Jotron AS acquires Skipper Electronics AS

Thursday, 17th August 2023

Merete Berdal, CEO of Jotron AS, expresses her excitement about the acquisition: “We are thrilled to welcome Skipper Electronics AS to the Jotron family. Their strong brand presence and exceptional reputation within the maritime market will build a more solidified position for Jotron as a global leader.

Renaming the company to Jotron Skipper AS ensures the continuity of the SKIPPER brand while capitalizing on the synergies between the organizations.”

Sigurd Paulsen, Managing Director of Skipper Electronics AS adds “This strategic alliance marks a new era for Skipper Electronics AS. We are proud to be a part of Jotron AS, continuing to operate under the SKIPPER brand, which has gained significant trust and recognition in the maritime market. Together, as Jotron Skipper AS, we are confident in our ability to provide innovative solutions and exceptional service to our customers.”

Jotron Skipper AS and Jotron AS are committed to preserving the strong brand presence of SKIPPER while leveraging their collective resources to drive growth and innovation.

With this acquisition and the creation of Jotron Skipper AS, both companies reaffirm their commitment to providing top-quality solutions and upholding the esteemed SKIPPER brand. Together, they will continue to prioritise customer needs and deliver outstanding products and services to the maritime market.

About Jotron Skipper AS

Jotron Skipper AS, now part of Jotron Group, is a prominent provider of advanced maritime communication and safety solutions, with a focus on enhancing operational efficiency and safety for vessels worldwide. The company’s comprehensive range of products and services caters to the diverse needs of the marine industry, encompassing communication, navigation, and safety equipment.

One of the companyes flagship offerings is its line of maritime communication systems, which includes VHF and MF/HF radios, AIS (Automatic Identification System) transponders, and GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress and Safety System) equipment. These systems enable reliable and efficient communication between vessels, shore stations, and maritime authorities, ensuring seamless coordination and enhancing situational awareness at sea.

In addition to communication systems, the company provides advanced navigation solutions, such as radar systems, ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems), and GPS receivers. These systems play a crucial role in navigating vessels safely and efficiently, providing accurate positioning data, real-time weather information, and collision avoidance capabilities.

Furthermore, Jotron offers a wide range of safety equipment designed to enhance onboard safety and emergency response capabilities. This includes EPIRBs (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons), SARTs (Search and Rescue Transponders), and NAVTEX (Navigational Telex) receivers, which help facilitate rapid response to distress situations and ensure the timely rescue of crew members in emergency situations.

Moreover, Jotron Skipper provides comprehensive support services, including installation, commissioning, training, and maintenance, to ensure the seamless integration and optimal performance of its products onboard vessels. Their team of highly skilled engineers and technicians is dedicated to providing exceptional service and support to clients worldwide.

Overall, Jotron Skipper AS, now part of Jotron Group, is a trusted partner for the maritime industry, offering cutting-edge communication, navigation, and safety solutions to enhance operational efficiency and safety at sea. With its commitment to innovation, quality, and customer satisfaction, Jotron Skipper continues to be at the forefront of maritime technology advancement.

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Hamble Lifeboat goes viral on TikTok with over of 154,000 views

Thursday, 17th August 2023

A lifeboat that operates independently in Southampton water and the Solent, recently gained viral attention on TikTok for a training video showcasing a life-saving training winch in collaboration with Bristow Helicopters and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

This video not only highlights the importance of lifeboat and aircraft familiarisation for life-saving rescues but also brings attention to the crucial work of independent lifeboats in ensuring the safety of those at sea.

In today’s digital age, social media has become a powerful tool for marketing and increasing brand awareness. HambleLifeboat recognised the importance of utilising social mediato reach a wider audience attract potential sponsors and support fundraising efforts. To tap into a new and younger demographic, the Marketing and Communications volunteer recently decided to create a TikTok account for HambleLifeboat. With its visually appealing content and engaging format, TikTok provides a unique opportunity to showcase the Lifeboat’s mission-critical work to a whole new audience.

A video capturing the training of a Bristow Helicopter and Hamble Lifeboat volunteers has gone viral, thanks to its use of a popular TikTok-style audio track and hashtags. The video, filmed by volunteer Chris Bruty, has garnered over 154,000 views and thousands of likes, sparking interest in the work of the Independent Lifeboat and its volunteers not just locally, but globally.

Unlike the RNLI, Independent Lifeboats rely solely on fundraising to keep their operations afloat. Recent support from the National Independent Lifeboat Association means all independent lifeboats can finally work together nationally to help raise awareness and fundraise. Coxswain and StationManager, Paul Ackland said, “Social media has been a valuable tool in raising awareness and funds for the Hamble Lifeboat, with a surge in awareness, donations and corporate support in recent years”.

Their next goal is to raise funds for a new lifeboat, and they believe that the increased awareness from the recent viral video will greatly aid in achieving this goal.

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River Hamble Harbour Authority

200 times faster subsea inspection with the goddess of the deep

Thursday, 10th August 2023

The cold water of the ocean floor is an inhospitable environment for humankind, yet key infrastructure is operating down here. These subsea installations help provide us with vital resources such as oil, gas, and renewable energy, but meanwhile, their structures are in a constant fight against the hostile sea. This means that finding and repairing corrosion that can develop on essential components, such as pipelines and manifolds, is a crucial and regular requirement.

At depths of up to 3,000m, this is beyond the limits of divers. To carry operatives down requires specialised submersibles, making subsea inspection very costly and highly time-consuming. But, propelled through the murky depths, a remote-operated vehicle (ROV) removes human risk and significantly speeds up the operation. The ROV itself is just one component; it relies on an inspection system that must be able to collect data in order to provide an accurate assessment of the situation. As the ROV operator’s time at sea is a high expense, precision inspection has to be carried out quickly.

Inspection technology

Deliverable from any size of ROV, Tiamat, named after the Mesopotamian goddess of the sea, is a subsea inspection technology that can detect wall thickness, cracks, and flaws on complex subsea infrastructure – even including submarines and inside windmill monopiles. Crucially, the device achieves this with 200 times faster data collection than existing subsea scanners. Currently undergoing deepwater trials, Tiamat has been created by subsea inspection experts 1CSI.

Providing precise data collection is achieved with a full HD camera image, as well as an ultrasonic inspection mapping resolution of 1mm by 1mm with a +/-0.3mm field measuring accuracy. Tiamat’s ultrasonic weld inspection involves phased array transducers comprising as many as 250 elements.

With the ROV guided onto the desired inspection area, Tiamat goes to work. Its wide A4-size scan footprint sweeps forward and backwards across the infrastructure, in an arc of 312 mm by 154mm in 10 seconds, before the ROV guides Tiamat onward to the next inspection area. It’s this relatively large scale of data capture, combined with the video and transducer array, that helps Tiamat achieve such high-speed scanning coverage.

Precise motion control

The smooth and stable travel of Tiamat’s sensors, running on a track that adapts to flat or curved surfaces, is fundamental to the speed and quality of scanning. High-performance motion control is vital to manage the position and velocity of the inspection probe carriage, and this is achieved thanks to a pair of maxon MA30 subsea actuators.

This underwater drive system is designed specifically to provide control at extreme depths. The compact, low-weight actuators are fully sealed and are highly resistant to corrosion, ensuring reliability and long-life operation in the tough marine environment.
maxon’s engineers specified the motion solution to provide precision control. To enhance capabilities for smooth motion, maxon’s engineers customised the motor and gearbox, reducing speed and increasing torque to achieve the optimal rating to suit the application’s requirements.

“The motors are absolutely crucial, because scanning demands smooth, frictionless motion,” says Matthew Kennedy, CEO, 1CSI. “While the phased array transducers are collecting data, movement of the carriage needs to be seamless and repeatable, including when scanning a changing diameter asset. We chose maxon because their motors give us the precision we need.”

Subsea operation is one of the most challenging arenas for motion control. With an ROV and its crew located potentially hundreds of miles from resupply, it’s vital that the motors powering Tiamat’s probe carriage are highly reliable and continue to operate efficiently whatever the depth and conditions. This includes overcoming pressure and buoyancy forces.

Deep sea operation

“The motors need to work perfectly at depths down to 3,000m and 300 bar pressure, in a very hostile, cold environment. We wanted a motor that we knew was going to keep working reliably in those conditions, time after time, and the maxon motors achieve this,” says Matthew.

Tiamat is small enough to be carried by observation class ROVs, and measuring just 665mm by 672mm, it can even scan within the most space-restricted locations. 1CSI’s scanner can be used to inspect a submarine’s internal air tanks, accessed from outside the hull even when the vessel is at sea, and it can also enter within the monopile base of an offshore wind turbine.
To achieve this compact footprint, the motion solution had to be small enough to fit within the pre-designed housing, while still delivering the required torque and power. A multi-stage gearbox increased overall length, but careful engineering specification, along with the motors’ high power density, enabled use of a shorter motor design to compensate.

1CSI has completed final testing of Tiamat at its Aberdeen facility and is now moving to deep sea trials in the southern hemisphere. Completing a live test off the west coast of Africa using a previous ROV system, Matthew and his team are already satisfied with the performance of the maxon motors at depths down to 3,000m.

In mythology, Tiamat was a powerful goddess of the sea, and amongst the challenging marine environment, faith needs to be strong. But, thanks to 1CSI’s innovation, ROV operators and subsea infrastructure management teams have state-of-the-art technology on their side to reduce the time and cost of inspection.

ICMS partners with The Yacht Harbour Association to support B2B networking at SIBS

Wednesday, 2nd August 2023

Pontoon manufacturer Inland and Coastal Marina Systems (ICMS) has partnered with The Yacht Harbour Association (TYHA)

This is to create a dedicated space for marine businesses to meet and network at the Southampton International Boat Show, 15-24 September 2023.

“Having taken space on The Yacht Harbour Association’s ‘Find a Marina’ stand with other marina-related companies for the last few years, we’ve seen the value of bringing together a group of like-minded marine businesses,” says Jon Challis, Sales Manager at ICMS.

“This year, we wanted to take it a step further and create a ‘hub’ on the stand where other marine industry professionals are welcome too, expanding the opportunity for B2B networking to a wider industry audience.”

By sponsoring the central refreshment area and breakout zone on TYHA’s Find a Marina stand, ICMS has made this dedicated networking space possible and invites members of the trade to make use of the facility on stand J150 during the 10-day boat show.

Jon continues: “Conversations in a relaxed environment over a coffee allow ideas to be thrown around, and it’s these chance conversations or introductions which can provide valuable insight and/or identify previously unrecognised synergies and expertise, often resulting in mutually beneficial business opportunities.”

At the Southampton International Boat Show this year, ICMS is calling upon marina operators and harbour masters looking to upgrade their berthing facilities to take a fresh look at its extensive range of pontoons and floating breakwaters – all designed to offer safe, stable and non-slip water access to craft of all shapes and sizes, from kayaks to superyachts.

To find out more about Inland and Coastal’s pontoon ranges and unique decking options, or to book and appointment to speak to a member of the team at the show visit https://inlandandcoastal.com or email sales@inlandandcoastal.com

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Month: August 2023

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