Nautical Control Solutions News

Nautical Control Solutions, LP (NCS) announced that Marine Fuel Management (MFM) systems consultant Mustang Technologies has been signed as an official representative in the Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA). “We are delighted to be appointed a FuelTrax representative,” said Mr. Charles Kathrein, CEO Mustang Technologies. “While various sections of the shipping industry in Asia Pacific have been suffering from low rates, high fuel costs and overcapacity, the offshore support vessel (OSV) industry has been growing rapidly with the fleets themselves getting younger.

Nautical Control Solutions, LP (NCS) announced that its FuelTrax Marine Fuel Management system has been granted patent protection by the European Patent Office (EPO). The EPO is a member of the Trilateral Cooperation established in 1983 between the European, Japanese, and United States patent offices. The FuelTrax EU patent includes these countries: United Kingdom, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Greece. Mr.

Marine Fuel Management system is granted Canada patent number 2,588,654 for “Apparatus and Method for Fuel Measurement and Accountability”. Nautical Control Solutions, LP (NCS) announced today that its FuelTrax Marine Fuel Management system has been granted patent protection by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, an agency of Industry Canada. “We have been anticipating approval of a Canadian patent and are pleased to finally be able to announce it”, said Anthony George, CEO of NCS. Mr.

Nautical Control Solutions' (NCS) FuelTrax marine fuel management system now patent protected by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. Marine Fuel Management system has been granted Canada patent number 2,588,654 for “'Apparatus and Method for Fuel Measurement and Accountability”'. The onboard, ABS Type Approved FuelTrax system along with the shore-side FuelNet™ web-based reporting tool helps improve the performance of vessels through tighter management controls, accurate fuel accountability, and optimized vessel operations. FuelTrax monitors fuel flow, captures fuel burn rates, can measure and alarm fuel tank levels, and proves bunker quantities and densities.

Marine fuel management system provides live monitoring of fuel density and alarms if it is out of range. Nautical Control Solutions, LP (NCS) has announced that the latest version of its FuelTrax Marine Fuel Management system now includes the ability to measure and monitor fuel density as it is pumped on a vessel. FuelTrax gathers and displays the mass, volume, temperature, and density of a fuel as it is being taken aboard. The fluid’s density is measured, recorded, and presented live in a moving graph on the FuelTrax main console.

Houston – Nautical Control Solutions LP (NCS) announced that its FuelTrax system now provides the ability to enter activity codes for automatically coupling fuel usage numbers to location, date, and time. Wind and sea states are included. “This effort started with our offshore support vessel customers, who have to log various activities each day as part of their charter requirements with petroleum companies,” said Anthony George, CEO of NCS. “The process is manual and can involve different paper-based forms created in house or provided by the oil company. It is not a difficult task, but can be tedious, particularly at the end of a shift.

Nautical Control Solutions (NCS) announced that it has successfully defended its United States patent protection rights on its FuelTrax marine fuel management system (U.S. Patent Number 7,024,317).  NCS has settled recent claims regarding patent infringement in the marine fuel management market space which protects the investment in the FuelTrax technology and protects the customer’s right to the technology on all existing and future installations.

Nautical Control Solutions (NCS) announced that Buffalo Marine Service of Houston successfully tested its FuelTrax bunkering system on a delivery of 1,500 metric tons of IFO 500 to Maersk Wyoming, a 292-meter container ship operated by Maersk Line, the liner shipping activity of the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group (MAERSKB:Copenhagen). The test took place on August 26, 2009 at Barbours Cut terminal at the Port of Houston. The crew of Buffalo 401k pumped at the rate of 250 metric tons per hour, with accuracy measured to less than 0.1% between the barge and the ship. Accuracy was verified by Maersk Wyoming’s own in-line mass flow meter. The FuelTrax-based system provides real-time measurement of bunker deliveries irrespective of product type, viscosity, or temperature.

Nautical Control Solutions (NCS) announced that Buffalo Marine Service of Houston is rolling out an advanced bunker fuel measurement system to support customers along the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Part of the FuelTrax Marine Fuel Management system, this new feature provides a data acquisition and reporting tool designed to automatically measure bunker fuel as it is pumped from a barge onto a vessel. FuelTrax should provide real-time measurement of bunker fuel deliveries irrespective of product type, viscosity, or temperature. More importantly, the system was developed to accurately measure barrels and metric tons regardless of the presence of air, fuel, or both in the piping system.

Nautical Control Solutions announced that Andrie Inc. of Muskegon, Michigan is implementing their FuelTrax marine fuel management system on M/V Karen Andrie, a 120 ft tug. “We are always looking for tools and practices that improve efficiency,” said Stan Andrie, President, Andrie Inc. “However, it can be a challenge measuring improvement on a day-to-day basis when our focus is on running the business. FuelTrax will provide us a way to establish an operational baseline and then identify areas where improvements can be made. It will automatically capture data such as throttle and engine RPM settings, fuel burn rates, and vessel location and present the data in reports so we can create a baseline.

Nautical Control Solutions, LP announced that the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has awarded a Type Approval certificate for its FuelTrax Marine Fuel Management system. “An MA shows that we have established procedures to satisfy ABS rules and that we consistently meet expected levels of quality. A PDA is an evaluation of the product itself that includes a design evaluation and/or testing of a prototype or a production unit. It examines design criteria and component robustness for suitability in marine applications,” George explained. Introduced in 2006, FuelTrax connects to various flow meters, sensors, and operating devices to capture fuel transfers, report tank levels, monitor consumption, track engine condition, and show vessel location so fleet owners can optimize performance.

Nautical Control Solutions (NCS) announced an extension to the FuelTrax suite, providing the vessel crew with email access from any location worldwide. The new email capability is enabled through the Iridium satellite services, providing global satellite communications for the vessel-based FuelTrax fuel management system. FuelTrax email uses the same advanced compression techniques for text based email and spreadsheets. Data is highly compressed and encrypted, providing quick, efficient and secure data transmission, and allowing attachments up to 500KB. Once email is received, it is decrypted and decompressed, formatted into the appropriate email format, and routed to the intended recipient.

Nautical Control Solutions, LP (NCS) of Houston, TX announced the signing of a marketing agreement with McLean, Va.-based Alion Science and Technology (Alion). The agreement enables Alion to specify and add engineering value to Nautical Control Solutions' FuelTrax Suite for marine fuel monitoring and optimization. In turn, NCS will tap Alion for the company's marine engineering expertise in selected opportunities. NCS provides automated control solutions specifically designed to optimize marine performance through the patented FuelTrax technology and is continuing to develop complementary solutions. Through relationships with leaders in the marine industry…