These days ships depend heavily on satellites for communications and navigation. One satellite system we used would periodically transmit our current position, received by another satellite system, GPS. This way governments, the shipping company office, or really anyone who needed our current position, course, or speed would have access to that information. On that same system I would receive safety bulletins for known dangerous conditions such as typhoons, vessels adrift, mayday calls, hijackings, or we even had a bulletin when the North Koreans launched their last missile. We were in the area at the time. Since the system has our position, via GPS, the information we received was only relevant for our particular area. Another satellite system we used would allow us to send and receive emails. All the ships paperwork was usually completed electronically. The countries where we went into port all had customs requirements and any cargo, supplies or crew changes had to be declared in advance of our arrival if we didn't want to be delayed. Ships are very expensive and the carried cargo was even more expensive so delays are costly. Of course we had satellite telephones that would allow the crew members to call home if desired. Company business was also conducted. There was a distress alert system on board that would allow us to immediately communicate with the outside world if there was an emergency or hijacking. There were several buttons in a few locations around the ship and all we needed to do was press one to send out an automatic distress alert with our ships name, location, course and speed. On my desk, I had a computer with a good internet connection. I could use that to look up information, file a report, or anything else that was required by the captain or chief engineer. The captain and chief engineer also had computers with the same connection and was hooked up via the ships internal data network. Some shipping companies also allowed complete engine room monitoring of all their systems by a shore based office. All this data went back & forth via a satellite system. In a few years I would expect to see fully autonomous vessels out there hauling cargo world wide on the high seas. There will be no human on board. Everything will be controlled via the shore over a satellite connection. As outlined the data needs of ships is vitally important and growing each day. If the flat earth theory is viable and the system can be made simpler and cheaper by using just shore based systems for transmitting this data instead of the complex and expensive satellites, then the door is wide open. It's time for the entrepreneurial spirit of the flat earthers to emerge and revolutionize the communications system world wide. Opportunities await, go for it.