Norwegian Research Vessel Gets Combined IoT-Satcom Service

KVH and Kongsberg have installed their first joint maritime IoT system on a working vessel. The Simrad Echo, a Norwegian research vessel owned and operated by Kongsberg, now features a KVH Watch VSAT antenna for connectivity and the Kognifai Vessel Insight onboard data collection and analysis system.

The bundled KVH/Kongsberg satcom-plus-ship data package gives ship owners, ship managers, and maritime equipment manufacturers an all-in-one vessel monitoring and data analysis service. Simrad Echo will use Kognifai Vessel Insight to monitor her main and auxiliary systems, maximize availability and conduct operations. For example, the Kongsberg Mapping Cloud application will move echo sounding data from vessel to shore in real time so that shore-based experts can analyze it. 

“While Vessel Insight works as an infrastructure for accessing contextualized quality data from a vessel or fleet, KVH is providing an alternative for IoT connectivity that enables the transfer of data from ship to cloud,” says Vigleik Takle, Kongsberg Digital’s SVP of maritime digital solutions. “We are very happy to be able to offer this as a connectivity option to our users.”

The data flow from Simrad Echo will be handled using KVH Watch's dual-mode service contract. KVH Watch has two modes: Watch Flow, for 24/7, machine-to-machine data delivery; and Watch Intervention, for on-demand high-speed sessions for face-to-face support, remote equipment access, and very large data transfers. 

“Vessels are complex systems of systems that must work together for the vessel to perform reliably and efficiently,” says Robert Hopkins, Jr., KVH’s senior director of maritime services. “During the Simrad Echo pilot, Watch Flow will deliver a complete view of those systems to shore on a Kognifai Vessel Insight dashboard. One system, Kongsberg Mapping Cloud for very high-resolution bathymetry, is particularly data intensive, making it a great use case for our high-throughput Watch antenna.”