Kongsberg Maritime Ship Systems (KMSS) reported excellent progress in the cargo monitoring systems market at the Posidonia Exhibition 2002 in Piraeus, Greece. This news was reinforced by the announcement of a co-operation agreement with Gunclean Toftejorg that will offer system integration to common customers.
Gunclean Toftejorg has developed a dedicated range of tank cleaning equipment. Cleaning of cargo tanks on crude oil, chemical and product tankers as well as bulk carriers is essential for the optimised use of the transportation capacity of a tanker.
This latest collaboration strengthens KMSS’s ability to offer total solutions to their customers. Systems such as the KMSS DataChief C20 Alarm Monitoring and Control System will distribute all cargo monitoring data throughout the vessel on a redundant LAN, reducing the need for workstations or interfaces. Constant development of technical solutions and close liaison with the end users allows KMSS to develop the very best cargo surveillance systems available.
KMSS’s success in the cargo systems market is most noticeable in the Korean market, where market share has increased from 8 percent in 1998 to an all time high of 41 percent in 2001. The best selling systems are Level Gauging Systems based on microwave tank radars delivered to crude, product and chemical tankers.
KMSS Executive Vice President for Cargo Level Gauging Systems, Ragnar Slettestol commented on the success in Korea ‘We are very pleased with our development in Korea and we intend to further penetrate the market. The Korean shipbuilding market has been dominated for too long by one cargo level gauging supplier, we are confident that our product is of higher quality and will continue to offer strong competition’.