Martek welcomes on board ECDIS technical specialist

Martek Marine is pleased to announce the recruitment of Torben Holmelund, Technical Manager.

Based in Denmark, Torben will be managing the production and launch of the new iECDIS and will be specialising in the technical aspects as it goes to market in March.

Bentley Strafford-Stephenson, ECDIS Product Specialist states “Torben is a welcome addition to the team with the announcement of our new iECDIS for launch in March this year. Torben brings with him a wealth of experience of ECDIS having worked in the maritime industry for many years.”

We welcome Torben to the Martek team.

Martek Marine achieves Gold Standard!

Martek continues to WOW customers as a Gold Investors in People award is presented.
Here at Martek we’re constantly looking to improve the service that we provide for our customers and we believe that starts with having a great work force. To show our commitment towards our staff we contacted Investors in People towards the end of 2012 and invited Lesley Bers, their Investment in People Specialist, into the business to assess the opportunities that we offer to our team. We always set ourselves the highest standards and this was to be no different as we set our sights on achieving the top level award- the Gold Standard.

Our staff had a chance to tell Lesley what they loved about the company, as well as aspects they’d change. One of the factors our employees loved was the work hard, play hard attitude. One employee stated “If you put the effort in you’ll get the rewards”.

Another factor encouraging staff is the potential to grow within the company. One individual said “Challenging, very rewarding. High performance but the rewards are there; I’m living proof- from temp to senior manager!”

After a thorough look at the company’s staff policy, the training available and employee wellbeing we were delighted to say that Investors in People awarded us the Gold we’d been striving towards.

Lesley praised, “This is the best example I have seen of core values really being embodied into the way the organisation works and every aspect of what they do”. She added “There is a definite energy and enthusiasm around the organisation, not least because of the energy of the CEO which does seem to be infectious!”

CEO Paul Luen said, “Since the very start of Martek in 2000, we have always aimed to achieve the best in the field, and the Gold award is the recognition we’ve been looking forward to in the recent years”.

We will now be working with Investors in People in the coming months to look at the areas which we can improve further.

We will also look to including our Singapore office in the Investors in People assessment in the near future as we aim to become a world class company.

What is ECDIS?

An Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) is a computer-based navigation system that complies with IMO regulations and can be used as an alternative to paper navigation charts. Integrating a variety of real-time information, it is an automated decision aid capable of continuously determining a vessel’s position in relation to land, charted objects, navigation aids and unseen hazards.

An ECDIS includes electronic navigational charts (ENC) and integrates position information from the Global Positioning System (GPS) and other navigational sensors, such as radar, fathometer and automatic identification systems (AIS). It may also display additional navigation-related information, such as sailing directions.

ECDIS is defined in the IMO ECDIS Performance Standards (IMO Resolution A.817(19)) as follows:

Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) means a navigation information system which, with adequate back up arrangements, can be accepted as complying with the up-to-date chart required by regulation V/19 & V/27 of the 1974 SOLAS Convention, by displaying selected information from navigation sensors to assist the mariner in route planning and route monitoring, and by displaying additional navigation-related information if required.

IMO - Solas Chapter V Regulation 19.2

At its 86th session from May 26 to June 5, 2009, the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee approved new regulations for the mandatory carriage requirements of ECDIS.

2.1 All ships irrespective of size shall have:

2.1.4 Nautical charts and nautical publications to plan and display the ship’s route for the intended voyage and to plot and monitor positions throughout the voyage; an Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) may be accepted as meeting the chart carriage requirements of this subparagraph

2.1.5 Back-up arrangements to meet the functional requirements of subparagraph 2.1.4, if this function is partly or fully fulfilled by electronic means.

The amendment to SOLAS Chapter V regulation 19.2 will require ships engaged on international voyages to be fitted with ECDIS according to the following timetable:

ECDIS Compliance Timetable

For more information about the ECDIS regulations and requirements visit www.ecdis-info.com.

Martek goes the extra 18,000 miles in the name of customer service

Martek Service Engineer Mick English

Martek Marine prides itself on always meeting its customers’ requirements, but service engineer, Mick English, went beyond the call of duty making a 40 hour 18,000 mile round trip to Malaysia to hand deliver spare parts to ship management company  V Ships.

“We’d promised to get V Ships their parts on time and the only way to do it was to do a hand-over at Kuala Lumpur. It was pretty exhausting, but worth it,” said Mick

V Ships manager Mohammed Haque said: “it was the best service we've ever received!”

Marine Tankscape offers automated on-board tank reading certificates for 7 gases

Marine Tankscape™ - Inert Cargo Tank
& Confined Space Gas Monitoring 

Martek Marine has released Marine Tankscape™, a new gas monitoring system for tankers and reefer vessels which removes the need for seafarers taking hand notes on deck by producing a certificate for Port State Control and other inspectors as well as storing the information for download. The new Marine Tankscape™ system incorporates seven instruments for confined space and cargo monitoring and inert gases into one instrument and allows up to five gases to be measured and displayed at the same time.

Marine Tankscape™ can detect Oxygen, Hydrogen Sulphine, Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide levels. The hydrocarbon range, which uses the latest infrared technology for inerting and purging operations, can be calibrated with Butane, Propane or Methane gases.

Martek Marine director Steve Coulson said:

“The tragic deaths this week of five Indian seafarers aboard the LNG tanker MV Maharshi Krishnatreya, apparently due to asphyxiation by poisonous gases, sadly highlights the importance of robust gas detection systems. Marine Tankscape™ has been designed after extensive consultation with shipowners, ship managers and shipping personnel and have come up with a product which is versatile and simple to use. By using infrared technology, the system is able to take accurate readings from the atmosphere within the tanks.”

The Marine Tankscape™ also comes complete with an impressive and practical suite of application software. The bespoke software not only allows simple on-board calibration, but crucially provides the ability to print calibration certificates. In addition, complete data-logging software comes as standard allowing logged gas readings, with vessel locations, to be uploaded to a PC.

The system has ATEX and MED approval.

Find out more about Marine Tankscape™.

Martek Marine wins >$1M in Korean orders for emissions monitoring system

UK maritime equipment manufacturer Martek Marine has won a series of large orders for its MariNOx Evolution™ on-board emissions monitoring and engine efficiency system with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Hyundai Heavy Industries.

MariNOx Evolution™

Amongst the seven orders is the world’s largest and most complicated emissions monitoring system ever to measure SOx, NOx, CO2, CH4, NO2, THC, H2S, Benzene and N20. MariNOx Evolution™ is the world’s leading ship emissions system designed to enable simple and automated Marine Equipment Directive (MED) certified compliance with the MEPC 177(58) NOx Technical Code 2008, as well as MARPOL Annex VI and MEPC 103(49).

Commenting on the order, Martek Marine’s Managing Director Paul Luen said:

“Korean yards continue to choose Martek over other fledgling competitors because of our vast experience and the unique features of MariNOx Evolution™. Over 100 of our systems have already been installed and have clocked up millions of operating hours. None of our competitors can even come close to this level of critical application experience across many different ship types, hence the confidence our customers enjoy in their choice. Yards are building more fuel efficient and less polluting ships and so are turning to our world-class solution to help them achieve this. We have a team of local experienced Korean MariNOx engineers who are able to install and commission MariNOx Evolution™ systems and have developed a particularly close working relationship with the Korean yards.”

MariNOx Evolution™ is the simplest, quickest and lowest cost system to install for shipyards because all engines are monitored via a single sample line without the need to install a complex dilution arrangement requiring dry air supplies at each engine.

MariNOx Evolution™ was introduced to the market in 2010 following further development and engineering from the original MariNOx system launched in 2005 and is based on millions of hours of application experience.

Learn more about MariNOx™

BNWAS Switched Off - Grounding Probe Blasts Lack of Safety Compliance

A UK accident investigation by the Maritime Accident Investigations Branch (Maib) into the grounding of the containership Karin Schepers has revealed a series of failures by the ship’s officers to implement recent industry safety measures and the safety-management policy of its operator.

Karin Scheper after grounding

Ship’s Master Was Asleep and Intoxicated

It was found that the ship’s master was asleep and intoxicated at the time the 803-teu vessel grounded on the UK’s Cornish coast on 3rd August 2011. The sound of music and his snoring could be heard on the bridge.

The master had relieved the second officer of the watch but fell asleep a short time later. No lookout was posted, and with no-one awake on the bridge the vessel continued on for over 2 hours before running aground.

Previous Grounding

This wasn’t the first time that the vessel had been involved in a similar incident as it had grounded in Danish waters in March 2009 when the chief officer was intoxicated and fell asleep on the watch. The vessel’s operator at the time, HS Schiffahrts, introduced a zero-alcohol policy but as implementation of this onboard the vessel would have been entrusted with the master, in this case it would not have been effective.

BNWAS Switched Off

In both incidents the Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm System (BNWAS) - intended to monitor motion on the bridge and prevent the watch from falling asleep – had been switched off.

Karin Scheper's BNWAS was turned off

BNWAS became mandatory under SOLAS Chapter V Regulation 19, adopted by the IMO in June 2009.

Afterwards, the master was asked by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to back up the voyage data recorder (VDR). He was also asked a second time by the vessel’s owner to do the same thing. However, the information was not saved, although the Maib was able to recover data from the VDR.

The Maib describes the safety-management system on the Karin Schepers as “ineffective”. Audits of the vessel’s safety management system, by the owner, had failed to detect that important safety requirements were being ignored.

Reduce the Risk of Crew Tampering with BNWAS 

Whereas most BNWAS systems use a key switch for turning the system on and off the Navgard™ BNWAS from Martek Marine requires a master password to switch it off. This means that, provided the password is kept confidential by senior crew, it is not possible for any crew member to turn the system off whenever they want.

Navgard BNWAS

Although this would not have prevented an incident like the Karin Schepers grounding if it was the master who turns off the BNWAS, it would at least be able to highlight the system being turned off in safety audits by the owner thanks to logging system events onto an integral SD card.

By checking during safety audits that the system has been in continuous operation owners can ensure that this important safety measure is being followed.

Navgard™ is the World’s No.1 BNWAS and is approved by all major classification societies.

Find out more about Navgard™ BNWAS.

Read the full Maib report into the grounding of the Karin Schepers