CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., June 10, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Sperry Marine business unit today announced the introduction of its new VoyageMaster(tm) III family of marine voyage data recorders (VDR).
The third-generation VoyageMaster III products are designed to provide reliable and cost-effective solutions for ships to meet the International Maritime Organization (IMO) carriage requirements for VDR and simplified VDR (S-VDR). Under the IMO regulations, all new ships over 3,000 gross tons must be equipped with a full VDR. Older cargo ships may satisfy the carriage requirement with an S-VDR. Sperry Marine offers the VoyageMaster III in both VDR and S-VDR versions.
Key new features being introduced with the VoyageMaster III series include a lighter and more compact data acquisition unit and a removable 16 GB USB flash drive for easy and secure data removal for playback and analysis. Since there is no mechanical hard drive, the system has no moving parts. Its mission-critical architecture ensures continued operation even during a module failure. Diagnostic routines can be accessed directly from the bridge alarm unit display and control panel.
The system's "save" function permits the master to protect and save up to 12 hours of recorded data on the USB flash drive. The built-in playback software can provide a wealth of data for shipboard and shoreside personnel.
Like all Sperry Marine products, the VoyageMaster III systems are backed by a worldwide service network. Sperry Marine has been approved by major international classification societies to perform mandatory annual performance and recertification tests for VDR and S-VDR shipboard equipment.
The VoyageMaster III VDRs and S-VDRs are fully type-approved by Bundesamt fur Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency) in Germany.
Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine, headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., and with major engineering and support offices in New Malden, United Kingdom and Hamburg, Germany, provides smart navigation and ship control solutions for the international marine industry with customer service and support through offices in 16 countries, sales representatives in 47 countries and authorized service depots in more than 250 locations worldwide.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide.