Multicasting Technology News

KVH Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: KVHI), announced today that Mark Woodhead has been named to the newly created position of KVH senior vice president for training and content, effective on the first of January 2017. In this position, Mr. Woodhead will direct KVH’s market-leading maritime crew welfare, safety, and productivity services, which include Videotel maritime training packages – currently in use on more than 12,000 vessels worldwide – and numerous news and entertainment brands, such as NEWSlink – currently used by more than 9,000 vessels globally. Mr. Woodhead has been managing director of KVH’s news and entertainment brands since 2013 and will succeed Nigel Cleave, following the planned decision by Videotel’s CEO to retire at the end of the year. Mr.

Videotel, a KVH company has revised its ballast water management (BWM) training package to address the requirements of the International Maritime Organization’s newly ratified BWM Convention, a global treaty that is designed to stop the spread of invasive species from ships’ ballast water. Beginning next year, all ships engaged in international trade will need: a ballast water management plan to remove or neutralize harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens; an International Ballast Water Management Certificate; and, an onboard record book to prove compliance. Videotel’s training package, Ballast Water Management, Edition 2, available immediately…

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has released a training programme, produced by Videotel, a KVH company, to encourage safe navigation in the Singapore Strait. Carrying an estimated one third of the world’s traded goods, the Singapore Strait is one of  world’s busiest shipping lanes  the world’s busiest shipping lanes. Recent projections show that maritime traffic is set to increase significantly along this narrow waterway, which, together with the Malacca Strait, stretches for more than 400 miles, connecting the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. “Being chosen to produce this three-part training package was a great honour for us and reinforces the quality of our work and the ability to interpret a complex brief…

MIDDLETOWN, RI – September 12, 2016 – KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI), is driving a sea change in the way that global maritime fleets are using broadband at sea. The company’s usage-based airtime plans now represent a majority of users on KVH’s global satellite network, mini-VSAT Broadbands, which continues to be the market share leader in maritime VSAT. In recent months, many of KVH’s largest and most important fleet customers have chosen usage-based plans—including Open plans, the newest set of usage-based airtime plans offered by KVH.  BW, one of the world’s leading global maritime groups, reached agreement with KVH to switch from an unlimited airtime plan to KVH’s Open plans for several LNG and LPG vessels that have TracPhone V11-IP systems onboard.

KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI), announced today that it is offering Videotel’s new safety and training video about the Zika virus free to all mariners worldwide. The goal of the program is to increase awareness  of the vitally important prevention measures that can keep seafarers and their colleagues and families safe. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Zika virus a public health emergency earlier this year. Given the global nature of the maritime industry, it is imperative that seafarers take precautions to prevent further spread of the disease. The prevalence of the Zika virus in such areas as Brazil has heightened concerns with the approaching Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro next month.

KVH Media Group, distributor of licensed films to the maritime market, and part of KVH Industries, Inc., has announced an agreement with Thome Ship Management to provide 41 Thome vessels with the MOVIElink service. Part of the Thome Group, Thome Ship Management will initially roll out the MOVIElink service to product tankers and LPG carriers. The MOVIElink service delivers films, including the latest releases, to vessels around the world, contributing to more productive and loyal crews, and assisting shipping companies in complying with the standards and recommendations of MLC-2006. These recommendations include providing regularly replenished film entertainment to crew members.

Videotel, a provider of e-Learning maritime training solutions and a company of KVH Industries, has joined forces with online maritime training business Safebridge GmbH, which specializes in ECDIS training, to provide shipping companies with the unique ability to certify their seafarers on ECDIS type-specific training while serving onboard. More than 30 ECDIS type-specific training courses will be available, which is the most comprehensive offering in the industry. Companies using the Videotel On Demand (VOD) system will have access to this leading-edge certification route. The agreement will enable a trainee onboard to select and log onto the VOD system and access the relevant Safebridge courses.

Videotel, an international provider of e-Learning maritime training solutions and a company of KVH Industries, Inc., (KVHI), has launched its 500th computer-based training (CBT) e-Learning course. Videotel’s latest course, entitled “The Work of the Emergency Response and Rescue Vessel (ERRV),” covers the crew’s key objectives and emergency procedures when operating these vessels in global offshore oil and gas fields. The CBT course also details the day-to-day operational function of the ERRV.

As Satellite providers battle for market share, the onboard struggle to efficiently maximize bandwidth allocation is also being solved. The requirement to monitoring critical equipment and at the same time satisfy the increasingly sophisticated demands of today’s seafarers all need to be balanced against the cost of bandwidth. The call for both ‘big data’ and the full range of crew connectivity and entertainment is upon the shipping industry. SatCom providers have responded in a big way…

Competition in the maritime communications sector is fierce, and ship owners are the winners as service from land-to-sea is becoming faster and cheaper. MR spoke with KVH’s Jim Dodez in Athens at Posidonia for his insights on the present and future of connectivity at sea. More than ever ships at sea demand “land-like” connectivity to the internet. Whether the purpose is maritime business or a content crew, companies such as KVH are growing their business and product portfolios at an equally rapid clip.

KVH Industries is a manufacturer of solutions that provide global high-speed Internet, television, and voice services via satellite to mobile users at sea and on land. These solutions include the mini-VSAT Broadband network, TracPhone satellite communications antenna systems, and TracVision satellite television antenna systems. KVH is based in Middletown, RI, with research, development, and manufacturing operations in Middletown, RI, and Tinley Park, IL. KVH’s mission is to connect in-motion customers…

KVH Industries, Inc., and Transas announced today a strategic relationship designed to ensure vessels at sea receive affordable, timely updates of mandatory electronic chart data. The CHARTlink channel of KVH’s IP-MobileCast content delivery service will support delivery of chart and other data updates from Transas, a producer of electronic chart display and information systems (ECDIS) and a leading provider of electronic navigation charts (ENC) and data services. This is the first of many steps envisioned by Transas for delivery of value-added data for shipboard use with the IP-MobileCast service. International maritime regulations mandate the use of ECDIS for commercial and passenger vessels.

Applied Weather Technology, Inc. (AWT), a StormGeo company, today announced a partnership with KVH Industries, Inc. to deliver AWT’s BVS high-resolution weather data via the KVH IP-MobileCast WEATHERlink service. AWT’s BVS 7 weather forecasts and ocean data will be delivered to vessels at sea via KVH IP-MobileCast, a service utilizing multicasting technology for a low fixed monthly fee. The data will be updated up to four times per day to help ships optimize voyage planning and safety. The BVS 7 voyage optimization system provides on-board and around-the-clock weather-routing information. KVH’s IP-MobileCast content delivery service will provide captains access to BVS 7’s global…

KVH says it plans to offer affordable delivery of AWT’s global weather data to subscribing vessels over the mini-VSAT Broadband network. KVH Industries explains that it has become the WEATHERlink launch partner for KVH’s IP-MobileCast content delivery service. KVH will use IP-MobileCast multicasting technology, to deliver AWT’s high-resolution weather and ocean data to ships at sea for a low fixed monthly fee. AWT is a marine industry leader in weather forecasting and ship routing. The AWT data, which includes forecasts with wind, wave, visibility, and currents with tidal stream data, will be updated up to four times per day to help ships optimize voyage planning and safety.

The IP-MobileCast content delivery service developed by KVH Industries, Inc., for its mini-VSAT Broadband satellite network is now live, constituting a maritime industry first that will enable seafarers in the middle of the ocean to have affordable access to daily digital newspapers, television news, sports updates, music, new-release blockbuster movies and TV programs via a multicasting service. KVH  recently completed successful beta testing of IP-MobileCast, and is making the…

Crewtoo, an online network dedicated to seafarers, launched an online maritime jobs board. Founded by KVH Media Group, part of KVH Industries, Inc. (KVHI), Crewtoo, which says it has more than 100,000 members,  is premiering the service today in Stamford, Connecticut, at Shipping 2014, the annual shipping conference and exhibition of the Connecticut Maritime Association. The Crewtoo jobs board is integrated into the Crewtoo site and enables seafarers to simply change a setting on their profile to state that they are available for work; they are then prompted to fill in their full employment details on the site and upload their current CV/resumé.

To serve its growing commercial maritime customer base in the Asia-Pacific region, KVH Industries, Inc. said it has doubled the service delivered by the JCSAT-1B satellite, which is part of KVH’s mini-VSAT Broadband network. This additional capacity, available as of last month, will support mariners in the Asia-Pacific region, which includes some of the world’s busiest shipping routes, and is one of the fastest-growing areas in the world for maritime broadband demand. “The additional…