equipment configurations.
Applications range from monitoring land transport and vessels of various types to overseeing oil and gas infrastructure, industrial facilities and power transmission lines. The system also supports hydrometeorological data transmission and transportation and facility security solutions. Thanks to flexible integration capabilities, Gonets satellite channels are used in IoT and machine-to-machine solutions where scalable telematics data transmission from remote locations is required.
Future Development and Advanced Analytics
A stable domestic navigation backbone also opens the door to expanded monitoring capabilities in the fishing sector over time. In particular, it creates a foundation for more advanced analytics incorporating artificial intelligence elements to enhance fleet management, compliance tracking and operational forecasting.
The successful migration of the fishing fleet to Russian navigation systems reinforces confidence in their reliability and ability to simultaneously monitor large numbers of vessels. Over the longer term, this performance track record could increase interest in Russian satellite solutions among foreign companies and government agencies, particularly across the CIS region as well as in Asia and Africa, where countries are seeking to reduce dependence on Western technology providers.
