Page 36: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (September 2019)

SATCOM CONNECTIVITY DRIVES INNOVATION

Maritime Connection

Speeds Ahead

Connectivity is the backbone of modern maritime operations as ships and boats at sea increasingly become connected. We recently met with Martin

Kits van Heyningen, CEO, KVH, to discuss the evo- lution of communication in the maritime sector.

By Greg Trauthwein don’t want to be at sea for six months with no contact with friends and

To start, give us a “State of KVH” today.

family. Every year these segments get stronger, and crews increasingly

We started originally in the leisure market, and we have about 85% mar- don’t want to be onboard vessels that don’t have a good internet connec- ket share for leisure and small craft, but over the last 10 years the busi- tion. This is a driver, and it has become a cost of doing business for most ness has been dominated by the commercial market. Most of our revenue now come the commercial maritime: merchant marine, offshore vessels, of the professional companies in the business.

Another component is the IOT and the machines talking to each ? shing vessels make up the bulk of our business today.

Martin Kits van Heynin- other. Machine to machine data transfer is a big driver for connectivity.

gen, CEO, KVH, on the

How about a “State-of-the-market.” Speci