KVH adds IoT solution and expands coverage

TMS Maritime Solutions, which provides onboard sensors and applications to vessels, has partnered with KVH to deliver IoT solutions to shipping. KVH has added TMS as a KVH Watch solutions partner as maritime sectors increasingly turn to digitalisation technology to optimise vessel operations and reduce costs.

Under this arrangement, TMS will offer KVH Watch connectivity to enable real-time data transfers. Vessel managers can use this information for informed decisions and actionable insights.

KVH Watch connectivity will allow TMS’s trained technicians to support vessel owners remotely for preventive maintenance and on-demand troubleshooting. These solutions are in increasing demand as vessel owners turn to remote operational solutions in reaction to continuing restrictions worldwide due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Vessel operators rely on digital processes to realise operating efficiencies, such as preventative maintenance and reduced fuel consumption. To do this, they need faster connectivity to enable secure data flows from operational technology separate from a vessel’s IT information transfers.

TMS Maritime chief technology officer and co-founder Jesus Rodriguez expects VSAT connectivity to enable more IoT data transmissions to cloud platforms and applications. “This will allow us and fleet managers to analyse gathered information for preventive maintenance, vessel performance, and historical key performance indicators (KPIs) as opportunities to lower operational costs,” said Mr Rodriguez.

“With [KVH Watch] remote expert intervention, we can offer real-time remote support to the vessel with immediate assistance saving time and money,” he added.

KVH Watch is an IoT connectivity-as-a-service solution, providing dedicated year-round machine-to-cloud satellite communications for remote monitoring of onboard equipment.

It also enables on-demand remote expert interventions using video, voice, or text via KVH’s global high-throughput satellite (HTS) network.

KVH expanded this network in December 2020 when it added coverage throughout Hudson Bay and the North Atlantic. This Nasdaq-listed company has added 4M km² of Ku-band coverage over north eastern Canada, the Labrador Sea, Iceland, and Greenland. Its Hudson Bay coverage is particularly important to commercial fishing fleets which rely on satellite connectivity for operations and crew welfare.

“Vessels use connectivity for everything from communications and crew welfare to performance optimisation and we see our network as essential to their success,” said KVH executive vice president for mobile connectivity Mark Woodhead.

KVH’s VSAT Broadband HTS network has around 276M km² of Ku-band coverage worldwide accessed through KVH’s own hardware. This includes the TracPhone HTS series antennas, incorporating the 37-cm, Ku-band V3-HTS, the 60-cm, Ku-band TracPhone V7-HTS, and the 1.1-m C/Ku-band TracPhone V11-IP. These deliver data speeds as fast as 20 Mbps on the downlink and 3 Mbps on the uplink, on the largest antennas.

Another VSAT supplier, Satcom Global, has added a new satellite to its Ku-band Aura VSAT network. The addition of NSS-6 coverage will augment the existing satellite footprint in place over the Pacific Ocean.

Satcom Global said this would enhance coverage and improve connectivity for ships sailing trans-Pacific trade routes by increasing line-of-sight options. Additional bandwidth is added to the network organically as more ships are added, preventing degradation of service over time.

Satcom Global uses the iDirect Velocity platform for Aura services. This platform was specifically designed to enable VSAT service providers to deploy managed HTS and multi-spot beam architectures, consisting of increasingly more beams, frequencies, and throughput.

SES’ NSS-6 satellite is in geostationary orbit providing 6 Ku-band beams from 60 high-power Ku-band transponders.

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