Crewtoo®, the world's largest online network dedicated to
seafarers, has surpassed 100,000 members just 16 months after it
was founded by KVH Media Group, part of KVH Industries, Inc.,
(Nasdaq:KVHI). The online network gives seafarers a way to post
comments and photographs from their vessels, chat with colleagues
on other ships, take part in seafarer-related polls and votes, and
keep up with maritime news.
"Our original aim when we started Crewtoo was to have 6,000
members by the end of 2012, and we ended up with more than 22,000.
Now, just one year later, we have 100,000 members, and more
seafarers are joining every day," comments Mark Woodhead, managing
director of KVH Media Group, which has offices in Liverpool and
Leeds, U.K. "The shipping industry has never seen anything on this
scale before. It's particularly satisfying to us that the members
range from captains to able seamen, with nationalities that span
the globe."
The rapid growth of Crewtoo makes it clear that seafarers are
turning to social media as a way to address the isolation of
working at sea. It also coincides with initiatives within the
shipping industry to make Internet access more readily available to
crew members. An international regulation called MLC-2006, for
example, was implemented in 2013 and recommends, among other
things, that maritime operators provide access to email and
Internet for their onboard crew members.
KVH calls the Crewtoo site "the voice of the seafarer" and uses
the brand to support initiatives to improve the lives of the
world's seafarers. Last year KVH donated more than 700,000 minutes
of free calling on its mini-VSAT Broadbandsm satellite service to
enable Filipino mariners to call home following Typhoon Haiyan, and
sponsored International Seafarers Welfare and Assistance Network
(ISWAN) events where author Rose George spoke on the difficult
conditions faced by the world's seafarers.
KVH Media Group also produces the maritime industry's familiar
NEWSlinkTM digital newspapers, which played a key role in the birth
of Crewtoo. NEWSlink is a daily news and information service
customised for seafarers, with more than 75 publications in 17
languages delivered by email to vessels around the world. Starting
in late 2011, "Crewtoo" poll questions were printed in NEWSlink
onboard newspapers to gauge mariners' interests and opinions on
varied topics. As replies rolled in to the NEWSlink offices, the
poll results and a selection of comments were printed in subsequent
issues of NEWSlink, and seafarers were offered the option of
signing up individually to receive the Crewtoo poll questions and
answers by email. Because of the limits of many vessels' satellite
communications systems, those emails had to be less than 3,000
characters of plain text, so NEWSlink moved to printing a weekly
Crewtoo newspaper to contain more members' comments, opinions, and
jokes. With the desire to find an outlet for even more comments to
be shared, the Crewtoo online network was born.
To date, there have been more than 545,000 unique visitors to
Crewtoo.com. Of the more than 100,000 Crewtoo members, there are
2,365 members who still receive the plain text emails and interact
with Crewtoo in that manner. Crewtoo also has an active presence on
Facebook, with 85,000 followers there.
Crewtoo continues to ask its members their opinions about
seafaring life. One request that has been voiced many times is a
way to learn more about the latest maritime jobs. To that end,
Crewtoo is currently developing a recruiting service, which is
expected to launch next month. "First Crewtoo grew its audience,
and now we plan to expand services based on what seafarers say they
want," says Woodhead.
In addition to Crewtoo and NEWSlink, KVH Media Group has a
number of other services aimed at improving crew welfare.
MOVIElinkTM, TVlinkTM, and TRAININGlinkTM provide commercially
licensed movies, television programs, and training films for
onboard viewing by seafarers, delivered in a range of formats from
hard-copy DVDs delivered directly to ship agents anywhere in the
world to fully digital services. SPORTSlinkTMprovides daily video
clips of sporting events.
KVH provides maritime broadband connectivity to vessels
worldwide through its TracPhone V-IP® series terminals and
mini-VSAT Broadband network. In addition, KVH is introducing
IP-MobileCastTM, a content delivery service that enables MOVIElink,
TVlink, SPORTSlink, TRAININGlink, NEWSlink, and MUSIClinkTM premium
licensed entertainment content to be delivered via multicasting
technology to subscribing vessels, over the top of the mini-VSAT
Broadband network.
Note to Editors: For more information about Crewtoo and KVH
Media Group, visit www.crewtoo.com, and www.kvhmediagroup.com. For
more information about KVH's mini-VSAT Broadband connectivity
solution, visit www.minivsat.com/vip.
About KVH Industries, Inc.
KVH Industries is a leading provider of in-motion satellite TV
and communications systems, having designed, manufactured, and sold
more than 175,000 mobile satellite antennas for applications on
vessels, vehicles, and aircraft. KVH, with its KVH Media Group, is
also a leading news, music, and entertainment content provider to
many industries including maritime, retail, and leisure. KVH is
based in Middletown, RI, U.S.A., with facilities in Illinois,
Denmark, Norway, the U.K., Singapore, the Philippines, Cyprus, and
Japan.
This release contains forward-looking statements that involve
risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements include, for
example, statements regarding the timing and occurrence of KVH's
new service rollout plans, the functionality, characteristics,
quality, cost, and performance of KVH products and technology, as
well as customer demand, preferences, requirements, and
expectations. The actual results could differ materially from those
expressed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that might
cause such differences include, among others: Potential
unanticipated technical or legal impediments that could delay or
impede new service rollout plans or expected strategic
relationships; access to sufficient and uninterrupted satellite
capacity to provide the service; unanticipated increases in media
costs or loss of distribution rights; risks associated with the
delivery or performance of critical hardware; uncertainty about the
scope of customer demand; and changes in the costs and capabilities
of competing offerings. These and other risk factors are discussed
in more detail in KVH's most recent Form 10-Q filed with the SEC.
KVH does not assume any obligation to update its forward-looking
statements to reflect new information or developments.
KVH, Crewtoo, NEWSlink, MOVIElink, TVlink, TRAININGlink,
SPORTSlink, MUSIClink, TracPhone, and IP-MobileCast are trademarks
of KVH Industries, Inc. mini-VSAT Broadband is a service mark of
KVH Industries, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective companies.
CONTACT: Sue Henney
Marketing Manager
KVH Media Group
Liverpool, U.K.
+44 151 236 4124
shenney@kvh.com
Jill Connors
Media & Communications Manager
KVH Industries, Inc.
Middletown, RI
+1 401-851-3824
jconnors@kvh.com
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