Onboard Hardware News

KVH Industries, Inc., announced that global ship manager E.R. Schiffahrt has chosen KVH’s new advanced TracPhone V7-HTS antenna equipment and the AgilePlans subscription-based Connectivity as a Service (CaaS) program to bring fast, global connectivity to its container and dry bulk vessels. Installations for the first 11 vessels have begun, with plans for a total of up to 60 vessels throughout 2018. “We chose KVH for the fast data speed, the reliable data management, the global coverage, and our experience with KVH as a trusted and proven professional service provider,” said Christoph Werner, director of marine and quality for E.R. Schiffahrt, which is based in Hamburg, Germany.

At Nor-Shipping this year, Akzonobel announced the official launch of its ‘Digital Voyage’ strategy. This program builds on the foundations laid two years ago when the firm launched Intertrac Vision, the industry’s first Big Data tool for predicting coating performance. The Digital Voyage outlines the goal of putting a wealth of knowledge in the hands of ship owners and operators, and helping them make smarter, more economical and environmentally friendly decisions. As we embark on this journey…

KVH Industries, Inc. has launched a new all-inclusive Connectivity as a Service (CaaS) offering for the maritime industry, AgilePlans by KVH. For a single monthly fee, AgilePlans by KVH brings an advanced satellite communications solution onboard without a costly capital expenditure or long-term commitment. The subscription fee is as low as $499/month for a complete package including hardware, connectivity, installation at select ports, entertainment and training content and global support. The AgilePlans by KVH subscription model is designed to deliver everything a fleet needs for better communications and improved operational efficiency at sea.

When you’re out at sea, the last thing you need is a major breakdown. In such a case, it would mean being towed back to dry dock for expensive repairs – and that’s something that hard-pressed shipping companies can do without. One way around this is to keep a constant watch over onboard assets condition, and SKF has helped one shipping customer to do this – introducing condition monitoring to its ship, with plans to extend the service to other vessels in the fleet. Condition monitoring is a vital resource in any industry, as it helps to protect assets from sudden failure.

A new scheme by marine broadband solutions company Voyager IP aims to alter the way customers can keep track of their VSAT and IT support services. The Irish-based company has launched a points-based system where customers will be able to purchase service and support credits in advance and draw down on them as and when required. Up until now, ship owners and management companies typically signed yearly VSAT and IT support service contracts that did not allow for refunds or credit if the service was not fully utilized in that time period. The company says the scheme was born out of customer feedback and is in line with similar offerings available in the onshore ICT sector.

KVH Industries passes the 3,000th mark with shipments of its TracPhone® terminal for the mini-VSAT Broadband network. Launched in 2007, KVH's maritime broadband service was the first to use spread spectrum technology that enabled small, easy-to-install onboard terminals to receive fast, affordable VSAT quality data connections offshore. KVH grew its service to become the world's largest maritime VSAT network through a geographic coverage rollout that is now complete and covers all the world's oceans. "We built the mini-VSAT Broadband network because we saw a huge opportunity from a potential market of 250,000 commercial, government,…