Monitoring and safety acquisition

Orolia said that the firm’s location near the port of Rotterdam will help cement McMurdo’s reach into the commercial marine market.

“The agreement to acquire Netwave further advances our goal of being a global leader in maritime safety and PNT solutions. The combination of Netwave’s advanced VDR solution, with McMurdo’s globally recognised safety beacons, GMDSS shipsets, and AIS equipment, puts us in a unique position in the safety electronics segment,” said Jean-Yves Courtois, CEO of Orolia.

He added that Orolia’s portfolio of Resilient PNT technologies, including unique GNSS interference detection and mitigation abilities, will allow the company to advance GNSS-based navigation safety and robustness to new levels.

“We also anticipate great synergies between the Netwave SeaWise application for automation, analysis and monitoring of ship conditions and our own fleet management applications. We are on the cusp of bringing major advances to the world of maritime logistics, operations and safety,” Mr Courtois added.

Netwave has been leading in the Voyage Data Recorder market since its first product introduction in 2006 and the acquisition of Rutter’s VDR business in 2011. VDRs are mandated by the International Maritime Organization on-board every merchant vessel subject to the SOLAS Convention.

Netwave’s latest model VDR, the NW-6000, not only meets the required standards, but also offers vessel owners and operators advanced features for remote monitoring and optimisation of ship performance, via Netwave’s unique SeaWise SaaS suite.

Going forward, Netwave and McMurdo, will together work to enhance and integrate onboard safety equipment, to simplify installations, lower through life support costs and provide new and advanced tools for global vessel operations that can be tailored for a variety of vessel types, both in newbuilding and retrofit.

By Anne-Marie Causer