March 27, 2014

 RHL Hamburger Lloyd Tanker GmbH & Co. KG, of Hamburg, Germany, an international shipping company known for managing sophisticated, innovative tankers, has chosen KVH Industries, Inc., for its mini-VSAT Broadband satellite communications solution.  Twelve oil and chemical tankers will be outfitted with KVH’s TracPhone V7-IP satellite antenna systems in the next month, with a potential for 16 additional container vessels to receive KVH systems.

“We needed a solution for the growing bandwidth usage onboard our vessels, for operational tasks such as fuel consumption monitoring and electronic chart updates and also for crew access to Internet,” says Peter Fromming, fleet director for RHL Hamburger Lloyd Tanker. “KVH provides a reliable satellite communications solution with global coverage and also the onboard network management that is essential for controlling access onboard and staying within budget.  We regard the KVH systems as having the most suitable airtime plans and return on investment for our needs.”

The KVH systems will be installed on sophisticated tankers known as Safety Chemical Oil Tanker (SCOT) 8000s, which are considered environmentally friendly because their advanced design is intended to minimize the risk of a spill.  RHL Hamburger Lloyd Tanker was heavily involved in the design and construction of the SCOT 8000 tankers, which are propelled and maneuvered by two separate drive systems and are built with a double hull; the tankers have a capacity of 8,000 tons.

“RHL Hamburger Lloyd Tanker is known as a leader and innovator with its involvement in the SCOT 8000 tankers, and they are showing forward thinking again by choosing KVH’s end-to-end solution for onboard management and connectivity,” says Brent Bruun, executive vice president of KVH’s Mobile Broadband Group.  “We are excited about the opportunity to work with them to provide a world-class maritime broadband solution for their vessels.”