News: Martek attains US Coast Guard approval

Rotherham company, Martek Marine, is expecting an increase in export orders from America after the US Coast Guard approved their Navgard bridge watch and alarm system (BNWAS).

The Manvers company is the world leader in safety and environmental monitoring equipment for commercial ships.

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.

Steve Coulson, sales & marketing director at Martek Marine, said: "Navgard is the first system approved by the US Coast Guard. It gives owners, operators and crew the peace of mind that their vessel has the highest quality BNWAS installed and that it is compliant with the rigorous standards of safety and performance required by the US Coast Guard.

"US owners and managers want to ensure that the BNWAS they choose has passed their own coast guard approval process. And even if their vessels are currently operating in US waters, having a system with such a wide range of approvals will ensure that the vessels are attractive to all charterers on all trading routes, including in US territorial waters."

The Rotherham company employs the motto, "innovation beyond compliance" to stay ahead of the competition. They recognised that amendments to SOLAS, an international maritime safety treaty, would make the installation of an BNWAS mandatory for new cargo ships over 150 gross tonnage, all new passenger ships of any size plus existing vessels above a certain size.

Martek is already claiming that Navguard is the world's number one system with over 2000 units sold since it was launched officially in Hamburg in September 2010.

Martek Marine website

Images: uscg.mil