KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI) has announced that BW Group, a worldwide leader in maritime energy transportation, has chosen KVH’s connectivity services for 45 additional vessels in its fleet. The two companies will also continue with a connectivity contract for the LPG and LNG vessels in BW’s fleet that have had KVH’s VSAT systems and services since 2013.
“We chose KVH because of their commitment to excellence, the ease of working with a sole provider, and the cost advantages that we can achieve with fast, reliable connectivity and global coverage,” says Tor-Egil Gjulem, BW Group’s global head of procurement. “Connectivity is the key to digitalization of many maritime operational functions.”
BW has more than 80 years’ experience in maritime energy transportation, and has a large fleet that includes product tankers, LPG and LNG carriers, FSRUs, dry bulk carriers, chemical tankers, offshore vessels, and crude carriers.
“We are thrilled to work with a maritime leader such as BW, whose commitment to performance, operational efficiency, and crew welfare is well known,” says Mark Guthrie, vice president, Asia Pacific, for KVH. “The fact that they are choosing to add more vessels, based on their experience with KVH for the past five years, is a testament to the strong relationship that has developed between our two companies.”
For the 45 additional vessels, BW has chosen the dual mode C/Ku-band TracPhone® V11-IP satellite antenna system and the Ku-band TracPhone V7-HTS; the particular system for each vessel is dependent on type of vessel. The TracPhone V11-IP and the TracPhone V7-HTS are designed for KVH’s mini-VSAT Broadbandsm connectivity service. The vessels will also receive news and entertainment content via KVH’s IP-MobileCastTM content delivery service.
“With our vessels transiting the oceans, it is extremely important to have a connectivity provider like KVH, which has the technical and service capability to address issues immediately, and ensure that our fleet is always benefitting from uninterrupted connectivity,” says Juzer Vasi, head of business solutions – fleet, for BW.
KVH is a mobile tech innovator that provides connectivity solutions for commercial maritime, leisure marine, and land mobile applications on vessels and vehicles, including the award-winning TracPhone and TracVision® product lines, the global mini-VSAT Broadband network, and AgilePlans™ Connectivity as a Service (CaaS). The company’s Videotel™ business is a market-leading provider of training films, computer-based training, and eLearning for the maritime industry, and its KVH Media Group provides news, sports, and entertainment content with such brands as NEWSlinkTM and SPORTSlinkTM.
