Shore Network News

The first steel sheet of the electrical substation for the offshore wind farm (OWF) of Saint-Nazaire (west of France) was cut at Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire.Ordered in August 2019 by Parc du Banc de Guérande, held jointly by EDF Renouvelables and Enbridge Inc, the substation will leave the shipyard in the summer of 2021, to be connected  with the wind farm in 2022. The substation will collect and transform the electricity produced by wind turbines and transfer it to the shore network, while ensuring remote control of the wind farm.The same consortium, led by Atlantique Offshore Energy (the business unit dedicated…

KVH Industries, Inc. announced that Netherlands-based Vroon has extended its contract for KVH’s maritime satellite communications solution, choosing the mini-VSAT Broadbandsm network for connectivity services onboard more than 140 Vroon vessels. The multi-year contract also includes KVH’s IP-MobileCastTM service for news, sports, movie and TV delivery, as well as preventive maintenance checks to ensure peak performance on all fielded systems as part of the KVH OneCare program. The first installations of KVH’s 60 cm diameter TracPhone V7 systems onboard Vroon vessels took place in early 2011, after Vroon conducted a stringent selection process involving 22 different satellite communications providers. Today, more than 140 Vroon vessels employ the KVH mini-VSAT Broadband system onboard.

KVH Industries, Inc., announced at the international maritime Nor-Shipping show in Oslo, Norway that it plans to launch a new IP-MobileCast content delivery service that will deliver Jeppesen's entire ENC and Professional+ chart databases to mini-VSAT Broadband customers. Based on ongoing cooperative efforts between KVH and Jeppesen, it is anticipated that this new service will enable automatic delivery of electronic charts over a very reliable satellite delivery service, eliminating the time-consuming, manual process of physically shipping DVDs containing chart updates to customers' ships. "The launch of KVH's new IP-MobileCast service is expected to offer tremendous value in delivering large files such as chart databases to vessels…

KVH's new maritime terminal features integrated CommBox Modem with built-in network management functionality. As part of its commitment to bringing reliable, fast, affordable broadband connections to mariners, KVH Industries, Inc. has introduced the TracPhone® V3-IP terminal for its mini-VSAT Broadband service. KVH point out that the world's smallest maritime VSAT antenna now comes with the smallest and most integrated belowdecks equipment – KVH's new Integrated CommBox Modem (ICM), a streamlined unit that includes an IP-enabled antenna control unit, built-in CommBox™ Ship/Shore Network Manager, and ArcLight® spread spectrum modem with IP voice capability, Ethernet switch, and Wi-Fi connectivity. All of the TracPhone V3-IP's belowdecks equipment is built in to a single 2U enclosure.

KVH Industries launches new Unrestricted Rate Plans featuring Business Class Service for its mini-VSAT Broadband network. Designed to meet the booming demand for maritime connectivity, KVH’s new Business Class Service provides unrestricted, prioritized, multimegabit service with unfettered access to all Internet applications and protocols, including streaming media formats, popular Voice over IP (VoIP) services like Skype, and rich media websites. This service, traditionally only available with very expensive dedicated satellite capacity, and used exclusively by high-end cruise ship or megayacht customers, is competitively priced with other shared maritime VSAT services, but delivers significantly faster service and a superior user experience.

In its latest initiative to advance the quality, speed, and affordability of broadband data connectivity at sea, KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq:KVHI) introduces a new onboard terminal for its mini-VSAT Broadband(SM) service, the TracPhone(R) V7-IP. Representing a new generation of enterprise-grade onboard satellite communications equipment, the TracPhone V7-IP features a robust, 3-axis, gyro-stabilized antenna and a completely integrated belowdecks unit that includes an ArcLight(R)…

Fleet management software joins extensive portfolio of marine technology solutions. Kongsberg Maritime, a leading marine technology developer has today (29th March 2012) acquired 100% of the shares in fleet management software specialist Jotron Consultas. A new product group consisting of all previous Jotron Consultas employees and based at Kongsberg Maritime’s premises in Horten, Norway, will be formed as a result of the acquisition. Jotron Consultas has developed a reputation as one of the leading specialist software providers for the sector.

MIDDLETOWN, RI – Maersk Tankers, a division of A.P. Moller Maersk AS, has chosen the CommBox™ Ship/Shore Network Manager from KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI) to increase efficiency and lower communications costs aboard 70 vessels. This is in addition to 50 CommBox-equipped vessels that Maersk brought onboard with its acquisition of Broström tankers in 2010. Copenhagen, Denmark-based Maersk will utilize the CommBox network management solution onboard these 120 vessels for least cost routing and to coordinate file transfers, e-mail, and Internet access for both business and crew use.

Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, has been equipped with MTN Satellite Communications’ (MTN) state-of-the-art VSAT satellite communications system. The 1,184-ft, 225,282-gross ton Oasis of the Seas carries up to 5,400 passengers and a crew of more than 2,000. The satellite communication requirements for such a massive ship presented special challenges, according to MTN. “The communications suite is a critical component for operating the ship and its passenger services,” said Max Schmidt, vice president of information technology, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. “For the inaugural voyage of Oasis of the Seas, MTN supplied the highest bandwidth ever used on a single ship in the history of the cruise industry,” said Brent Horwitz, senior vice president of MTN.

The Submarine Force achieved a major step toward FORCEnet capability July 1, with the completion of the first of three steps toward full Internet Protocol, or IP-based, communications, achieving forcewide IP connectivity. This is an important step for the Submarine Force and the fleet. “The submarine architecture is a baseline to begin this process,” said Vice Adm. James D. McArthur Jr., commander, Naval Network Warfare Command. A key concept and enabler of FORCEnet is the ability to share and exchange information quickly and easily across diverse platforms and distances. Legacy systems have enabled part of this vision but limit the type of information (usually text) and are point-to-point exchange events.

The Japan Radio Company (JRC) have successfully demonstrated their Automatic Identification System (AIS) to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency at Southampton. Although several other manufacturers have been claiming to have models, they were not in fact to the IMO universal standard and would not work with existing Coastguard equipment. The JRC model does however work which will ensure that AIS is available for the start of the mandatory fitting under the new Chapter V of SOLAS in July. This is a significant event for MCA as the Agency has been pressing for AIS since Lord Donaldson’s Report ‘Safer Ships, Cleaner Seas’ was published in 1994.

The events of September 11, 2001 will continue to have lingering effects on the world indefinitely. The most visible remnant in the maritime world is the drastically heightened sense of safety and security, as officials in countries around the globe seek to secure their borders from the threat of attack — either direct or covert — via ship. Many of the issues currently on the legislative fast track were already in the works pre-September 11. False crew documentation, enhanced vessel tracking and beefed-up harbor controls were much-discussed topic in previous years. As is the case more often than not, though, a disaster of some proportion is inevitably the impetus in moving from discussion to action.