Additional Cruise Ship Orders for SAM Electronics

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. In addition to the navigation systems, all four ships will be outfitted with integrated automation assemblies for machinery control developed by SAM Electronics’ sister company, Valmarine AS of Norway.

Designed with a high degree of operational redundancy and integrated interswitchable SAM X- and S-band radars with Ecdis, autopilot and other key navigational aid sensors, the NACOS systems will enable each cruise ship to be steered to an accuracy within half the beam of the ship using precise positioning and speed measurement techniques. The systems form part of a new extended series of NACOS Platinum models providing a wide range of scalable navigation, automation and control functions using common components and operating networks. Two such assemblies have already been commissioned for new 71,000-gross ton Aida cruise ships being built at Meyer Werft.

The NACOS 65-5 configurations are identical to the one outfitted on Cunard’s newest 92,400-gross ton Fincantieri-built liner, Queen Elizabeth, which was officially named by Her Majesty The Queen, in Southampton, England, on 11 October. The 3,150 ft long vessel began her maiden voyage to the Canary Islands the following day.