KVH Partners with Smart Ship Hub for KVH Watch Maritime IoT Solution

Remote vessel and voyage management platform Smart Ship Hub will offer KVH Watch connectivity to enable actionable insights for vessels

MIDDLETOWN, R.I., Feb. 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI), announced today that remote vessel and voyage management platform Smart Ship^© Hub is now a KVH Watch^® Solution Partner and will offer KVH Watch services as part of its wide range of remote technical and operational management solutions. The Smart Ship Hub platform provides performance advisory and predictive diagnostics for vessel performance optimization as well as remote video-based maintenance and surveys and a wide range of related services that rely on real-time data feeds.

“The pillars of Smart Ship Hub’s services include remote tracking, monitoring, and providing actionable insights to our customers so their vessels operate as safely and efficiently as possible,” says Joy Basu, CEO of Smart Ship Hub. “We look forward to using KVH Watch connectivity to enable video, image, and real-time machine data that provides situational awareness and the most accurate assessment of vessel condition at any moment.”

“It is exciting to see the possibilities for operational and cost benefits that a platform such as Smart Ship Hub can produce for maritime businesses,” says Sven Brooks, senior director of IoT business development for KVH. “KVH Watch will enable Smart Ship Hub to have access to the real-time data that will make their digital platform all the smarter and will allow them to conduct troubleshooting sessions to solve critical issues at sea. More importantly, it will allow Smart Ship Hub to deploy more digital services and features than ever before as KVH Watch removes the technical constraints and limitations imposed by the traditional satellite connection onboard.”

Getting information from a vessel to shore is essential for bringing the maritime ecosystem into the digital age. Real-time data from the vessel’s equipment is the starting point for performance optimization. However, the ship’s bandwidth is constantly contested by other users, so there are data limits that prevent an IoT service company from scaling its digital business properly. Furthermore, this limited bandwidth poses a bottleneck for any required video troubleshooting. There needs to be high-speed Internet connectivity to enable video troubleshooting while the vessel is at sea, which saves time and money in port. Network management and cybersecurity issues must also be addressed as shipowners often restrict access for external parties. Therefore, a dedicated IoT connectivity solution is critically important for reducing cyber risks by keeping OT (operational technology) data flow separate from the vessel’s IT (information technology) data flow. Satellite connectivity designed for IoT is the key to being able to provide these services while the vessel is at sea and out of range of cellular signals.

KVH Watch is an IoT Connectivity as a Service solution that provides Flow, secure 24/7/365 machine-to-cloud satellite connectivity for remote monitoring of onboard equipment plus the ability to perform on-demand Remote Expert Interventions using video, voice, or text via KVH’s global HTS network. KVH Watch is designed for maritime equipment manufacturers, multicard service providers, and shipyards seeking affordable monthly subscription-based connectivity that L-band and cellular services cannot deliver at deep sea.

KVH is a mobile tech innovator that provides connectivity solutions for commercial maritime, leisure marine, and land mobile applications on vessels and vehicles, including the award-winning TracPhone^® and TracVision^® product lines, the global mini-VSAT Broadband^SM network, KVH Watch maritime IoT solutions, and AgilePlans^® Connectivity as a Service (CaaS). The company’s KVH Media Group provides news, sports, and entertainment content with such brands as NEWSlink™ and SPORTSlink™.

Note to Editors: For more information about the KVH Watch Solution Partner program, please visit kvh.com/watch. High-resolution images of KVH products are available at the KVH Press Room Image Library, kvh.com/Press-Room/Image-Library.

About Smart Ship Hub
Smart Ship Hub is a digital platform for remote vessel management focused on safety, reliability, cost savings, and operational efficiencies in fleet management. Aimed at vessel owners, operators, charter parties, insurers, and ship suppliers, Smart Ship Hub’s on-demand cloud features are available for bulkers, tankers, containers, tugs, barges, cruise liners, and will soon go live on fishing vessels. The Smart Ship Hub digital platform is uniquely positioned as an information layer enabling each entity in the maritime ecosystem to fetch data specific to their operational requirements providing a single source of truth for the entire maritime value chain. Live data from machinery, cargo, and weather, along with human-fed data enables predictive diagnostics and performance advisory through multiple dashboards, accessible over mobile, tablet, and desktop. Smart Ship Hub’s digital data center will allow maritime companies of all sizes to remotely track, monitor, and manage complete vessel management processes remotely.

About KVH Industries, Inc.
KVH Industries, Inc., is a global leader in mobile connectivity and inertial navigation systems, innovating to enable a mobile world. A market leader in maritime VSAT, KVH designs, manufactures, and provides connectivity and content services globally. KVH is also a premier manufacturer of high-performance sensors and integrated inertial systems for defense and commercial applications. Founded in 1982, the company is based in Middletown, RI, with research, development, and manufacturing operations in Middletown, RI, and Tinley Park, IL, and more than a dozen offices around the globe.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. For example, forward-looking statements include statements regarding the expected competitive advantages of KVH Watch, the anticipated strategic relationship between Smart Ship Hub and KVH, the functionality, characteristics, quality, and performance of KVH’s and Smart Ship Hub’s products, services, and technology, as well as customer demand, preferences, requirements, and expectations. Actual results could differ materially from the forward-looking statements made in this press release. Factors that might cause these differences include but are not limited to: unanticipated technical and other challenges that arise during beta testing and customer trials of the KVH Watch service; unanticipated technical, legal, and regulatory delays with the launch of the new services; delays in the receipt of anticipated orders for our KVH Watch service, or the potential failure of such orders to occur at all; potential future decisions by Smart Ship Hub to terminate or otherwise not expand orders for the KVH Watch service; customer response to KVH Watch; potential changes in market trends, competition and other developments affecting the buying patterns of end-users of maritime IoT solutions; and potential unforeseen costs or expenses of providing the products and services included in KVH Watch subscriptions. These and other factors are discussed in more detail in KVH’s Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on October 29, 2020. Copies are available through its Investor Relations department and website, https://ir.kvh.com. KVH does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect new information and developments.

KVH Industries, Inc. has used, registered, or applied to register its trademarks in the U.S.A. and other countries around the world, including but not limited to the following marks: KVH, KVH Watch, TracPhone, TracVision, mini-VSAT Broadband, AgilePlans, NEWSlink, and SPORTSlink. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies.

For further information, please contact:
Jill Connors
Sr. Manager, Media & Industry Analyst Relations
KVH Industries, Inc.
Tel: +1 401 851 3824
jconnors@kvh.com