Page 49: of Marine News Magazine (April 2014)

ity. They are looking to incorporate into their whole ß eet.ÓHarvey GulfÕs Þ rst KVH VSAT installations were Trac- Phone V7 (60 cm, 24 inch diameter antenna), a system that is 85% smaller and 75% lighter than standard 1.2 me- ter VSAT systems. Hardware this light and compact is im- portant for commercial vessels, since installation downtime and space onboard often come at a premium. In addition, KVHÕs mini-VSAT Broadband network was designed from the ground up to be the Þ rst next-generation maritime satellite communications solution, perfect for commercial ß eets. The global spread spectrum satellite network, built with ViaSatÕs patented ArcLight¨ technology, offers more affordable airtime, voice service and Internet access as fast as 1 Mbps (ship to shore) and 2 Mbps (shore to ship). Cost: Harvey Gulf is putting KVH VSAT (TracPhone V7-IP or V11-IP) plus KVH satellite TV (TracVision M5) on all of its vessels. Having acquired as many as 50 vessels in the past year, every vessel in the ß eet, including several highly publicized new builds powered by liqueÞ ed natural gas (LNG), is being outÞ tted with KVH. This includes KVHÕs new content delivery service, IP-MobileCast, for both op- erational content (ECDIS updates) and entertainment con- tent (for crew welfare). The move comes at no small cost. Harvey Gulf nevertheless insists that the investment is already paying handsome dividends, and promises a bigger payout down the road Ð across virtually every line time and cost center on their books. According to Steve GrifÞ n, ÒWeÕve (KVH / Harvey Gulf) grown together addressing Harvey GulfÕs speciÞ c needs. Our customized solutions have kept our platform Ôsticky.Õ When Harvey Gulf ac- quires a new ß eet, they go through the very expensive ef- fort of changing over to our system. ItÕs pretty ß attering. TheyÕre happy with what we have.Ó According to Harvey Gulf IT Manager Andy Adgate, companies who secure Òpay-as-you-goÓ contracts often pay more than they should for communications solutions. ÒIf we had to pay as we go for all of the functions we support today, weÕd pay far more than we do for our guaranteed KVH service plan.Ó He adds, ÒShell is one of our largest customers. Nothing but the best in communications is ac- ceptable, and we make sure that we have it. We use KVH, in part, because we found that other providers also didnÕt have the range of coverage that KVH provides.Ó In the Alaskan markets, in particular, Harvey Gulf needs every bit of bandwidth it can get, especially in an area where coverage can be spotty and where environmental monitoring requirements are especially stringent. Photo
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