Hines Furlong Debuts Satellite High-Speed Internet Across Fleet

Hines Furlong Line has become the first inland towing company to make high-speed internet from low-orbit satellites available to its entire fleet. Starlink Maritime is being installed on all 24 vessels in the Hines Furlong fleet. It will be the only source of internet, as the company discontinues the use of cellular cradlepoints.

Hines Furlong Line operates its large, high-horsepower inland towboats on the Cumberland, Ohio, Illinois, Mississippi and Tennessee rivers and employs approximately 450 professional mariners and dedicated shoreside employees.

The company is also installing a Wi-Fi network that will allow crews to use their personal mobile devices for video calls home as well as internet access, and is moving from DirecTV to streaming services.  “Thus far we have had excellent feedback from the crew, and they are very happy to have guaranteed access to call home,” said Amanda Wallace, an IT manager with Hines Furlong. She said the new services should be fully installed on all vessels by May.

Kent Furlong, president of Hines Furlong Line, said, “We have been utilizing this for both vessel and [corporate] communications, and we have opened up the network to our mariners so they can utilize high-speed internet as well. … We have heard of other companies having it on a few vessels that work in areas with known spotty cell service, but thus far we are not aware of any inland barge companies using the product fleet-wide and offering it to their mariners.”

Test Boat

The Ron Hunter was the test boat where the service was installed in late November. The crew was able to video call with family for the holidays and “reached out to say how much that meant to them,” Wallace said. “We have had 99.78 percent of connectivity with Starlink regardless of the river we are running or the weather.” The company’s harbor tugs in Ashland City, Clarksville and Nashville are all using Starlink without any issues from operating so close to shore.

“We are proud to be on the leading edge of utilizing this technology aboard HFL vessels and moreover we are happy to offer this perk to our mariners as one more amenity that aids in their overall comfort and communication abilities while they are away from home,” Furlong said.

Caption for photo: The mv. HFL Mariner is one of the Hines Furlong towboats getting Starlink Maritime low-orbit satellite internet service. (Photo by Mike Herschler)