Voyage Data Recorders News

Because there are so many different kinds of passenger vessels, the critical topic of passenger safety can sometimes appear as a set of niche topics, each one just distantly connected to another. After all, passengers aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean face safety issues that are much different than a commuter going from Jersey City to Manhattan or a tourist crossing from the Mukilteo, Wash. ferry terminal to Whidbey Island or a family on a fishing vessel in Miami.Importantly, though, for passenger vessel operators, a commitment to safety is not siloed.

Danelec, a leader in the production of electronic equipment for the maritime industry, consolidates its market position in the Voyage Data Recorders sector with the acquisition of MacGregor's business in this field. With this investment, Danelec enhances its installed base to a total of 16,000. With the acquisition of MacGregor's Voyage Data Recorder business (VDR) including the Maritime Data Engine (MDE) Software, Danish Danelec further establishes itself as a global leader in the market for VDRs in the maritime industry.MacGregor is owned by Finnish Cargotec.

The fatal collision between the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Winslow Griesser and a small boat off the coast of Puerto Rico last year resulted from the failure of either vessel to maintain a proper lookout, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said.On August 8, 2022, the cutter Winslow Griesser and the center-console boat Desakata collided about four miles off the northern coast of Puerto Rico. The cutter, with a crew of 21, was traveling westward along the coast. The 23-foot boat, with two aboard, was heading northbound.

Elcome International, provider of maritime systems integration, technical support and shipboard service, announced the opening of another office in Europe. Based in the Spanish port city of Algeciras, the facility will offer sales and technical support for the company’s growing portfolio of ship navigation, communication, satellite connectivity and coastal surveillance systems. Shipboard services will include annual radio surveys and annual testing of Automatic Identification Systems (AIS)…

Marlink subsidiary Telemar said it signed a five-year service maintenance deal with Fairplay Towage to deliver bridge maintenance services across 50 of the company’s port and ocean tugs in Germany, Holland and Belgium.The contracts will consolidate service of critical bridge navigation equipment to a single provider, and scheduled service will be planned to agreed timeframes.The contract includes managing GMDSS declarations, annual radio survey, annual radar inspection, exchange of reserve-power batteries for GMDSS and SART/EPIRB/GMDSS handheld batteries.

Danish shipping company Uni-Tankers is upgrade aging and obsolete voyage data recorders (VDR) on more than 10 of its vessels. Some of the VDRs are 10 or more years old and are nearing the end of their service life.Uni-Tankers has chosen Danelec Marine to implement an upgrade program ensuring that it ships are equipped with the latest VDR technology, which will also help boost efficiency and the proactive use of ships’ data.A required piece of equipment on large vessels, VDRs are used to collect and store data from various onboard sensors…

Northern European growth equity investor  Verdane Capital has taken a majority stake in the Denmark-based maritime hardware and software company Danelec Marine.Under the agreement, which was signed December 31, 2019, Verdane assumes a majority shareholder position in the privately held corporation. Danelec’s existing shareholders will continue to own shares in the company, and the management team, including CEO Hans Ottosen and COO Casper Jensen, will continue in their positions.Headquartered in Birkeroed, Denmark, Danelec Marine  is a supplier of voyage data recorders (VDR), ship-to-shore data communication systems and electronic chart…

Telemar, the Marlink Group company, launched its BridgeLink solution.Telemar engineers will use the BridgeLink Smart Maintenance Application to provide pro-active support to reduce potential down-time and increase efficiency of Bridge Electronics hardware as well as associated software maintenance and repair.“BridgeLink will enhance our efficiency in servicing our customers’ needs in terms of bridge electronics maintenance,” said Giorgio Santantonio, General Manager, Telemar Italy.

Orolia Maritime announces it has signed a multi-year contract with Kongsberg Maritime, a leading global technology corporation specializing in dynamic positioning and integrated bridge solutions (IBS), to provide Netwave NW6000 voyage data recorders (VDR).Thousands of vessels around the world depend on Kongsberg Maritime for safety, operational efficiency and sustainability. Due to significant developments in technology in recent years, the VDR systems previously installed by…

Congressional and Agency Actions to Implement Changes to U.S.-Flag Vessel Safety Requirements Three Years after the M/V El Faro IncidentOctober 1, 2018 marked three years since the tragic sinking of the M/V El Faro – ranking as one of the worst maritime disasters in U.S. history and resulting in the highest death toll for a U.S. commercial vessel sinking in almost 40 years. Following this incident, both the  National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and U.S. Coast Guard spent considerable  effort to investigate this incident.

London Offshore Consultants (LOC) has purchased its own in-house license of BMT’s navigation simulator REMBRANDT.The software is used for applications such as training of deck officers, port navigational risk assessments, mooring and understanding complex maneuvers. More recently, it has been adopted by a number of statutory marine accident investigation agencies, including the U.K.’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB).Paris Mangriotis, Engineering Director at LOC, said…

New legislation approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday aims to address maritime transportation safety issues raised by the El Faro sinking, promote the U.S. Coast Guard’s awareness of technologies that could help improve service mission performance, and reduce marine debris.The Save Our Seas Act (S. 756), which was approved in the House by voice vote, combines several pieces of bipartisan legislation recently approved by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Maritime attorney David Russo provides a valuable primer for maritime stakeholders faced with a marine casualty. Because it isn’t a question of if, it is a question of when. Will you be ready? When there is a marine incident, the vessel owner/operator has two risks of exposure: to both civil and criminal liability. These risks can arise from a number of variables, including but not limited to (a.) a pollution event, (b.) a death or injury, (c.) unseaworthy vessels (including inadequate crew or procedures)…

Danelec Marine is now offering a comprehensive range of conversion kits to facilitate replacement of existing shipboard Voyage Data Recorders (VDRs). The company has created packages to replace more than 30 different models of VDRs and Simplified VDRs (S-VDRs) across all major existing and legacy brands, making it easy and less costly for shipowners to upgrade to the new technology. “Many ships are still equipped with VDRs and S-VDRs that were installed more than 10 years ago to meet the initial IMO carriage requirements,” said Danelec Marine CEO Hans Ottosen.“These systems are nearing or beyond their projected service life, and some are no longer in production or supported by their original manufacturers.

Capturing 32 orders for its new-generation DM100 Voyage Data Recorders (VDRs), Danelec Marine’s recent orders were taken by its distributors in China and Taiwan and include 15 new pure car and truck carriers under construction at Yangfan shipyard and 17 retrofits for Yang Ming containerships. Yang Ming is upgrading its fleet to replace the existing VDRs with new technology and selected the DM100 VDRs due to their application-specific design and advanced features such as SoftWare Advanced Protection (SWAP) for faster and easier servicing and repairs. The Yang Ming installations are being made by Danelec’s service partner Navcom Electronics International Co. Ltd.

Danelec Marine, along with distribution partner Elcome International, is to supply Danelec DM100 Voyage Data Recorders (VDRs) for 14 ships in the Middle East.   The new VDR orders include seven new offshore support vessels (OSVs) and five tanker retrofits for an oil and ga companies based in Abu Dhabi. In addition, Elcome has recently completed retrofit of Danelec DM100 VDRs on two tankers of a major Danish shipping company.   Introduced in 2014, Danelec Marine’s DM100 VDR complies with all the latest IMO and IEC performance standards, and incorporates Danelec’s exclusive SoftWare Advanced Protection (SWAP) technology for ease of shipboard service as well as built-in cyber protection technology.

Danelec Marine informs it has received orders to supply new-generation Danelec DM100 Voyage Data Recorders (VDRs) for 27 new Maersk containerships, which are being built at shipyards in China and Korea. The newbuild VDR orders follow on a fleet retrofit contract awarded last year, under which Danelec is replacing the existing VDRs and Simplified VDRs (S-VDRs) on 100 Maersk vessels with the new DM100 technology. These retrofits are expected to be completed this year. Each of the new Maersk ships will also be fitted with a Danelec Marine VDRConnect module for remote downloads of VDR data at shore offices using Danelec’s VDR OnDemand software tool. VDR OnDemand is a portal and dashboard that allows authorized shore offices to log on and request specific data sets from the VDR via an IP link.

Danelec Marine informs it has supplied new-generation Voyage Data Recorders (VDRs) for three U.K. Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Bay-Class Landing Ship Dock (LSD) vessels. The three ships, RFA Lyme Bay, RFA Mounts Bay and RFA Cardigan Bay, have been fitted with Danelec DM100 VDRs, replacing the existing VDRs which are no longer supported by the manufacturer. The type-approved Danelec DM100s bring the ships into compliance with the new IMO performance standards, which came into force in 2014.

Danelec Marine has opened a new European distribution center in Copenhagen. Managed by GEODIS, a global supply chain command company, the distribution center will carry a full range of Danelec Marine products and parts, including ECDIS, Voyage Data Recorders (VDRs) and Simplified Voyage Data Recorders (S-VDRs). “The new distribution center will provide our European distribution and service partners with faster access to a full inventory of products,” said Hans Ottosen, CEO of Danelec Marine. Danelec Marine said it has taken major steps over the past year to expand and strengthen its global service capability, adding new Certified Service Centers and distributors in key locations around the world.

Danelec Marine today announced the introduction of VDR OnDemand, a PC software tool that facilitates remote selective data downloads from shipboard Voyage Data Recorders (VDRs). VDR OnDemand is a portal and dashboard that allows shore offices to log on and request data from the VDR by remotely connecting via an IP link to the Danelec VDRConnect module on the ship. For the mandatory VDR annual performance tests (APTs), Danelec Marine service technicians, service companies or ship…

Danelec Marine's DM100 series Voyage Data Recorders (VDRs) has received type approval from the Korean Register of Shipping, the manufacturer annouced today. The Korean approval certifies that the DM100 VDR complies with provisions of the new IMO VDR standard which came into force in 2014, including IEC 61162-450 requiring Ethernet connectivity with the ship’s ECDIS and radar data. The Danelec DM100 products have also been approved by other international maritime certification bodies, including BSH, Russian Maritime Register, Singapore MPA, China Classification Society and the U.S. Coast Guard.

The London P&I Club has called for greater familiarization by ships’ officers and crews with the testing requirements relating to Voyage Data Recorders after two recent claims incidents investigated by the club’s loss prevention team revealed VDR malfunctions. In both claims, when the VDR data had been retrieved and analyzed, it was apparent that certain required sensors were not feeding data to the VDR unit at the material time. This led to delay in the analysis of the incidents, and to loss of important claims handling information.

The new mandatory code for ships fuelled by gases or other low-flashpoint fuels was adopted by IMO's Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), when it met at the Organization's London headquarters for its 95th session from June 3-12, 2015. The Committee also placed unsafe mixed migration by sea on its agenda and considered cyber security matters and passenger ship safety. It adopted new ships’ routing measures and approved a number of circulars arising from items put forward by the subcommittees.