KVH Industries: Enhancing Maritime Connectivity and Crew Well-Being

With a commitment to excellence and a track record of industry firsts, KVH Industries continues to push the boundaries of connectivity and navigation, ensuring that clients around the world can rely on them for seamless and uninterrupted communication. Chris Watson, Vice President Marketing & Communications at KVH Industries, discusses with Robban Assafina company’s latest developments, including the new linkHUB Over-the-Air service, which aims to further enhance crew morale and well-being.

What strategies does KVH Industries have in place to stay at the forefront of technological advancements in the satellite communications industry, especially given the challenges of integrating LEO satellite communication services?

We live in exciting times when it comes to maritime connectivity. We’re seeing tremendous changes, significant disruptions, and an expanding array of choices in new LEO and 5G services. We’re also seeing those services become something of a commodity, data pipes that offer speed at low costs but without controls or the services that mariners and fleet operators have come to expect with traditional services like VSAT. 

At KVH, we work with our customers to create bespoke integrated solutions that offer the value of these new data pipes, proven global VSAT, and advanced managed services to ensure that every vessel in a fleet, the officers, and the crew, has the stable, reliable connectivity and features needed to provide safe, efficient operation and crew well-being. Just as importantly, our KVH ONE multi-orbit, multi-channel solution is network-agnostic, enabling us to integrate new and emerging technology to offer future-proof options for our customers and keep them always connected.

Given the growing dependence on digital solutions and connectivity at sea, what measures is KVH Industries taking to address cybersecurity threats and ensure the safety of maritime communications?

Cyber threats are high on everyone’s list of risks to safe, efficient operations, and minimizing those risks through effective cybersecurity is fundamental. That’s why we employ cybersecurity-by-design principles in developing our hardware and global satellite networks. We offer a variety of features and services to aid vessel operators with their cybersecurity needs at onboarding and during regular operations. In addition to the protections built into our satellite and terrestrial networks and our terminals, we also offer enterprise-grade cybersecurity upgrades and managed firewalls to enhance data security, shipboard operations, and crew safety.

KVH Industries recently signed an exclusive maritime distribution agreement with Kognitive Networks to brand the CommboxTM Edge. Could you provide insight into any upcoming innovations or new technologies that KVH is currently developing?

One of the great benefits of global connectivity and the new network options we offer through KVH ONE is the ability to improve crew morale and well-being. Mental health is just as crucial for the crew as physical health. Significant contributors to mental health are the ability for seafarers to be connected to family and friends at home; access to popular entertainment, sports, and daily news; and the opportunity to enjoy social interaction with crewmates. Karaoke, for example, is tremendously popular among many seafarers. 

We’re thrilled to be expanding our award-winning KVH Link crew content service, which offers blockbuster movies and TV in multiple languages, more than 60 daily news editions in twenty languages, sports, music, karaoke, and popular social media videos. While this has always been available via our VSAT service or secure data drives, our new linkHUB Over-the-Air service makes this content available to any vessel via almost any onboard network, including Starlink, OneWeb, 5G, and other VSAT services. We offer the most extensive and diverse content service available at sea, with a streaming service experience and minimal data use. It’s very exciting to make this available to any vessel and crew on the water now.

As KVH aims to provide comprehensive solutions to its customers, what are the company’s plans for advancing the IT department to offer fully managed services?

Our philosophy for delivering connectivity is built on our commitment to working with our customers to understand their unique needs and goals and create a bespoke solution that meets those requirements and helps them succeed. Offering managed services is at the core of our approach as we seek to take some of the load off our customers, reduce their risk, and improve their efficiency. We already offer such services, including managed firewall technology and configuration, cloud email, content delivery, or advanced network and bandwidth management. We have consistently added to our suite of managed solutions and expect to continue delivering expanding, world-class solutions going forward.

The Middle East is one of KVH Industries’ premier regions for onboard support and field service. What emerging technologies do you anticipate will have the most significant impact on maritime connectivity in the next 5-10 years, and how is KVH positioning itself to lead in these areas?

That’s a great question and one that is very hard to answer. Look at the disruption in the communications industry over the past two years with the rapid rise of LEO. Industry experts and observers knew LEO was coming and would offer some benefits, but, in truth, not many expected LEO services to upend the traditional communications industry so dramatically. We will continue to see new networks offering competitive pricing, speeds, and new options well-suited for Middle Eastern fleets operating regionally and globally. 

At the same time, the demand for data will not decline as the digitalization of the industry accelerates with the increasing use of IoT, optimization systems and services, and big data analytics. As KVH, we are agile and can quickly assess and integrate those new technologies to meet our customers’ needs. It’s the core of KVH ONE, a flexible, versatile, and dynamic multi-orbit and multi-channel solution that can expand with new tech and adjust to meet customer demands.

How is KVH Industries leveraging technology to enhance the well-being of seafarers, particularly in terms of connectivity and mental health support?

As mentioned earlier, our KVH Link content service delivers fantastic content for seafarer well-being and mental health. Our solution supports both communal entertainment and engagement with content and activities ideal for fun when off-watch in the crew mess but also individual relaxation with all of the content stored onboard the ship and easily accessible via laptop, tablet, or phone in the privacy of one’s cabin. The opportunity to take advantage of shipboard connectivity to stay in touch with family and friends is just as important. We offer easy and affordable crew calling, a cloud-based email service that permits crew to get their email regardless of what vessel they are on, and crew Internet to support social media access along with text, voice, and video chatting with loved ones.

What measures is KVH implementing to minimize its environmental footprint and promote sustainability within the maritime industry?

We are committed to offering environmentally conscious products built to minimize power consumption, waste, and carbon production in our manufacturing. At the same time, our communication solutions are vital to vessels and fleets that rely on voyage optimization solutions to reduce fuel use and their carbon footprint. We’re proud to provide connectivity to those fleets, enabling them to take real-time steps to protect our environment.