Maltese Falcon Successfully Completes First-Ever Sailing Yacht Trials with Kymeta and e3 Systems

Kymeta and e3 worked with the executive management, the Captain, and the IT manager of the Maltese Falcon to perform the months-long sea trials, which commenced in the Caribbean and are ongoing. During the trials the yacht was equipped with both single and multiple-terminal configurations. Upon commercial release of yacht solutions, the terminals will be bundled with Kymeta’s KĀLO™ internet access services, powered by the IntelsatOne® Flex for Maritime service. The trial utilized capacity on three Intelsat assets, IS-29e (Caribbean), IS-32e Wide Beam (Bermuda/Atlantic), and IS-905 (Europe).

The trial experience has proven valuable for the captain and crew of the Maltese Falcon. Captain Nikolaos Leontitsis of the Maltese Falcon said, “We were thrilled to partner with Kymeta on this sea trial because connectivity is critical on the water. Kymeta's consistent connection allows us to maximize the use of the Falcon's sophisticated onboard network, and to offer our guests and crew cutting edge communications and internet service together with the latest in on-demand entertainment options.”

The crew of the Maltese Falcon worked with Kymeta and e3 to adapt the installed KyWay panel throughout the trial period.

“We recently installed additional Kymeta KyWay terminals on the Maltese Falcon to enable truly global connectivity,” said Roger Horner, Managing Director at e3. “The yacht adapted very successfully from using a single KyWay terminal during the initial sea trials by moving it to avoid mast shadow. It now has four terminals for the full-scale temporary installation which addresses the mast shadow challenges while awaiting embedded installation.”

The experience, and the weather, provided the engineering teams at Kymeta and e3 with valuable insights for maritime installations before the product becomes commercially available. “We observed that the panel remained connected regardless of sea motion, pitch and roll, and exceeded our initial expectations of the performance of the electronically-steered beam,” said Håkan Olsson, Vice President of Maritime at Kymeta. “The yacht industry can now look forward to not only the possibility, but the reality, of domeless vessels and communication capabilities we never would have thought possible even a decade ago.”

Captain Leontitsis recognized additional benefits for the future and is looking forward to further technology solutions as a result of installing Kymeta’s panels on the Maltese Falcon. “The sea trials with Kymeta aboard the Maltese Falcon offered an altogether different communications experience,” said Captain Leontitsis. “It is very exciting to work with our innovative executive management team, which selects and is able to apply the most appropriate and advanced technology on the Maltese Falcon.”