Photo: BW Group

BW Group is upgrading is upgrading 102 vessels to utilize KVH Industries’ mini-VSAT BroadbandSM HTS network for advanced satellite communications as part of a new contract to continue KVH VSAT services for at least five years. The vessel migration is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2020.

BW Group, a global maritime company, will equip the majority of the 102 vessels with KVH’s TracPhone V11-HTS, a 1 meter Ku/C-band maritime VSAT antenna introduced earlier this year and designed to deliver worldwide data speeds as fast as 20 Mbps down/3 Mbps up. The TracPhone HTS-series system is designed for KVH’s mini-VSAT Broadband HTS network, which utilizes Intelsat’s FlexMaritime service to deliver multi-layered coverage, enabling vessels to see multiple HTS and wide beam satellites for maximum availability of broadband service. The KVH network also utilizes additional capacity from SKY Perfect JSAT.

“Our vessels travel the world, so working with a global provider such as KVH is extremely important to our operations,” said Juzer Vasi, BW’s senior manager for business solutions of fleet. “We value the global coverage of the KVH network and the excellent support we receive from KVH’s worldwide technical services team to ensure that our fleet has the connectivity we need to stay competitive.”