DRAMMEN, October 30, 2011

Taking advantage of the booming offshore market, L-3 Vamarine has won a considerable number of orders for the new NACOS Platinum integrated navigation systems. Key factors in this success include the company's broad technology base and its international setup including subsidiaries and partner companies in Europe, Asia and America.

L-3 Valmarine was commissioned to equip a whole series of state-of-the-art offshore construction and platform supply vessels with integrated navigation systems which meet the high class requirements of this segment. One outstanding project was the 157-meter long “Skandi Aker”, which was voted Ship of the Year at SMM 2010. It is one of the world's most advanced offshore multipurpose vessels and is operated by Aker Oilfield Services. The ship was built by STX Europe’s Norwegian shipyard Søviknes. L-3 Valmarine supplied the entire navigation package comprising two X-band and S-band chart radars with integrated Trackpilot and three Chartpilots with ECDIS and conning functions, a planning station and various navigation sensors.

Norwegian shipping company Solstad has decided to equip a further new build of its fleet with the recently launched integrated vessel control system NACOS Platinum, for which the L-3 Marine Systems group has already received numerous orders. The network-based system, which is also ideal for state-of-the-art bridge systems on offshore vessels, consists of an S-band and an X-band IP radar, which are connected via an Ethernet network to seven multi-functional multipilot workstations, including the bridge wing and aft bridge. Each of these workstations can be used as standard as a radar or ECDIS including conning functions. In addition to the Trackpilot for accurate tracking, the company also supplied the new SAM 3410 AIS transponder, VDR 4350, Echosounder and DGPS, which are connected directly to the network system. The new 94 m-long platform supply vessel is to be delivered by the STX Europe´s shipyard in Langsten at the end of 2011.

The 130m-long accommodation service vessel "Edda Fides", recently delivered to the Norwegian Østensjø Rederi by the Spanish shipyard Asteillerios HJ Barreras, Vigo, was also equipped with an integrated navigation system comprising an S-band and an X-band radar, three multipilot workstations connected to the bridge wing, and two Chartpilot stations. Each of these multipilot workstations can be used as standard as a radar or ECDIS including conning functions. Additional navigation systems were supplied alongside the Trackpilot for accurate tracking and VDR 4350. The ship is designed to transport around 600 people to and from platforms located in the North Sea.