KVH Launches KVH Link, New Digital Content Service for Seafarers and Commercial Fleets

24th January 202024th January 2020Phil Page

KVH Link builds on KVH’s experience in providing crew wellbeing and operations content using its patented IP-MobileCast delivery technology

MIDDLETOWN, RI – January 22, 2020 – KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI), announced today that it has launched KVH Link, a new digital content service that addresses two pressing needs in commercial maritime: News and entertainment content to improve crew wellbeing and operations data to optimize vessel performance.

Building on KVH’s past experience providing content for crew wellbeing and its patented IP-MobileCast^TM technology for content delivery, KVH Link provides timely and popular news, sports, movies, TV, music, karaoke, podcasts, documentaries, trending social videos, and more in a sleek new user interface designed with digital natives in mind.

“There is an increasing focus on seafarer wellbeing as the foundation of safe, efficient operations,” says Mark Woodhead, KVH’s executive vice president for mobile connectivity. “At the same time, crew welfare is going digital, with increased onboard demand for access to popular content. With our decades of experience in providing crew content—starting in the 1960s with reel-to-reel movie nights on the deck of a ship—to our history of mobile tech innovation, KVH is uniquely suited to deliver a digital content platform for today’s seafarer.”

KVH Link crew wellbeing content includes: NEWSlink^TM—hundreds of daily news stories, clips, and shows in the most popular languages among seafarers; SPORTSlink^TM—news and video sports highlights from teams around the world, sports talk shows, and documentaries; MOVIElink^TM—early release movies and classics from Hollywood to Bollywood and independent studios; TVlink^TM—full seasons of popular hit television series; and MUSIClink^TM—more than 15 genres of music radio, podcasts, karaoke, and more. KVH Link content is licensed from copyright holders for crew viewing.

BRITANNIA ANNOUNCES NEW EXCLUSIVE CORRESPONDENT IN NEW YORK

9th January 2020Phil Page

Britannia P&I has underlined its commitment to the North American market by establishing a new exclusive correspondent, B Americas P&I, to be based in New York.

B Americas P&I will be headed by MICHAEL UNGER, a leading maritime lawyer with extensive litigation and arbitration experience, who has been known to the Club for many years. Further recruitment is underway, with the office to be operational by the beginning of April.

B Americas will boost Britannia’s global footprint, enhancing the Club’s ability to provide a round-the-clock claims service to all its Members, while also focusing on the needs of Britannia’s North American Members.

This development follows other recent steps taken by the Club, including the opening of new offices in Denmark and Greece and the strengthening of its teams in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.

Welcoming the move, ANDREW CUTLER, Britannia’s CEO, said

“Following the expansion of our regional hubs, the New York office enables us to enhance Britannia’s service to Members wherever they are in the world”.

BW Group Upgrades Vessels to KVH HTS Network in New Five-year Contract

9th January 20209th January 2020Phil Page

Agreement covers 102 total vessels utilizing KVH’s TracPhone^® HTS systems

MIDDLETOWN, RI – January 9, 2020 – KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI), announced today that BW Group, one of the world’s leading maritime groups in the tanker, gas, and offshore segments, has signed a new contract to continue KVH VSAT services for at least five years and is upgrading 102 vessels to utilize KVH’s mini-VSAT Broadband^SM HTS network for advanced satellite communications. BW Group first chose KVH in 2013 to provide satellite connectivity for a portion of its fleet and since that time has rolled out KVH VSAT systems on additional vessels. The vessel migration is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2020.

“Migrating our vessels to KVH’s advanced HTS network enables us to optimize our operational efficiency with fast, reliable connectivity from a trusted partner,” says BW’s procurement officer. “We originally chose KVH because of their commitment to excellence and the ease of working with a sole provider, and we continue to value that relationship.”

With more than 80 years’ experience in maritime energy transportation, BW operates a large fleet that includes product tankers, LPG and LNG carriers, and offshore floating production vessels.

“It is an honor for KVH to continue working with BW Group, a company whose commitment to quality vessels, operational efficiency, and crew welfare is well known throughout the maritime industry,” says Ken Loke, KVH’s vice president for Asia-Pacific. “It is particularly gratifying that based on the performance of our legacy network, BW is now migrating to our newest HTS network. We value the strong working relationship that has developed between our companies during the past years and look forward to the continuation of that relationship for years to come.”

KVH and Kongsberg Digital Successfully Install First Integrated Maritime IoT System on Active Working Vessel

2nd January 20202nd January 2020Phil Page

The vessel, owned and operated by Kongsberg, is using KVH Watch^TM IoT Connectivity as a Service and the Kognifai Vessel Insight platform as part of an innovative maritime IoT bundled solution

MIDDLETOWN, RI – January 2, 2020 – KVH Industries, Inc. and Kongsberg Digital announce the successful installation of their first joint maritime IoT system on an active working vessel. The team installed a KVH Watch VSAT antenna for IoT connectivity and the Kognifai Vessel Insight platform on Simrad Echo, a Norwegian research vessel owned and operated by Kongsberg, which will continue normal operations during the pilot maritime IoT project. Together, KVH Watch and Kognifai Vessel Insight provide an integrated infrastructure for IoT connectivity and vessel-to-shore data.

Maritime IoT is a focus of great interest among ship owners, ship managers, and maritime equipment manufacturers who are seeking ways to improve vessel operations through real-time monitoring and data analysis. This bundled connectivity solution by two leaders in the commercial maritime market, KVH and Kongsberg Digital, is one of the first cases of an active working vessel using an integrated maritime IoT solution.

Simrad Echo will rely on Kognifai Vessel Insight to monitor main and auxiliary systems on the vessel and help ensure 100% availability. For example, the Kongsberg Mapping Cloud application will move high-resolution echo sounding data from vessel to shore in real time so that shore-based experts can provide analysis to optimize vessel operations.

“While Vessel Insight works as an infrastructure for accessing contextualized quality data from a vessel or fleet, KVH is providing an alternative for IoT connectivity that enables the transfer of data from ship to cloud,” says Vigleik Takle, Kongsberg Digital’s senior vice president of maritime digital solutions. “We are very happy to be able to offer this as a connectivity option to our users.”