Scottish SME Goes Global
Aberdeen-based MarineMTS has signed a supply and support deal with a Greek manufacturer of marine electronic equipment. The deal will see MarineMTS supplying software to Intermarine Electronics, which provides marine electronic equipment to a multi-million pound global market, and also to the Greek Naval Fleet. Intermarine will use Microplot 7, an exclusive product developed by MarineMTS, in its own-label ECDIS products (Electronic Chart Display and Information System). As well as providing the proprietary software product, the deal will see MarineMTS provide support and maintenance services to Intermarine over the next 10 years. The Microplot range of software is the product on which MarineMTS was founded, and to which the business owns all the rights.
Digital Approach to Maritime Piracy Issues
A Scottish company has launched onto the global shipping market the first comprehensive software product designed to combat the increasing problem of modern-day piracy at sea. • The cost of piracy in 2011 is estimated at $7 billion / £4.46 billion (including increased security spend and ransom payments). • The numbers of hostages and size of individual ransom demands also increased over the same period. Marine MTS, based in Aberdeen, has developed Sentinel, which tracks user vessels remotely. As well as helping the user plot a safe route through problem areas, the software will automatically alert emergency or military services should something unusual happen on board.
Reality Checked
Shipowners are about to find themselves under a barrage of propaganda about electronic charts and the display systems that run them. These systems have been around for some years, and are used heavily in the offshore, dredging, fishing and leisure fields. But merchant shipping, with a few exceptions, has shied away from using electronic charting, preferring to wait for a common international standard and type-approved equipment. The common standard is now in place, and the first approved ECDIS systems are entering the market. By this summer, there will be a choice of systems, some offering glossy boxes with shiny buttons and some offering facilities owners never dreamt they needed. But what is the reality?
