BW will upgrade 102 tankers with faster connectivity

This follows a five-year contract signed with KVH Industries for VSAT connectivity using high throughput satellites (HTS) and widebeam satellites worldwide.

BW’s tankers and gas carriers will use KVH’s mini-VSAT Broadband HTS network for advanced satellite communications once new VSAT hardware is installed.

KVH will deploy its TracPhone V11-HTS antennas on the majority of these 102 ships, with the rest having smaller TracPhone V7-HTS terminals.

TracPhone V11-HTS is a 1-m Ku/C-band maritime VSAT antenna introduced in 2019 and designed to deliver bandwidth data speeds of up to 20 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up to the satellites from ships. TracPhone V7-HTS antennas are 60 cm and provide connectivity in Ku-band over the mini-VSAT Broadband HTS network utilising Intelsat’s FlexMaritime service and capacity from Sky Perfect JSAT satellites.

FlexMaritime offers multi-layered coverage including spot beams of Ku-band from HTS units overlaying widebeam Ku-band and C-band from multiple satellites to maximise broadband service reliability.

Hardware installation began in 2019 and full vessel migration is expected to be completed by Q3 2020 on product tankers, LPG and LNG carriers and offshore floating production ships.

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A senior manager for fleet business solutions said global VSAT coverage was “extremely important to our operations” and technical support is important “to ensure that our fleet has the connectivity we need to stay competitive”.