Telephone Lines News

A cyclone barrelled into eastern India on Friday, bringing down trees and power lines and "extensively" damaging the tourist town of Puri, but there were no early reports of casualties with a million people evacuated before it made landfall.Tropical Cyclone Fani, the strongest to hit India in five years, spent days building up power in the northern reaches of the Bay of Bengal before it struck the coast of the state of Odisha at around 8 a.m., the state-run India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.Howling winds gusting up to 200 kph (124 mph) whipsawed trees, uprooting scores, and driving rain impacted visibility, while streets were deserted in the state capital Bhubaneswar and Puri."Damage in Puri is extensive…

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…

Ongoing Expansion Supports Growing Number of Yachting and Oil and Gas Industry Customers in Southern Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America. Staying ahead of the bandwidth demands for its rapidly growing customer base, KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq:KVHI) has just doubled the capacity of its mini-VSAT Broadband(SM) network in the busy Caribbean region. The capacity increase was provided as part of the ongoing global network upgrade involving deployment of Variable Coding…

Imtech Marine’s Advanced Support Agreements, which include 24/7 remote Monitoring & Maintenance, are raising interest among ship owners. Recently, Seaway Heavy Lifting (SHL) signed a support contract for a second crane vessel. The Imtech Marine support agreement covers all of the systems onboard, including VSAT, computers, navigation and communication equipment. The maritime transport and offshore construction services company has been a customer of Imtech Marine and Radio Holland for many years and in December 2011…

Following a successful trial on its liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers, MOL LNG Transport Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, is adding the award-winning TracPhone(R) V7 satellite communications system from KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq:KVHI) to three of its LNG tankers. The systems will use KVH's global mini-VSAT Broadband(SM) service, which is being provided by KVH's partner, SKY Perfect JSAT, under the OceanBB brand name. SKY Perfect JSAT is working with Japan Radio Co., Ltd., a prominent Japanese navigation and communications equipment manufacturer, who is providing, installing, and integrating the TracPhone V7 antennas through a wholesale agreement with KVH. The TracPhone V7 was installed for a trial on one of MOL LNG Transport Co.'s LNG tankers in May 2011.

KVH distributor Mackay Communications offers a unique, transportable terminal for mini-VSAT Broadband service. KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI) today announced a portable configuration of its ultra-compact TracPhone® V3 mobile satellite communication system designed for use by emergency responders. The kit, created by KVH distributor Mackay Communications, houses the TracPhone V3 antenna, modem, control unit, and cabling in two compact, hard-sided cases that can be transported easily and are even small enough to be checked as baggage on commercial aircraft.

KVH Industries, Inc. has announced that coverage for the last remaining region in KVH's original network plan – South America – is now under contract and scheduled to go live in July 2011 using the IS-14 satellite. This joint effort by KVH and its partner, ViaSat, Inc., will provide mini-VSAT Broadband SM service to leisure mariners, commercial shipping and fishing vessels, and the expanding South American oil and gas industry, as well as network coverage for ViaSat’s Yonder ® in-flight broadband network for commercial and business aircraft. Mini-VSAT Broadband was developed to equip vessels with high data rates with downloads as fast as 2 Mbps and uploads as fast as 512 Kbps, as well as Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone lines.

The JUE-500 FleetBroadband is the latest-generation maritime communication solution from JRC. FleetBroadband was designed to provide constant, simultaneous access to voice and high-speed data, at speeds up to 432kbps and streaming IP data rate of up to 256kbps.  An optional interface unit is available, extending the feature set to include extra telephone lines, LAN ports and access to the JRC Remote Maintenance System.

Marlink, the global provider of maritime satellite communications, has recently extended its contract with seismic vessel operator Fugro-Geoteam for a further five years. As part of the latest agreement, Marlink will supply its innovative Sealink(TM) VSAT service to the seismic vessels via Marlink's Eik teleport in Norway, providing 512 Kbps of bandwidth and 10-15 telephone lines for each vessel. "For safe, efficient and reliable operation of our vessels worldwide, it's important to have satellite communications solutions that we can trust.

Marlink, global provider of maritime satellite communications, has recently confirmed delivery and installation of its Sealink VSAT solution on the Atlantic Oilfield Services oil & gas support unit KS Titan 2. Chartered by Exxon Mobil, KS Titan 2 is the second Atlantic Oilfield Services rig to be installed with Marlink's Sealink system. "Since its installation, the crew have been very satisfied with Marlink's Sealink VSAT. The system provides always-on, reliable connectivity which is essential to meet the modern demands of the digital oilfield.

Ship Equip announced a contract with Varada Marine to install its SEVSAT (Ship Equip VSAT) maritime broadband solution on the company’s entire fleet of Offshore Supply Vessels. Varada Marine, a company with its head office in Kristiansand, Norway, has announced an extensive new building program at ABG Shipyard Ltd in India. Deliveries of SEVSAT systems will commence in step with the new building program, with the first system already delivered to the yard.

Ship Equip announced the signing of a major broadband communications contract with Frontline Management, world leader in the international seaborne transportation of crude oil. The agreement between Ship Equip and Frontline Management AS (NYSE:FRO) includes ships from Frontline, Golden Ocean and Knightsbridge Tankers. The Frontline group of companies, with majority owner John Fredriksen, is one of the world’s largest tanker owner, controlling more than 100 ships. Ship Equip will provide Frontline vessels with its exclusive SEVSAT (Ship Equip VSAT) broadband communications solution…

Marlink, maritime satellite communications integrator, has signed a 60-month agreement to provide the Sealink Maritime VSAT solution to the Norwegian Offshore company Solstad Shipping. The Solstad fleet of 23 vessels will use Sealink Maritime VSAT and other services from the Marlink portfolio. In recent years, Solstad has evaluated several alternatives to the Sealink VSAT services, but the flexibility of the Sealink Services, together with the support that Solstad Shipping receives from Sealink Operation (Eik Teleport)…

Marlink, a Vizada company, announced an agreement to provide the Sealink Maritime VSAT solution to Wilhelmsen Ship Management (WSM). Marlink will equip 30 Wilhelmsen Ship Management vessels with Sealink, a global maritime VSAT turnkey solution, offering "always-on" Internet access and Local Area Network (LAN) communications at a fixed monthly price. charges. Wilhelmsen Ship Management currently manages approximately 300 ships, of which 185 are under full technical management. seagoing personnel. Wilhelmsen Ship Management has tested the quality and reliability of the Sealink system over a 12-month period on board their roll-on roll-off vehicle carrier, the MV Tampa.

The U.S. Navy has selected Northrop Grumman Corporation to continue providing tactical communication, network, test systems and services that assure that tactical data link systems operate effectively and efficiently. These systems provide the capability to communicate information to enable network-centric warfare operations. Northrop Grumman's Information Technology (IT) sector provides these products and engineering services to the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), Washington, D.C. The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract has an initial award value of approximately $6 million, with a ceiling of over $29 million during its five-year period of performance, if all options are exercised.

The Port of Houston Authority (PHA) commission approved several recommendations involving contract awards, bids and proposals, professional services and general administrative and operational matters during its meeting on Monday, January 26. Chairman Jim Edmonds presided over the public meeting. The commission approved recommendations to issue purchase orders to Motorola, Inc., Dictaphone Corporation, and SBC, respectively, for radio system equipment, voice recorder equipment, and telephone lines that will be installed in the PHA's Emergency Command Center. The combined total amount of the purchase orders is not expected to exceed $385,000.

Litton Marine Systems has launched a new IMO-compliant vessel traffic system (VTS) for locks, bridges, ports and coastal waters. The company's new VTS-Master-W is a new system utilizing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and proprietary software running under Windows-98/NT. It is based on Litton's unique VTS-Master technology, which permits real-time remote display of raw video data from shore-based surveillance radars superimposed on geographical maps of the area. The modular VTS-Master-W system is of a flexible design and can be expanded from a basic low-cost radar-based traffic observation system into a comprehensive vessel traffic management information system (VTMIS) with multiple radar transceivers and monitoring stations networked via fiber optic cables…

Operations at India's busiest port, Kandla, have been affected by the powerful earthquake which devastated western India on Friday, but small ports nearby survived the impact and are operating normally, according to shipping industry sources and government officials. M Pinto, secretary of the Shipping Ministry, said some godowns, or warehouses, at the Kandla port were badly damaged. A signal station at the port was also damaged but had resumed operating by late Friday. Normal operations at Kandla port could resume by Saturday or early Sunday after ensuring that the shipping channel serving the port is clear, he said. Kandla handles 17 percent of the cargo passing through India's 12 largest ports, according to shipping industry data.

Telephone lines in the Egyptian northcoast town of Port Fouad went dead this weekend after a Tunisian ship sliced cables while trying to avoid an oncoming ferry, police said. The ship's anchor cut through phone cables as the crew tried to move it out of the way of the passenger ferry at the harbor of Port Fouad, 170 km (100 miles) northeast of Cairo. - (Reuters)

combat equipment and supplies at four commercial ports throughout Europe. armed forces to continental Europe. In the event of a major mobilization of U.S. military cargo overseas, 95 percent would be deployed by sea. At MSC Europe, naval reservists support sealift requirements throughout the year and are key players during wartime or other contingencies. with sealift operations wherever needed. During this exercise, port offices were established at Rota, Spain; Bremerhaven, Germany; Augusta Bay, Italy; Livorno, Italy; and Rotterdam, The Netherlands. wide-variety of functions to support MSC ships, such as on-load and off-load operations, shore services, ship repairs and on-site personnel support.

Marlink a supplier of integrated satellite communications equipment and network services previewed VSAT@SEA, the company's a new line of global maritime broadband satellite services enabling "always-on” at sea connectivity at a fixed monthly rate. Marlink's VSAT@SEA will feature three standard service configurations that include a minimum guaranteed committed information rate for IP-based communications providing resource-efficient means for conducting ship's business and enabling free Internet access and calling for crew members and passengers. Option 1 will provide vessels with two Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone lines coupled with a guaranteed 32kbps committed information rate for IP-based communications at sea.

systems within their STN Atlas VTS installations. in the efficiency and safety of their operations. operator complete control over it. automatically. receive its messages. within a designated area for which there is a central control. options unavailable on the AIS system. reporting intervals and content of the transponder signals. from the display if crowding makes it desirable. the radar track table data back to the port control. data links between each station and the control headquarters. linked to a TDMA receiver. pilots and harbor craft. a TDMA unit operating within the area.