Radio Communications Equipment News

Moose Boats, an aluminum boat designer and manufacturer in the San Francisco Bay Area announced the delivery of two patrol boats in late 2013. Moose Boats delivered a new M1-44 Catamaran Patrol Boat to Bridgeport Police Department on Long Island Sound. The M1-44 all-aluminum catamaran is powered by twin Cummins QSC8.3 600hp marine turbo diesel engines coupled via TwinDisc MG5075SC transmissions to twin Hamilton 322 water-jets with Hamilton Blue Arrow Controls. The vessel named “John Jack Flynn III” features a generous fully enclosed cabin complete with shock mitigating seats…

Cobham has strengthened its commitment to the Volvo Ocean Race after signing up to become the Satellite & Radio Communications Equipment Partner and the Broadcast Equipment Partner for Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15, which starts in Alicante in October 2014. As part of the new deal, Cobham SATCOM will supply the satellite communications hardware for the new one-design Volvo Ocean 65s, including new generation SAILOR 500 and 250 FleetBroadband systems, as well as a large selection of radio and safety systems for use by the teams and race organisers, including new SAILOR AIS and Navtex solutions.

Transas Marine has received RINA and Lloyds Register approvals to perform Radio Communication equipment survey and VDR/SVDR Annual Performance Testing. The RINA certification authorizes Transas service engineers to perform inspections of vessels’ Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) communication equipment and annual performance test of Voyage Data Recorders (VDR/SVDR). The renewed Lloyds Register “Approval of Service Supplier” includes survey, performance testing and maintenance of Radio Communications equipment, AIS, LRIT and SSAS; and annual performance testing of VDR/SVDR. With these approvals Transas Marine can offer combined VDR APT and Radio Survey, which will result in cost and time saving for our customers.

Curtis-Straus LLC, an electronics safety testing and certification laboratory, announced that is providing testing and test reports for marine electronics as required by expert bodies in ship classification. Curtis-Straus (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services) as an A2LA accredited Nationally Recognized Test Laboratory, offers testing for EMC, Environmental and Safety certification at its Littleton, Massachusetts laboratory. For the purposes of Type Approval, several members of the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS, Ltd.) can accept testing results in accordance with the relevant marine testing standards from Curtis-Straus LLC; in most cases without the need for a Surveyor to witness the testing.

The O’Brien’s Group celebrated the grand opening of a new state-of-the-art Command Post and Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Slidell, La. O’Brien’s previous Command Center was destroyed when Hurricane Katrina devastated the New Orleans area in 2005. The Command Center has been the foundation for O’Brien’s emergency response management services, which are provided to over 150 oil and gas company clients, as well as local, state and federal agencies. O’Brien’s also provides Qualified Individual (QI) and Spill Management Team (SMT) services to the shipping industry representing over 5,000 ships operating in U.S. territorial seas. Emergency calls received by O’Brien’s clients worldwide are managed from the Slidell Command Post and EOC.

Transport Minister David Collenette announced that Transport Canada has given the Transportation Safety Board its third update on action taken to further improve the safety of small passenger vessels since the sinking of the True North II on June 16, 2000, in Tobermory, Ontario. “Transport Canada has made considerable changes to its regulations, inspection and certification of small passenger vessels following the sinking of the True North II,” said Collenette. Since its first and second updates in February and August 2002, Transport Canada has drafted proposed amendments to small passenger vessel regulations to require the stowage of lifesaving equipment in a readily accessible manner…