Integrated Navigation Command Systems News

Hamburg-based SAM Electronics, an L-3 company, has received orders to supply four NACOS 65-5 integrated navigation command systems for new cruise ships currently under construction in major European shipyards on behalf of Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises and Costa Cruises for delivery in 2011 and 2012. Ships to be equipped with the NACOS systems include Carnival Cruise Lines’ Carnival Magic being built at Fincantieri’s Monfalcone shipyard in Italy, and Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Silhouette under construction by Meyer Werft in Germany. The other two systems will be installed onboard Costa Cruises’ Costa Fascionosa and Costa Favolosa vessels, both of which are being completed by Fincantieri at its Breda shipyard.

Hamburg-based SAM Electronics, in association with its Chinese subsidiary, SAM Taihang Electronics, has been awarded a contract to supply and install NACOS 54-5 integrated navigation command systems featuring radar-controlled trackpilots, Ecdis and other sensors aboard ten 31,000-dwt multi-purpose heavy lift vessels under construction by Huanghai Shipbuilding of Rongcheng for delivery to Columbia Shipmanagement between 2009 and 2012. Under the contract for ships that will be operated by Austral Asia Line (AAL) on its South East Asia and Australasian routes, SAM Electronics will additionally supply compass systems as well as GMDSS and satellite communications equipment together with associated consoles.

Hamburg-based SAM Electronics has been commissioned to supply seven new cruise ships building in Italian and German yards with proprietary NACOS 65-5 integrated navigation command systems featuring radar-controlled track pilots, Ecdis and other sensors. Among vessels to be equipped with a bridge system will be Cunard’s 89,500-gt Queen Victoria, presently under construction at Fincantieri’s Venice yard for delivery next year; accommodating 1968 passengers, the luxury vessel will be the second largest cruiseship to be built for Cunard. Other Fincantieri-yard newbuildings due to be fitted with Series 65-5 configurations are Costa Crociere’s 112,000-gt Costa Serena, Princess Cruises’ 116,000-gt Emerald Princess and P&O Cruises’ 116,000-gt Ventura.

SAM Electronics Nederland of Rotterdam, a subsidiary of Hamburg-based SAM Electronics, has been awarded a major contract for supply of NACOS 34-5 integrated navigation command systems and associated equipment for installation aboard four 17,300 dwt multipurpose carriers under construction at the Hudong Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai for delivery to Wagenborg Shipping in 2007; options to similarly equipment a further two scheduled vessels are pending. The systems, featuring integrated radar, track control and Ecdis functions, will be supplemented by provision of Debeg AIS, GPS, VDR and SSAS facilities as well as those for GMDSS communications.

NSB’s worldwide fleet of 77 container vessels is to be retrofitted with STN Atlas Marine Electronics’s new Debeg 3400 Universal AIS system under a contract signed between the two companies at the recent SMM Exhibition in Hamburg. Installation of systems will commence at the beginning of next year. Approximately 80 percent of the vessels are already equipped with STN Atlas NACOS integrated navigation command systems. Newly developed by STN Atlas Marine Electronics and presently being type-approved by the German Bureau of Shipping and Hydrography (BSH), the fully autonomous Debeg 3400 transmits ship¹s own data such as position, course, speed and identification while receiving the same from other UAIS systems within VHF range.