Global marine safety equipment provider, Mobilarm Limited announced today that it has secured its first production order for 90 Crewsafe V200 Maritime Survivor Locating Devices (MSLD) from the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNN) for use in submarine escape and rescue.
The order forms part of a RNN upgrade of all submarine escape and rescue equipment, including new escape systems, escape suits and emergency locating beacons. The order was secured following successful field trials of the Crewsafe V200 for the United States Naval Sea Systems Command (“NAVSEA”) in June and July 2011. The NAVSEA testing was the final stage of the Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) contract awarded to Mobilarm in April 2010.
Mobilarm’s Chief Executive Officer, Lindsay Lyon, commented: “The Dutch Navy is spearheading the modernisation of submarine safety equipment, so Mobilarm is very pleased they have selected the most advanced technology available today to locate and rescue submariners following an at-sea abandonment or escape. Like the Mobilarm Crewsafe V100 MSLD for commercial marine and offshore operators before it, the Crewsafe V200 MSLD is the first of its kind, and this order from the RNN validates Mobilarm’s position as a leading technology supplier to the defence market.
“As a member of the NATO SMERWG (Submarine Escape and Rescue Working Group), the RNN have been closely monitoring Mobilarm’s progress throughout the testing undertaken for the United States Navy. The success of the field trials and this subsequent order means we have now commercialised our submariner technology, and can focus on the strong pipeline of sales opportunities within the global defence sector, specifically NATO countries.”
Extensive field-testing of the Crewsafe V200 showed that GPS position information was received more than 100 nautical miles away, a four-fold improvement over the existing submariner MSLD technology’s maximum alerting range of 25 nautical miles.
“Mobilarm continues to increase its presence in key markets within the oil and gas, commercial and governmental marine sectors with the unique Crewsafe V100 MSLD. This contract with the RNN for the Crewsafe V200 MSLD further strengthens our position in the defence sector as a supplier of innovative emergency locating beacons,” concludes Lyon.