Month: July 2018

KVH Videotel Launches Task-based Competency

Phil Page

New feature is designed to enhance evaluating and documenting seafarer skills as part of Videotel Performance Manager 

KVH Videotel announces a new feature of its innovative Videotel Performance Manager service that provides the ability to structure task-based competency assessments for seafarers on any given subject and monitor progress as they develop their skills. Evaluating and documenting the competency of seafarers and enabling them to perform at the peak of their abilities are of critical importance to ship operators.

Based around the established maritime concept of taskbooks, this new feature allows seafarers to prepare for, and be evaluated against, any competency that should be demonstrated during their time onboard ship. The results are made available to shore staff in interactive reports within Videotel Performance Manager. In conjunction with regulatory training, this information can help identify high-performing staff eligible for promotion or help ensure that all staff are performing to the same recognised standards.

“KVH Videotel is committed to helping seafarers develop and apply their knowledge, and Task-based Competency is a fantastic service for ensuring these skills can be effectively demonstrated, assessed, and recorded,” says Mark Woodhead, KVH’s senior vice president for EMEA. “Developed in partnership with the industry, Task-based Competency provides a flexible platform for customers to digitise their own taskbooks, use industry standard tasks, or work with the catalogue we provide. Task-based Competency is our latest addition to Videotel Performance Manager, and we are delighted that seafarers can access our award-winning training materials as well as monitor their progress and performance in one place.”

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Transpetro Selects KVH VSAT for Brazilian Tanker Connectivity

Phil Page

KVH’s global coverage, data speed, and complete connectivity solution were deciding factors

MIDDLETOWN, RI – July 25, 2018 – KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI), is pleased to announce that Transpetro has chosen KVH VSAT connectivity after conducting a competitive process for selecting new connectivity services for the majority of its tankers. Brazilian-based Transpetro provides transportation for the state-owned Petrobras oil and gas company. Transpetro chose KVH’s TracPhone® V7-HTS satellite communications antenna system with a five-year airtime contract for 45 tankers, a combination of newbuilds and existing tankers. The installations will take place throughout the next 12 months in Brazil, where KVH’s subsidiary, KVH Brazil, has been in operation since 2011.

“We selected KVH for the global coverage and the data speed, which will enable us to improve operational efficiency and provide crew welfare,” says Jose Ricardo Esses, CIO of Transpetro. “Another deciding factor in choosing KVH VSAT was the ease of use in having one provider for the complete connectivity solution.”

KVH’s TracPhone V7-HTS is a 60 cm Ku-band satellite communications antenna designed for the mini-VSAT Broadbandsm network, which utilizes high-throughput satellite (HTS) technology. KVH’s mini-VSAT Broadband network provides global maritime coverage and the TracPhone V7-HTS delivers data speeds up to 10 Mbps download, and 3 Mbps upload. Each TracPhone V7-HTS includes a belowdecks Integrated CommBoxTM Modem (ICM), with built-in capability for onboard network management solutions.

“We are very pleased to be providing a complete connectivity solution for this important fleet in the Brazilian oil and gas industry,” says Ryan Smith, KVH’s director of global channel management. “With its superior data speed and global Ku-band coverage, KVH’s TracPhone V7-HTS is ideal for the tankers.”

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KVH Surpasses 8,000 VSAT Systems Shipped for Global Connectivity

Phil Page

The milestone highlights KVH’s position as maritime VSAT market share leader providing satellite broadband connectivity to yachts and commercial vessels around the world

MIDDLETOWN, RI – July 23, 2018 – KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI), announced that it recently shipped its 8,000th mini-VSAT Broadbandsm system. The TracPhone® V-series satellite communications antenna systems utilize advanced satellite technology, including the latest high throughput satellites (HTS), to meet the growing demand for more onboard broadband connectivity.

“Our newest HTS systems are in high demand throughout the maritime industry, and build on the strength and reputation of our entire product line,” says Martin Kits van Heyningen, KVH’s chief executive officer. “Our global coverage, rugged antenna systems, and innovative subscription-based business model are exactly what the maritime industry needs as it continues to move toward digitalization.”

In “Prospects for Maritime Satellite Communications, 6th Edition” (2018), industry analysts at Euroconsult reported that KVH is the market share leader in maritime VSAT by units, noting that KVH’s share of the maritime industry’s fielded VSAT terminals is nearly double that of its next closest competitor, as of the end of 2017.

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ICS Encouraged by IMO Progress on 2020 Global Sulphur Cap Implementation Issues

Debra Massey

In a statement today, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) says it is encouraged by efforts made by IMO Member States to resolve some pressing practical challenges ahead of the global implementation of the 0.5% sulphur in fuel cap on 1 January 2020.

Speaking after an important IMO working group meeting last week, to which the industry submitted a number of constructive proposals to help ensure smooth and consistent implementation, ICS Secretary General, Peter Hinchliffe remarked:

“Although there is still much work to be done, last week’s IMO discussions were positive.  Most important is that governments have acknowledged the safety concerns raised by industry about the use of compliant fuels including possible incompatibility. We are pleased that Member States have accepted their obligations under MARPOL to ensure that fuel is suitable for use and will not pose a safety risk to the ship or the crew, and that IMO has now agreed that these critical issues should be urgently addressed by the next IMO Maritime Safety Committee in December 2017.” Read more →

Thome Group Celebrates 55 Years in Business

Phil Page

July 2018 is a significant milestone in the history of the Thome Group because it was 55 years ago this month that the company was first incorporated in Singapore.

The expansion of the business from its humble beginnings as an agent, broker and charterer to mainly Norwegian ship owners, to an internationally respected third-party ship management company, has mirrored Singapore’s own growth as a renowned global maritime centre.

The family run business has been successfully managed since Mr. Olav Eek Thorstensen, the Group’s Executive Chairman, took over sole ownership in 1981.

“I am deeply proud and humbled to have been part of the Thome Group and it is with sincere thanks to the hard work and dedication of all our employees that we have successfully grown into one of the largest and most respected ship management and shipping services companies in the world,” said Mr. Thorstensen.

“Ship Management is a more demanding business than ever before with more and more regulations covering safety and the environment, coupled with a greater desire by our principals for improved cost efficiency. However, our teams have risen to, and exceeded, these challenges so we remain extremely competitive.”

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Reducing CO2 Emissions to Zero – ICS Publishes New Insight into the ‘Paris Agreement for Shipping’

Debra Massey

The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) has launched a new publication to endorse the recent adoption by the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) of its ambitious strategy for phasing-out CO2 emissions from the international shipping sector – a historic agreement which the global industry, as represented by ICS, fully supports.

Reducing CO2 Emissions to Zero explains what the high levels of ambition agreed by IMO Member States could mean for international shipping. These targets include an efficiency improvement of least 40% – as an average across – the fleet compared to 2008, and a 50% cut of the sector’s total greenhouse emissions by 2050, regardless of future trade growth.

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InterManager Secretary General awarded honorary degree

Debra Munford

Secretary General of InterManager, Captain Kuba Szymanksi, has been awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Maritime Studies by Solent University.

In addition to his role at InterManager, Captain Szymanski sits on the Executive Board of The Nautical Institute, is a Director at TK Foundation, and a Director at Seafarers Rights’ International.

Captain Kuba Szymanski started his sea career in 1985. He graduated from the Maritime University of Szczecin with a Master’s Degree and started his deck officer career with Dorchester Maritime Limited, Isle of Man. He sailed Gas I Chemical and Product tankers, reaching his first command as a Master in 1999.

In 2001 he commenced shore assignment as a Marine Superintendent in the parent Dorchester Maritime Ltd IOM, and was promoted to Marine Manager, DPA in 2004. Captain Szymanski was among the very first Lloyd’s Academy students on the Ship Superintendency course in 2003-2004.

Working his way up through ship management, he worked as General Manager for MOLTANK before joining InterManager as Secretary General in 2010.

Captain Szymanski became involved with the University after witnessing the experiments being carried out at the Warsash Campus for the HORIZON project on seafarers’ fatigue. InterManager became a partner on the subsequent MARTHA project, and he was directly responsible for the dissemination of the findings to the shipping industry. He has also endorsed the recent Solent-led Effective Crew Project and Seafarers Mentoring Project.

Kuba is a great educationalist and a firm believer in supporting young seafarers.  He has provided funding to enable cadets to attend conferences and events in London and elsewhere. He is also a passionate believer in the value of research to bring about change in the shipping industry and a champion of the sector’s young career seekers.

“I am truly humbled to receive this award. I am proud to be able to support the pioneering research carried out by Solent University which will benefit today’s and tomorrow’s seafarers as well as the global shipping industry.”