Steinar Gundersen News

Marine navigation and communications specialist MARIS AS, of Norway and Chinese marine electronics company New Sunrise Co., Ltd. (NSR), of Suzhou, have signed an agreement that establishes MARIS as the largest ECDIS original equipment manufacturer in the world. The OEM deal, formalized at December’s Marintec 2013 in Shanghai, will see NSR produce MARIS ECDIS software and supply it in combination with NSR hardware. NSR has developed a PC and Monitor specific to maritime applications.

MARIS and Orange Business Servicesa sign agreement to facilitate integrated and digital maritime navigation services. Maritime technology specialist MARIS and Orange Business Services have formalized an agreement to deliver Electronic Chart Display Information Systems (ECDIS) and maritime digital services directly to navigators via the world’s largest, fully-managed Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network. Through the solution Current At Sea, the MARIS/Orange Business Services partnership unlocks the full potential of integrated, paperless maritime navigation and vessel operations management by basing it on the most up-to-date digital chart information available.

Maritime Information Systems AS, Norway (MARIS) has appointed Ove Bråthen Director, Sales Scandinavia. Mr Bråthen, who holds an electronics degree with focus on radar and underwater acoustics, brings more than 25 years’ international sales experience to the company, having spent the first six years of his career with the Royal Norwegian Navy. After working at sea on a number of seismic research vessels, Mr Bråthen spent the next decade as Sales Manager for Schlumberger Oilfield Services, selling high-tech products to the seismic, offshore and defence industries.

Wärtsilä has become the latest major marine company to specify MARIS hardware and software as part of its product specific training. The MARIS ECDIS900 system is to be installed at the Wärtsilä Land & Sea Training Academy Subic, the engine company’s instruction centre in the Philippines. The agreement is part of a standard cooperation offer from MARIS to provide cost effective product-specific solutions to leading training schools/institutes world-wide. It covers certification, ‘train the trainer’, yearly maintenance of software, software upgrades, documentation, charts and other digital services. Mr Gundersen cited the January 1, 2012 entry into force of the revised STCW Convention and Code, which includes new requirements relating to training in modern technology such as ECDIS.

The agreement calls for MARIS to provide an intensive technical training program for engineers in the Consilium network, covering competence in all MARIS products, ranging from single installation ECDIS to complete, fully integrated packages containing VDR, triple ECDIS, conning, Radar Overlay, Voyage Decision Support and all Digital Service. MARIS is a systems house with experience in maritime on-board systems. The company says it has delivered thousands of navigation systems to customers all over the world. The majority owner of the company is the Grieg Group, which boasts a long maritime tradition. Consilium develops and markets products and systems for safety, automation, environment and navigation incluiding  fire protection, gas detection as well as navigational equipment.

Maritime Information Systems AS (MARIS) has signed an important agreement with Seagull AS covering cooperation on product specific ECDIS training at Seagull’s shore-based training center in Norway. The agreement  between the two Norwegian maritime industry specialists marks the latest initiative by MARIS to develop a standard training package by assimilating information on leading training  centres and approaching those in the ECDIS training business to offer cooperation and market MARIS’ products and services. “Our strategy is to identify crucial safety and environmental issues facing the hazardous cargo sector and develop and publish recommended criteria that will serve as benchmarks for the industry,” said Steinar Gundersen, Deputy Chief Executive (Corporate), MARIS AS.

Electronic navigation and ECDIS specialist, Maritime Information Systems AS, (MARIS) and New Delhi-headquartered ARI Simulation, the ISO 9001:2000 certified leading global supplier of simulation technology, are to extend their long-standing cooperation in three key areas. The two companies are to focus on type specific training, combined certification and on providing charts and electronic navigational data through MARIS Digital Services (MDS) to all ARI installations. The new…

Maritime Information Systems AS, Norway (MARIS) has appointed Ralf Pluch Sales Director for Europe. Austrian-born Mr Pluch joins the company from ExNC Entwicklungs- und Vertriebs GmbH, which he founded to develop and market AIS Class B transponders. Prior to this, he worked as Sales Director with Nauticast GmbH/ ACR Europe, developing an international sales and service network for AIS Class A transponders. During this time, the company gained a market share of 20% in more than 30 countries. In his role at MARIS, Mr Pluch will target sales in the European markets excluding Scandinavia.

Electronic Navigation specialist Maris has launched ‘Zero downtime ECDIS’, a new product support service devised to ensure that, once mandatory, Electronic Chart Display Information Systems are available at all times. The International Maritime Organization has ruled that mandatory carriage of ECDIS equipment onboard ship will be phased in from July 2012, starting with newly built passenger ships. The move recognises the inherent benefits of ECDIS as a way of improving the safety of navigation, such as its ability to act as a tool for identification and its automatic generation of grounding alerts. While some ship owners intend to back up ECDIS with up-to-date traditional paper charts…