Electronics Industry News

Navico, parent company to the Lowrance, Simrad, B&G and C-MAP brands, announced today the passing of Darrell J. Lowrance, founder of its Lowrance brand.Darrell served as President and CEO of Lowrance Electronics from 1964 to 2006, and was responsible for many breakthroughs in marine electronics. In addition to the first recreational sonar product for anglers – the Fish-Lo-K-Tor (also known as the “Little Green Box”) – he led the development of the first graph recorder, the first integrated sonar/GPS unit, and many others.

The proper lining of ballast tanks is essential and critical to ship safety. Not too many decades ago, ships traveling the North Atlantic routes were experiencing terrible losses from outright sinking in the turbulent seas. It was eventually discovered that the primary culprit was hull failure from ballast tanks rupturing from the inside out due to simple, plain old-fashioned rusting and galvanic corrosion. The U.S. Navy led the way and came up with a recommended formula, or recipe, for a ballast tank coating that paint manufactures could copy in bidding for Navy business.

BIMCO and the international association for the marine electronics industry, CIRM (Comité International Radio-Maritime), have sent the industry’s first proposal for an industry-wide standard for software maintenance to the IMO for consideration. Without an industry-standard, BIMCO sees an increasing risk of severe incidents on ships, delays and costs to shipowners and cyber security problems. "We hope the entire industry will adopt these standards, to make ships safer, to prevent cyber security problems and to save money," says Angus Frew, Secretary General and CEO at BIMCO. "The industry has been living in a world of hardware. But software has been integrated into most physical equipment on the vessels…

Beier’s integrated engineering department and installation team specializes in retrofit projects, providing custom-designed systems for clients, reducing vessel downtime, and achieving the highest level of performance on the open water. Beier Radio, LLC and its subsidiaries (Beier Integrated Systems, Sentinel & The Marine Training Institute), together with its combined 70 employees, are committed to total customer satisfaction by delivering quality products and services to the marine industry in a timely fashion.

Navico – a provider of marine electronics and parent company to the Lowrance, Simrad, B&G and GoFree brands – announced that Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division and Altor Fund IV have partnered and signed an agreement to acquire Navico from the Altor 2003 Fund. Navico is an innovative force within the recreational and commercial marine electronics market and has a rich history of investment in research and development. In the last two years, the company developed such technologies as the HALOTM Pulse Compression Radar technology…

Digital Marine Solutions announced today it has signed a purchase agreement to acquire the marine division of Jeppesen, subject to regulatory approval. Under the terms of the agreement, the former Jeppesen Marine will operate as a separate entity with its own dedicated resources and will trade under the C-MAP brand name. Jeppesen will remain as part of The Boeing Company. Digital Marine Solutions is owned by the Altor 2003 Fund, which is part of the Nordic based Altor family of private equity funds. This strategic acquisition leverages Altor’s experience in the Marine industry, where it also is the majority owner of the Navico house of marine brands.

Norautron Group has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of Hatteland Display from Herkules Capital. Hatteland Display's history dates back to 1989, and the company is now a leading designer and manufacturer of high-end rugged displays, panel computers, and computers for all segments of the professional marine industry. The company has established strong relationships with major systems integrators through a growth strategy based on technological leadership and innovation. Norautron Group is a leading technology company with a global footprint.

ENL Group and FURUNO Electric Co. Ltd of Japan have announced that FURUNO has increased its investment into the New Zealand company to a total of 29.5%. The new level of investment is an increase from the initial 10% announced in July 2014. ENL, founded in 1945, has an impressive and unbroken 70-year history in the marine electronics industry. The company has also represented FURUNO in the New Zealand market for over 50 years. ENL manufactures WASSP, their award winning multibeam sonar system…

Rushton Gregory Communications announced today the latest addition to its industry-leading client roster, Gemeco Marine. Based in Lake City, South Carolina, Gemeco has over 30 years of experience serving the marine electronics industry as experts in the selection, placement and technical support for marine transducers as well as adept knowledge of NMEA networking and components. Gemeco also offers an array of marine accessories including underwater lighting, antennas, electrical and wiring accessories, hard-to-find and specialty marine connectors, a broad range of installation and diagnostic tools, and more. Under the terms of the partnership…

Elcome International has signed a distribution agreement with Japan Radio Company (JRC) and its technology partner Alphatron Marine. Under the agreement, the Dubai-based company will take on responsibility for sales and service of JRC and Alphatron Marine products in the Middle East, India and Sri Lanka. Elcome will also carry out annual performance tests for JRC Voyage Data Recorders and Simplified Voyage Data Recorders. JRC is providing training for Elcome engineers at its Center of Excellence in Rotterdam, as well as at Elcome’s headquarters in Dubai.

Over the past 43 years, Furuno has received the honor of being the most recognized company in the marine electronics field by the National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA). This year, Furuno won four more NMEA awards at the prestigious 2014 NMEA Convention in Sanibel, FL, bringing Furuno’s NMEA Award all-time total to an amazing 212 wins. For the ninth consecutive year, Furuno received the highly coveted Manufacturer of the Year - Support award. Furuno continues to be the sole recipient of this award, since its introduction on the ballot in 2005. “Bringing fresh, new products to the market is certainly an important part of business,” stated Jim Atteridge, President of Furuno USA, “but offering excellent customer service is the cornerstone of Furuno’s success.

Electronic Navigation Ltd (ENL), New Zealand’s largest marine electronics company and the developer of the WASSP sonar, and FURUNO Electric Co., Ltd of Japan, a manufacturer in the global marine electronics industry, are joining forces. In a joint announcement ENL and FURUNO have announced that FURUNO will take an initial 10% shareholding in ENL and its wholly owned subsidiary WASSP Ltd. This investment reflects not only ENL’s and FURUNO’s near 50-year relationship with ENL representing…

MES Power-Electronics Industry Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding (MES) has developed a compact induction heater for heating before forging that can be shipped via container transport. Designed for use in the automobile industry, since the launch of sales the company has received numerous orders and already has delivered several units. In the past, conventional induction heaters mainly were delivered to domestic production lines but with the growing rate of overseas production lines in the automobile industry, there was a growing trend of induction heaters being transported overseas. Our mid-tier induction heaters (300 – 600kw) are too large to fit in a container and shipment required transport on a bulk carrier.

The Korean Maritime University (KMU) and the Korean Marine Electronics Industry Promotion Association  (MEIPA) received a one day technical seminar about Shipdex and  the process of importing Shipdex data into SpecTec’s  Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS), AMOS. This seminar was held at  KMU in Busan on May 30 thanks  to Yung-Ho Yu, Professor at KMU and Technical Director of MEIPA; Marco Vatteroni,  SpecTec’s  ILS Manager and Shipdex Manager; and Ben Fan, SpecTec’s Sales Director in Asia.

FLIR Systems, Inc. announced that Cathy Stauffer and Catherine A. Halligan have been elected to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. The addition of Stauffer and Halligan increases FLIR Systems' Board of Directors to 10 members, eight of whom are independent. "I am pleased to welcome Cathy Stauffer and Cathy Halligan to FLIR Systems' Board of Directors," said Earl R. Lewis, Chairman of the Board of FLIR Systems. "With over five decades of executive marketing experience between them, these talented individuals bring to our Board a remarkable range of brand management expertise, strategic marketing, and omni-channel business capabilities, with particular focus in the consumer electronics industry.

Furuno, a  manufacturer of marine electronics, won three more National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) awards at the prestigious 2013 NMEA Convention in San Diego, Calif. These three awards had Furuno once again leading the total number of awards captured by any one manufacturer this year, as well as bringing Furuno’s NMEA Award all-time total to an incredible 208, since NMEA started presenting awards in 1971. Furuno once again received the Manufacturer of the Year - Support award, making this the eighth year in a row. Furuno remains the sole recipient of this award, since its introduction on the ballot in 2005. “With 2013 marking Furuno USA’s 35th year in business…

With the ocean moving more than 90% of world commerce, keeping it secure is of vital importance – yet our ability to monitor activity at sea is somewhat more challenging than on land given the vastness of the oceans. Also many maritime monitoring systems rely on ships to ‘opt-in’, that can leave potentially risky blind spots in our picture of maritime traffic. This article, derived from a presentation that David Beard of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory gave at the recent DMC and NovaSAR International Conference…

Walter A. The certification is awarded to those who demonstrate knowledge, proficiency, education and experience in Electromagnetic Compatibility and the employment of EMC/EMI principles in Electronics and Electrical Design. Poggi has long been a leading advocate of continuing electronics industry education with particular emphasis on EMC/EMI training. His accomplishments include authorship of EMC/EMI publications, production of DVD training vehicles including “EMI & The World Around Us,” as well as direction and hosting of electromagnetic interference-related training seminars.

The National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) recognizes KHVI for its TracPhone V3, the world's smallest maritime VSAT antenna. The KVH TracPhone V3 is designed to work with KVH's mini-VSAT Broadband satellite network which KVH built to provide customers with an  alternative to the Inmarsat service. Due to the mini-VSAT Broadband network's unique spread spectrum technology (similar to that used in the new high-powered 3G and 4G networks on land), KVH was able to develop the TracPhone V3, a system similar in size and cost to Inmarsat FleetBroadband equipment, but offering service up to ten times faster at broadband speeds of up to 2 Mbps, with airtime rates 1/10th the cost of Inmarsat.

Marine and offshore controls specialist Lilaas AS has reached its first direct service and distribution agreements in Asia, as part of its strategic plan to support increasing demand for its levers and joysticks. The company, which develops and manufactures all its products in the heart of Norway’s marine electronics industry, in Horten, has come to a service partnership and agency agreement with Z-Power Automation, Singapore, and a separate distribution deal with Shanghai EJH Group, Shanghai.

Marine electronics industry still has major concerns. An official of LightSquared, the company that has been under fire for its plan to offer mobile satellite services that could seriously interfere with Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, told a gathering at the 2011 NMEA International Marine Electronics Conference & Expo that solutions were in the works to prevent disruptions from occurring. “Our integrated network will bring great benefits to wireless users nationwide, but at the same time we’re committed to ensuring this service doesn’t interfere with any GPS devices.

Northrop Grumman Corporation’s (NYSE: NOC) Sperry Marine business unit has been awarded a one-year contract by Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-KG (PDS-KG) and HAMMONIA Reederei (a joint venture between PDS-KG, HCI Capital AG and GE Transportation Finance, Inc.) to provide worldwide service and maintenance for more than 135 ships. Under the contract, Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine will be responsible for all shipboard service, support and maintenance of the ships’ navigation and communication equipment, including repairs, spares management and required annual inspections and certifications.

SI-Tex announced that marine electronics industry veteran Chris Harley has joined its team of sales professionals, representing the company’s full line of sounders, autopilots, radar, chart plotters, AIS and more to Marine Electronics Dealers across the New England Region. Harley brings with him a wealth of related experience — both in the marine electronics industry and the unique aspects of the New England market. While Harley maintains his own highly successful marine rep firm (C.