News: Shell deal for innovative Rotherham firm

Innovative Rotherham firm, Tan Delta Systems, has secured a new contract with Shell, the multinational oil and gas company.

Based at Dinnington, Tan Delta provides equipment monitoring technologies and solutions that use real time oil analysis to enable material reductions in maintenance costs, improve reliability and reduce carbon footprint.

Shell Marine Products Singapore is part of the firm's growing customer base of blue-chip multinationals and equipment operators.

The new order, worth approximately £120,000, relates to systems that are expected to be deployed on a range of vessels to monitor various critical pieces of equipment such as auxiliary engines, propulsion engines and other support systems. It targets deployment on thousands of vessels in the coming years.

Tan Delta real time oil sensor solutions use sensing technology to analyse oil in working equipment in real time at a molecular level, enabling accurate tracking of oil condition to end of life, and detection of unexpected issues such as contamination or other internal and unseen equipment issues which may lead to bigger problems and or failures in the future.

In its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2025, Tan Delta bosses warned that the adoption of its solutions by customers is taking considerably longer than expected resulting in disappointing financial results.



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The report noted that there was 216 distributors, 17 active trials and visible forward sales opportunities worth approximately £64m but with revenue at £0.5m for the six months (down from £0.7m in the same period the previous year), the company posted a loss before tax of £0.8m.

Chris Greenwood, Tan Delta CEO said: "We have been building a long-term relationship with the SHELL for several years to explore how they and their customers can benefit from Tan Delta real time oil condition monitoring technologies and products. As a new disruptive technology and concept, it has taken some time to introduce this to a generally conservative industrial and commercial market, but as we recently advised in our Annual Report, whilst the sales cycle remains long, I expect the growth in user references to help with market confidence. This order, whilst small in the context of the overall commercial marine market segment, is a good example of this."

Other recent deals include Fuchs SE, one of the world's largest lubricant distributors and a distributor agreement with Core Arabia in Saudi Arabia.

Tan Delta website

Images: Shell Marine

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News: Martek acquired in £10m deal

Innovative Rotherham company, Martek Marine, has been acquired by historic marine business, James Fisher and Sons plc, in a deal worth up to £10m.

Based at Manvers, Martek Marine is one of the world leaders in the supply of safety and environmental monitoring systems for the shipping industry.

With its corporate headquarters in Barrow in Furness, James Fisher and Sons operates a number of marine operations and is listed on the London Stock Exchange's FTSE 250 Index.

An update to the stock exchange said that James Fisher has acquired the entire share capital of Martek Holdings Limited for an initial net cash consideration of £9m, with potential further consideration of up to £1m subject to a profit target for the year ending February 28 2020.

Unaudited profit after tax, of Martek for the year ended 28 February 2018 was £1.8m and gross assets were £7.2m.

Nick Henry, chief executive officer of James Fisher, said: "The acquisition of Martek further enhances James Fisher's capability to offer innovative solutions to the marine sector and provides a proven channel to market for the Group's adjacent products and services. We are very pleased to welcome Martek's team to the group and look forward to a successful future together."

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Martek launched in 1999 with three employees and £6,000 in start up capital in the smallest unit in the RiDO-run Century Business Centre. Founders, Paul Luen, Steve Coulson and Mike Pringle quit their jobs after being told their ideas were no good. It now employs over 60 people at purpose built premises in Adwick Park and its products can be found in vessels across the globe.

Martek supplies monitoring systems, alarm systems, electronic chart displays and a gas callibration system. It has also expanded into different areas including the medical sector, supplying defibrillators to airlines and leisure and sport venues.

In recent years, the firm, which has previously won two Queen's Awards, has moved into new areas, establishing a new division specialising in commercial drones. In 2016 it won a €10m (£8.58m) framework contract with the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) to monitor pollution in Europe's waters and in 2017 was named as part of a €67m (£58m) contract - the world's largest ever maritime drone contract.

Martek Marine website
James Fisher and Sons website

Images: Martek

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News: Trelleborg bearings fitted to world’s largest container ship

Orkot Marine bearings manufactured by Trelleborg Sealing Solutions in Rotherham contribute to the build of the world's largest and most efficient container ships, the Maersk Triple E class family built by Korea's Daewoo Shipbuilding.

Based at Templeborough, the Rotherham facility is part of the Swedish industrial group that is a world leader in engineered polymer solutions that seal, damp and protect critical applications in demanding environments. It develops and manufactures marine bearings that use synthetic composite materials incorporating solid lubricants rather than metal to provide exceptional wear resistance and virtually no swell in water, enabling stability even with the heaviest loads.

The Triple E name is derived from the class's three design principles - Economy of scale, Energy efficient and Environmentally improved. 400 metres long, 59 metres wide and 73 metres high, they are able to carry 18,000 containers, 2,500 more than the E class ships they replaced. Maersk Line has ordered a total of 20 of these vessels, which will be phased in gradually over the next couple of years.

The star of a six episode TV-series on the Discovery Channel, the ship sets new standards in the container industry, not just for size, but also of energy efficiency and environmental performance. With unique design features for slower speeds and maximum efficiency, this vessel will emit 50% less CO2 per container moved than the current average on the Asia-Europe route.

Barry Davies, general manager of the Trelleborg Sealing Solutions facility in Rotherham, said: "We embrace the design principles of Maersk and took on the challenge to deliver the bearings that are fundamental to the success of these ships.

"The larger the ship, the bigger the size of the rudder and the more demanding it is to develop a bearing to optimize performance. Orkot bearings are proven in thousands of ships to give maintenance free operation over many years."

The Rotherham made bearings can also be found on the The Royal Navy's Type 45 Destroyer and the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier.

Trelleborg website

Images: Trelleborg / Maersk

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News: New sales director and new products at Martek Marine

Leading Rotherham company, Martek Marine has recently appointed Anthony Carter as their new sales director.

He will lead their international sales department into what promises to be exciting times ahead with the launch of a number of new products in the coming year.


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

Anthony will be responsible for the future development, delivery and retention of the Martek sales revenue. He has already been active in moves to further strengthen a department that, in recent months, has seen the introduction of a number of new faces to deal with new products and services like Fastcalgas – the newly launched calibration gas supply service introduced exclusively for shipowners and managers.

Another new product set to launch this year is a bridge navigation watch and alarm system (BNWAS) called Navguard.

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.

Anthony has an impressive background in sales and business development in technical sales to heavy industry and the global electronics market spanning almost 20 years.

Anthony said: "Martek's well established market position, line up of current legislative products, new pipelined product introductions along with fantastic customer service underlines what is already a serious market proposition.

"I am thrilled to be joining a dynamic forward thinking business that has a truly innovative approach and I am delighted to be charged with driving this business forwards."

Martek Marine website

Images: martek-marine.com

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News: Martek Marine launch Fastcalgas

Martek Marine has launched Fastcalgas, a new calibration service for ship owners and managers that is thought to be the first of its type in the world.

The Rotherham company is the world leader in safety and environmental monitoring equipment for commercial ships and the new service will enable vessels to access calibration gas anywhere in the world.

Ship owners need to prove that on-board gas detection equipment is operating correctly and accurately. In order to test and calibrate the gas detection equipment, certified calibration gas is needed there and then. The ability to source calibration gas simply, cost effectively and in a timely manner has always been a challenge for shipping companies.

Martek Marine has worked with some of the leading names in logistics, including Fedex and DHL Danzas, as well as gas production and distribution specialist Air Liquide, to develop Fastcalgas.

As a result, Martek has secured fixed terms covering delivery of between one and 20 cylinders anywhere in the world.

Steve Coulson, marketing director at Martek Marine said: "In some ports of call, perhaps half of the required gas types will be available. In other ports, there will be fewer, and in some cases, none of the gas types will be available at all.

"What we are offering is a door to door delivery service to any destination able to receive gasses within certification requirements that includes a confirmed delivery price for a given number of calibration gas cylinders.

"This is something that owners have simply never had before."

Fastcalgas will be offered via the Internet, with owners logging into a secure website. Hub operations in Singapore, Shanghai, Fujairah, Maryland and Manchester, will be stocked with calibration gasses. Martek Marine will also look to market the new service to shipyards, including repair yards.

Martek has recently recruited a new Sales Director and another three new employees to boost the sales team in preparation of the launch of the new service.

Martek Marine website

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News: New brand and products for Martek Marine

Martek Marine, the world leader in the field of emissions monitoring in the marine industry is set to introduce four new products this year.

The Manvers based firm has also launched a new brand to mark the beginning of what are expected to be exciting times.

Understanding that recent times have been difficult for the world economy in general and the marine industry in particular, Martek believe they are now in a position to come through it leaner and stronger than ever.

Martek has used the industry downturn as an opportunity to streamline its processes to make them more efficient and as customer focussed as possible.

The company is in the process of implementing a system to manage and co-ordinate all the resources, information, and functions of the business and has also appointed a Customer WOW Manager who has been tasked with taking Martek's customer service to a new level.

It has also been developing new products and services that will provide great value to their customers in the year ahead.

There will be at least four new products launched this year, some will be completely new to further extend the wide range of products Martek provide while others will be new and innovative developments to some of their familiar existing products.

Martek's products include the only defibrillator to be Type Approved for marine use and there are now over 1000 Lifeforce Marine AEDs on-board vessels around the world.

Martek website
Rotherham

Images: martek-marine.com

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News: MariNOx chosen for new Korean LNG carriers

The world-leading emissions monitoring system from Rotherham's Martek Marine has been specified for two new 147,000 m3 liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers being built in the DSME shipyard in South Korea. The vessels will be operated by Shell STASCO on behalf of the Brunei Government and the contract follows on the back of 44 other deals for LNG carriers and 21 tankers being built in South Korea over the last three years. One such deal will see the first giant tanker carrying LNG from the Middle East to one of two new terminals in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire complete with Martek's MariNOx system on board. The Tembek, a 211,885 m3 Q-Flex LNG tanker, was built at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard at Geoje, South Korea and launched in November 2007 as part of the Qatargas 2 project. It is one of over 40 vessels in the Qatargas project to be fitted with the MariNOx on-board engine emissions monitoring system. MariNOx was the world's first Type Approved on-board NOx, SOx & CO2 emissions monitoring system and remains the overwhelming market leader with over 100 systems sold.

Martek Marine website
Rotherham

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News: Seafarer's Union backs Martek's lifesaving products

Nautilus, the UK seafarer’s union has welcomed the news that Rotherham company, Martek Marine has already sold 230 life-saving automated external defibrillators in the 6 months since the product was launched. The Union is now urging more companies to fit the Lifeforce AED, which helps restore a normal rhythm to an erratic heartbeat caused by a Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA), on all their vessels. Nautilus, who campaign for the welfare of all its members, believe that even more should be done to ensure the wellbeing of all crew members and argue that carriage of defibrillators should be compulsory. Senior national secretary Allan Graveson said: "It is good to know that some companies are investing in this equipment and we believe it is essential that other operators follow suit by providing defibrillators onboard their ships. It can make the difference between life and death." Martek's Lifeforece AED is the only defibrillator to be Type Approved for marine use and "due to the remote location and the inability of the emergency services to reach victims in time, a defibrillator has become an essential piece of equipment for all ships," said Andy Carter, product manager for the Lifeforce AED.

Martek Marine website

Rotherham

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News: Rotherham's S3-ID launch new location system

Rotherham company, S3-ID has joined with Cambridge company, Ubisense to launch a unique product for the oil and gas industry. The integrated Location Awareness and Muster system is based on a combined precise real-time locating system and Active RFID tags and joins S3-ID's patented approach to personnel location and mustering used on many offshore oil and gas complexes with Ubisense's world leading precise real-time location system used in many industrial complexes. The combined product will allow companies working in hazardous environments to continually monitor wherever their staff maybe. In the event of an incident, continuous monitoring decreases the time to identify the location of all personnel. "The features of the new product were put together following a combined 25 year pedigree in the deployment of systems to many oil companies like BP, Statoil Hydro, BHP Billiton and Nexen" says Eivind Fredriksen, Managing Director of S3-ID, "this will revolutionise personnel safety on offshore and on-shore installations. Never before has this level of integration been achieved in such complex and harsh environments as encountered in the offshore industry."
S3-ID website
Rotherham

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News: Rotherham bearings fitted to world's largest carrier

Orkot Marine bearings manufactured by Trelleborg Sealing Solutions in Rotherham have been fitted to the world's largest carrier of liquefied natural gas. Named the "Mozah" by Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea, the 345m ship has 80% more capacity than conventional LNG carriers. The ship measures 53.8 metres wide and 34.7 metres high and can carry 266,000 cubic metres of LNG. The ship is fitted with Orkot Marine rudder bearings that are created from reinforced polymer material, TXMM for the rudder stock (upper bearing) and TLMM on the pintle (lower bearing), allowing operation without lubrication. The Orkot TXMM material has exceptional wear resistance and virtually no swell in water providing stability even with the heaviest loads. TXMM adds a specialised bearing surface to extend dry running capability. Doha based Qatargas Operating Company and Nakilat have taken delivery of a ship they will call "Q-Max" in order to transport LNG to customers in Europe. Orkot is part of the Trelleborg group of companies and is a world leading manufacturer and supplier of bearing materials to the shipping and marine industries. Their Rotherham facility is at Bradmarsh Business Park.

Orkot website
Processing Talk article
Rotherham

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