Starlink coverage at sea: where it works — and where it must stay off
Every week we get the same question from captains and fleet managers: "Will Starlink actually work on my route?" The short answer: at sea — almost everywhere. The longer answer is worth five minutes of your time, because the exceptions can get a vessel's terminal blocked.
Where Starlink works at sea
With a Global Priority plan, Starlink covers every ocean and international waters worldwide — Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Mediterranean, transoceanic crossings, open-ocean fishing grounds. Speeds reach up to 220 Mbps down with latency under 150 ms, and the service moves with the vessel: no regional add-ons, no re-registration when you cross into another hemisphere.
That is the default reality for the vast majority of routes we manage. But there are two categories of exceptions every operator should know.
Geo-fenced countries: service is blocked
In some countries Starlink is switched off at the network level — the terminal simply will not connect there, on land or within their territorial waters (12 nautical miles / 22 km from the nearest land). As of mid-2026 the list includes:
North Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, Russia, Belarus, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Turkey, UAE, Israel / Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea, Cuba, Venezuela and Vietnam.
Practical takeaway: transiting past these coasts is fine — service resumes automatically once you leave the 12 NM strip. Port calls inside these countries mean no connectivity while alongside, so plan crew communications accordingly (this is exactly where a coastal LTE failover or a VSAT backup earns its keep).
Unlicensed countries: it works, but the responsibility is yours
A second, smaller group — currently Iran, South Korea, South Africa, Algeria and Singapore — are unlicensed: Starlink has no local operating license there. The satellites still see you, but operating the terminal inside their national waters may violate local regulations, and under the service terms that responsibility sits with the end user, not with Starlink or your provider.
Our advice is simple: treat unlicensed national waters like geo-fenced ones — power the terminal down within 12 NM, log it, and switch back on once you are in international waters. Singapore deserves a special mention: it is one of the busiest bunkering ports in the world, and we brief every crew passing through the Strait about it.
The 12-nautical-mile rule in one paragraph
Territorial waters extend 12 NM (22 km) from the nearest land. Outside that line you are in international waters and Starlink's maritime coverage applies in full. Inside it, the coastal state's rules apply — which is why the same terminal can be online 15 miles off a coast and dark alongside the berth. Good voyage planning simply marks these strips on the passage plan, the same way you mark ECA zones.
Check your route before you sail
We built an interactive map for exactly this: toggle the maritime coverage layer, the geo-fenced list and the unlicensed list, and see your route at a glance — open the coverage map.
Lists change as licensing evolves (countries have moved off this list before — and onto it), so we keep the map updated and always recommend checking it before a new charter or route. Unsure about a specific passage? Write to us — we will check your exact waypoints against the current status.
And if your route is clear: pick a Global Priority plan and your antenna can be online this week.