Outlining the Next Generation of Ship-to-Shore Connectivity
March 30 2015 - 6:00AM
The next generation of connectivity between ship and shore will be
dominated by the development of applications to help ship owners
and managers reduce costs by enhancing operational efficiency,
automating processes, and avoiding expensive repairs, according to
one of the world's leading suppliers of satellite communications to
the maritime industry.
Brent Bruun, Executive Vice President of Mobile Broadband at KVH
Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq:KVHI), spoke at the CMA Shipping 2015
conference in Stamford, Connecticut, this week as part of a panel
of experts addressing the impact of "big data" on maritime
operations. Mr. Bruun said advances were being seen in key areas
such as engine monitoring, remote maintenance, and satellite
delivery of electronic charts, weather data, and e-Learning
services. Efforts were also underway to improve a ship's ability to
comply with the demands of international regulations.
This is all against a backdrop of an industry fighting to reduce
crew turnover and improve training of its seafarer asset.
Attracting and retaining quality crew is still a major challenge
facing shipping industry leaders with "a tech-savvy, digital native
crew" being asked to work on increasingly sophisticated equipment
against increasingly complex regulatory expectations, he told
delegates.
Today's seafarers are now demanding better communications
connections to home; they want to access social media and the
Internet at sea as well as have access to news, movie and TV
entertainment, and music "which must be licensed." They also want
better training and professional development, Mr. Bruun said.
"The shipping industry needs to change how it thinks about
connectivity and content delivery," with the industry facing
exploding demand for broadband connectivity at sea accessed via
mobile devices. This trend is being driven by the entrance of
digital natives into the seafaring workforce, he noted.
Trends on land that are forcing cell phone companies to sell
access by the gigabyte are starting to transfer to maritime
services, Mr. Bruun said. Services for data access at sea need to
address increasing operational demand and the threat that crew's
broadband data usage could overwhelm a vessel's data network:
"Simply adding bandwidth capacity and data speed is not enough as
there are always new ways to fill up that capacity," he said.
Ship operators also want greater transparency when it comes to
understanding how much data is being used and how much is needed,
he noted. Owners and operators want clarity in usage trends and
also want to better understand the implications of data use.
Mr. Bruun said there was a growing trend towards the use of
multicasting, where one transmission sends files to all vessels.
These are cached on an onboard server for immediate access by all
onboard.
"KVH's IP-MobileCast™ content delivery service is designed so it
never affects the quality of, or competes with, an owner's Internet
or VoIP service. Beam capacity is sized for peak loads, leaving
about half the network capacity unused. Multicast data is
transmitted in unused bandwidth, at a lower priority than standard
IP traffic and it does not use the vessel's or customer's mini-VSAT
Broadbandsm plan's data allotment," he said. "A multicast approach
like IP-MobileCast sharply reduces the crew's demand for
bandwidth."
Note to Editors: For more information about KVH's IP-MobileCast
content delivery service, please visit the website,
www.ipmobilecast.com. High-resolution images of KVH products and
services are available at the KVH Press Room Image Library,
www.kvh.com/press-room/image-library.
About KVH Industries, Inc.
KVH Industries is a leading provider of in-motion satellite TV
and communications systems, having designed, manufactured, and sold
more than 175,000 mobile satellite antennas for applications on
vessels, vehicles, and aircraft. KVH is also a leading news, music,
and entertainment content provider to many industries including
maritime, retail, and leisure. VideotelTM, a KVH company, is a
leading provider of maritime training. KVH is based in Middletown,
RI, with research, development, and manufacturing operations in
Middletown, RI, and Tinley Park, IL. The company's global presence
includes offices in Belgium, Brazil, Cyprus, Denmark, Hong Kong,
Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, and the United
Kingdom.
KVH, IP-MobileCast, and Videotel are trademarks of KVH
Industries, Inc. mini-VSAT Broadband is a service mark of KVH
Industries, Inc.
CONTACT: Jill Connors
Media & Communications Manager
KVH Industries, Inc.
401-851-3824
jconnors@kvh.com
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