KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq:KVHI) has announced that Transpetro has selected KVH VSAT connectivity for the majority of the company's tankers.

Brazilian-based Transpetro provides transportation for the state-owned Petrobras oil and gas company. Transpetro chose KVH’s TracPhone® V7-HTS satellite communications antenna system with a five year airtime contract for 45 tankers, a combination of newbuilds and existing tankers. The installations will take place throughout the next 12 months in Brazil, where KVH’s subsidiary, KVH Brazil, has been in operation since 2011.

KVH's TracPhone V7-HTS.

KVH’s TracPhone V7-HTS is a 60 cm Ku-band satellite communications antenna designed for the mini-VSAT Broadbandsm network that uses HTS technology. KVH’s mini-VSAT Broadband network provides global maritime coverage and the TracPhone V7-HTS delivers data speeds up to 10 Mbps download, and 3 Mbps upload. Each TracPhone V7-HTS includes a belowdecks Integrated CommBox™ Modem (ICM), with built-in capability for onboard network management solutions.

Executive Comments

Jose Ricardo Esses, the CIO of Transpetro, said that the company selected KVH for the global coverage and the data speed, which will enable the firm to improve operational efficiency and provide crew welfare. Another deciding factor in selecting KVH VSAT was the ease of use in having one provider for the complete connectivity solution.

Ryan Smith, KVH’s Director of global channel management, noted that with the unit's superior data speed and global Ku-band coverage, KVH’s TracPhone V7-HTS is ideal for the tankers.