News: Martek secures MOL deal

Rotherham's Martek Marine has secured a deal with multi-modal transport group, Mitsui OSK Line (MOL).

The Japanese company has taken the opportunity of the drydocking of 17 of its shipping vessels so far this year to install the Martek Marine Navgard BNWAS.

A BNWAS is designed to monitor bridge activity and detect any operator disability that could lead to shipping accidents. The system monitors the awareness of the Officer of the Watch (OOW) and automatically alerts other staff if for any reason, the OOW becomes incapable of performing duties through an accident, sickness or even a security breach such as piracy or hijacking.

Paul Luen, chief executive at Martek, said: "There have been a number of incidents recently which show a lot can happen in three minutes, let alone 12 minutes, and so it is vital these systems are installed on vessels as soon as possible."

Navgard is the world's first BNWAS system fully type approved by all major classification societies and MOL said it was likely that all of its existing vessels would be fitted with BNWAS before the end of 2011.

As well as BNWAS, Manvers-based Martek provides systems for engine emissions monitoring, gas detection, water level detection and cargo tank monitoring that are found in vessels across the world.

Martek Marine website

Images: martek-marine.com