Satellite Coverage News

KVH Industries, Inc. introduces the KVH ONE hybrid network and TracNet terminals for fast, reliable connectivity at sea and at the dock. The TracNet H30, H60, and H90 terminals feature satellite, cellular, and Wi-Fi technology under one dome, with intelligent, automatic switching based on availability, cost, and quality of data connection to continually deliver the best performance. The KVH ONE network includes 276 million sq. km (106+ million sq. miles) of satellite coverage using KVH’s global, layered HTS network, powered by Intelsat.

The Norwegian offshore vessel owner Solstad Offshore has signed a deal with Inmarsat for its new Fleet LTE service, which will cover the connectivity needs of multiple Solstad Offshore vessels in the North Sea.Mobile satellite communications firm Inmarsat explained that offshore vessel operators usually buy LTE and VSAT connectivity separately, using LTE when within range of shore, rigs, or wind farm networks then relying on the crew to switch manually to VSAT beyond 4G coverage limits.

On a windy August afternoon in 2017, Akitsinnguaq Ina Olsen was relaxing in the old harbor of Nuuk, Greenland's capital, when a Chinese icebreaker sailed unannounced into the Arctic island's territorial waters."I saw it by chance," Olsen, 50, told Reuters. "My first thought was: 'They're already here!' They're pretty cheeky, those Chinese."She pulled out her phone and took a picture of the 167-meter long Chinese icebreaker Xue Long (Snow Dragon), before it turned around and disappeared.The…

Global mobile satellite communications provider Inmarsat plans to extend its Fleet LTE coverage for offshore service vessels to the Gulf of Mexico.Inmarsat said that the decision to expand in the Gulf of Mexico followed successful trials with V.Ships Offshore in the North Sea area in early 2020."In conjunction with Inmarsat’s service provider One Net, the North Sea trials were undertaken with ship management company V.Ships Offshore at the beginning of 2020, delivering hybrid connectivity via 4G cellular plus satellite coverage on VSAT Ka-band and L-band…

The commercial shipping world can benefit from greater range of communications and reduced satellite costs. Domestic brown water operators know all too well that’s easier said; than done. Until now.In the fast moving world of blue water, deep draft shipping, the availability of reliable ship-to-shore communications has been a non-issue for at least two decades. More than ever, they need it. These longtime users of so-called ship management software and now, sophisticated remote monitoring systems that watch over even the most obscure minutia on board far flung 1,000 foot ocean liners, need (and get) robust and reliable communications.On the domestic, brown water side of the equation? Not so much.

Offshore support vessel (OSV) operator Uniwise Offshore Limited has chosen a new high-speed broadband service to enhance the operations of its entire fleet of more than 30 vesselsUniwise Offshore will use Thaicom’s Nava enabled high-speed connectivity and solutions to focus on operational improvements, including optimized electronic document handling, as well as ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communications for safer and more cost-effective operations. The company will also be able to improve its onboard communication services including crew welfare and fleet management.

d’Amico Group will build a new fleet digital operating center in Rome, Italy that will help the dry cargo and tanker shipping company to boost efficiency and safety across its fleet through increased collection of performance details and data from its ships.The new center, which is being created through a partnership with RINA and Telemar, is part of the trend toward increasing digitalization within the maritime industry. In addition to providing d’Amico Group with intelligence about operations on which to base strategic business decisions and operational improvements…

China has the world’s largest and farthest-ranging fishing operation, outstripping the next 10 biggest combined, according to what researchers say is the most comprehensive and data-intensive study on the subject. Ships from China amassed approximately 17 million hours of fishing in 2016, mostly off the southern coast of their home country, but also as far away as Africa and South America. The next-biggest operation is Taiwan‘s, with 2.2 million hours of fishing. The data, collected and analyzed over five years by Global Fishing Watch…

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…

Recently, Radio Holland Canada and Radio Holland USA celebrated the renewals of key airtime contracts on the Great Lakes with Algoma Central Corporation (ACC), The CSL Group (CSL) and American Steamship Corporation (ASC). Collectively, the three companies operate approximately 65 Lakers which include tankers, self-loading and conventional bulk carriers. The companies signed initial agreements with Radio Holland in 2007. The new agreements include increased bandwidth to meet the growing needs for the companies’ business operations and crew welfare.

Iridium satcom specialist Rock Seven has launched a new fixed monthly GSM tariff for users of its dual-mode vessel tracking system, RockFLEET. The new £10/month subscription covers all vessel tracking and M2M (Machine-to-Machine) data transmitted over GSM networks by the RockFLEET system when operating within GSM coverage. As standard the RockFLEET system provides vessel GPS location reports at user-defined intervals using the global Iridium satellite Short Burst Data (SBD) service, but Rock Seven has seen demand for dual-mode operation using its optional GSM module rise. In dual mode-operation RockFLEET automatically switches from satellite to transmit GPS and M2M data over 2G/3G/4G and GPRS networks when available.

McMurdo has announced a new global satellite communications system, McMurdo OmniCom, the first in a family of products that will be rolled out over the next six months to provide complete worldwide fleet management and vessel monitoring solutions for the workboat, commercial fishing and artisanal fishing industries. McMurdo OmniCom is an integrated solution for commercial fleet operations that combines worldwide satellite coverage for constant communications to and from remote vessels with PRISMA Connect…

SpeedCast International Limited, a global satellite communications and network service provider, and KTsat, the satellite service provider in Korea, have announced the two companies have been awarded a new contract to provide global Ku-band maritime communications services to up to 150 vessels. The service will be installed over the next 18 months. “It has been a phenomenal experience to work with SpeedCast for our maritime customers. We saw a great momentum from our partnership that our KOREASAT satellite fleets in Korea and in the Asia-Pacific region have been growing over the past few years. SpeedCast has been providing an extensive infrastructure for providing this seamless connectivity for maritime data…

Examining some questions regarding commercial autonomous and drone ships, as well as why VSAT currently presents the best solution for the communications and control of such vessels. The topic of autonomous shipping has been much in the news recently. We have seen, for example, the announcement in September 2015 that Inmarsat has begun participating in the Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications Initiative (AAWA) recently launched by Rolls Royce. This initiative is designed to move autonomous shipping from the drawing board to a commercial reality.

SpeedCast International Limited announced the acquisition of Geolink Satellite Services, part of the CETel Group. The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval. The acquisition follows SpeedCast’s acquisitions of two satellite industry players, SatComms Australia and Oceanic Broadband, in the Australasia region in the past 12 months. Geolink Satellite Services is a provider of satellite communication solutions in the African market, servicing customers in more than 20 African countries in the oil and gas, mining, media, NGO and maritime sectors. According to global satellite communications service provider SpeedCast…

Seasat A/S, the Danish communications services provider, specialized in delivering reliable broadband, television and voice services for the maritime market announces today that it has been awarded a multiyear contract with Maersk Supply Service. The contract covers the delivery of 60+ VSAT systems with broadband airtime from Eutelsat and SpeedCast, and is based on SAILOR 900 antennas from Cobham SATCOM. The contract runs for 36 months - Seasat A/S will install and commission the systems as well as provide service and support to the vessels. With this service setup, Maersk Supply Service will be able to enhance crew welfare and ship to shore connectivity in a global footprint.

A team of scientists from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Research and Development Center (RDC) will depart from Seward, Alaska, for a technology evaluation in the Arctic aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Healy Aug. 8, the Coast Guard announced. According to the USCG, the RDC is leading a multiagency team to support Arctic Shield 2014, a 17th Coast Guard District initiative. The purpose of their month-long evaluation is to improve USCG capabilities in the Arctic region, specifically in the areas of boat operations, communications, navigational safety and oil spill response.

A team of scientists from the Coast Guard Research and Development Center (RDC) is to depart shortly from Seward, Alaska, for a technology evaluation in the Arctic aboard the Cutter 'Healy informs USCG. The RDC is leading a multi-agency team to support Arctic Shield 2014, a 17th Coast Guard District initiative. The purpose of their month-long evaluation is to improve Coast Guard capabilities in the Arctic region, specifically in the areas of boat operations, communications, navigational safety and oil spill response. “The RDC plays a key role in charting the service’s future efforts in the Arctic by evaluating new and emerging technologies for applicability to Coast Guard operations in a harsh and remote environment,” said Capt. Dennis Evans, commanding officer of the RDC.

Speedcast announces buyout; also announces appointment of new Board Director and Chairman. SpeedCast Ltd. announced the buyout of SatComms Australia, a satellite solutions provider in Australia. The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval. The acquisition will further consolidate SpeedCast’s leadership position in the Asia-Pacific region and provide SpeedCast with an expanded presence in Australia. SpeedCast also announced the appointment of Michael Malone as a nonexecutive Board Director and the appointment of John Mackay as Chairman of the Board.

Intellian introduced three Inmarsat FleetBroadband (FB) networks as the latest additions to its line of satellite communication antenna systems. The FB150, the FB250 and the FB500 comprise a product line supported by Intellian’s industry-leading three year warranty. All three terminals of the new Intellian FB product line include a broad range of IP and networking related value-added features such as IP routing, Firewall capability and vessel fleet tracking. The Intellian FB150 is a satellite communication solution designed to provide global data and voice for business…

Canadian shipping company Algoma Central Corporation has renewed and upgraded its VSAT Connectivity contract with technology solutions provider Imtech Marine. The agreement now provides VSAT satellite coverage and airtime Connectivity to 34 vessels which are owned or managed by Algoma. Algoma Central Corporation owns and operates the largest Canadian flag fleet of dry and liquid bulk carriers operating on the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Waterway, including 18 self-unloading dry-bulk carriers, seven gearless dry bulk carriers and seven product tankers.

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…

Globe Wireless, a  provider of communications, operational and IT solutions to the maritime industry, has announced Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Skipsrederi AS has selected the Dual Globe iFusion system as the communication solution for both SKS Tankers Holding AS and KGJS Cement Holding AS. The Dual Globe iFusion  solution provides full featured redundancy and reliability for vessels. The dual terminal FleetBroadband configuration allows one Globe iFusion  terminal to act as the primary communication system with the secondary Globe iFusion  terminal acting as a backup.