The Beacon A4 Iss 6 - Jotron

THEBeacon The JOTRON GROUP Newsletter Issue 6 Autumn 2005
In this issue
Page 2 New MB-45
bracket
Page 3 Nor-Shipping
success
In anticipation of the need for
SVDR's (Simplified Voyage Data
Recorders), which will soon be
mandatory requirements for most
vessels, the Tron S-VDR CAPSULE,
our latest product, is the first floatfree
capsule of its kind to
successfully complete Type
Approval testing.
Steinar Sæter, Jotron’s
Managing Director, commented,
"The Tron S-VDR CAPSULE has
been tested and approved by DNV
in compliance with IMO Res.
MSC.163 (78): Performance
standards for ship borne
Simplified Voyage Data
Recorders (S-VDR). Several
years of intensive research
and development have finally
paid off and today, the Tron
S-VDR CAPSULE is the first
capsule of its kind to obtain
type approval in the market."
In developing the Tron S-VDR
CAPSULE, Jotron has utilised a
combination of proven state- ofthe-art-technologies.
Built on the
same platform that supports the
Jotron EPIRB product suite, of
which more than 100,000 units
have been sold worldwide, the Tron
Page 3 Materials
Administration Dept.
S-VDR CAPSULE represents nextgeneration
technology, enabling more
reliable, robust and advanced voyage data
recording capabilities.
The Final Recording Medium (FRM)
utilises a Fast Flash Disk solution based on
stringent military and aerospace
requirements for data security. This
technology ensures that the Tron
S-VDR CAPSULE has an extremely
high MTBF (Mean Time Before
Failure )to ensure that data is safely
stored and easily retrievable.
In addition, the Tron S-VDR
CAPSULE eliminates the need for
expensive, underwater operations,
and comes equipped with a
powerful, Xenon strobe light for
visual identification powered by
a seven-day battery once
activated. The system operates
on EPIRB frequencies with
enabled GPS.
Some S-VDR system providers
have already tested and qualified our
products into their package and more
is to come soon.
Production of the Tron S-VDR
CAPSULE is now underway and fully
approved units will be available
shortly.
The Tron S-VDR CAPSULE.
www.jotron.com
Page 4 NERA GmbH
TYPE APPROVAL
FOR TRON S-VDR
S-VDR –
What’s It
All About?
Over 21,000 vessels will be
required to install the voyage data
recorder (S-VDR) by 2009
meaning some 3,000 to 5,000
annual installations between 2005
and 2010.
With functions similar to an
aircraft black box, it will contain the
data to determine the cause of
accidents, collisions and the sinking
of vessels apart from facilitating
insurance claims for shipping
companies and acting as a tracking
device.
All systems will need to conform
with the Safety of Navigation of the
International Convention for the
Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 (SOLAS
Regulation V/20 Voyage Data
Recorders) and are subject to an
annual survey, conducted by an
approved testing or servicing facility,
to verify the accuracy, duration and
recoverability of the recorded data.
The system can be installed in
several locations and takes
approximately three days.
Although the implementation
deadline is between 2006 and 2009,
we are recommending ship owners to
prepare in advance before the rush if
everyone waits till the last minute, as
experienced earlier for other
mandatory fittings. Given that this is
a safety feature for the whole
shipping industry with a proven track
record in the aviation industry, there
is certainly no harm in installing it
earlier.
1

News from The Marketing Department
Congratulations to Lise Groestad
who has been appointed Area
Sales Manager to new countries in
the EU and member countries of
NATO for sales of Ground to Air
equipment. Lise was formerly
responsible for in-house sales for a
number of years but has finally
decided to get some air under her
wings!
Also, a warm welcome to Reinhardt A.
Berg who has been appointed Area Sales
Prior to the Nor-Shipping trade fair
in June, we arranged another
successful Agent Seminar at the Rica
Havna Hotel on Tjøme Island, near
Norway's oldest city of Tønsberg,
where both maritime and groundto-air
contacts and participants came
from 30 countries all over the world.
Of course, a Jotron Seminar isn't all
work, so on Day One the delegates went
for a boating trip to the Færder lighthouse
where there was the chance to climb the
stairs to the top of the 43 meter high
lighthouse to
experience the
fantastic view.
Back onshore,
there was a
guided walk in
the beautiful
landscape of
Tjøme to a base
camp were we
split into teams
for competitions
involving climbing, balancing, throwing
axes, archery etc. The day ended with a
magnificent medieval banquet.
Day Two saw the actual seminar with
2
The Marketing Department (L to R) Lise
Grøstad, Jan Erik Sæter, Reinhardt A.
Berg.
JOTRON Agent Seminar
The Færder lighthouse
The Medieval Banquet The Delegates
(L to R) Selcuk Yazici of Yazici Co Ltd. &
Alex Diamantopolus, of Atomon S.A.
speakers from the Civil Aviation Industry,
Norwegian Shipowners’ Association and
our own staff. In the evening, Jotron
awards were handed to some of our
distributors for exceptional contribution in
selling Jotron products. Special thanks to
Yazici Co. Ltd. in Turkey, Atomon S.A. in
Greece, C A Clase AB in Sweden and
AS RSTA in Estonia.
This year, we had a third day with two
separate sessions for general product
training, for those who would like to learn
more about our Ground to Air products,
and one at Jotron’s premises at Tjodalyng
with a practical training course as part of
Jotron’s overall MSC/Circ.1039
requirement.
Manager for Northern Africa and some
Eastern European countries. Although
Reinhardt has only been with us for a few
months, he is already making a big
impression.
Our final new colleague is Jan Erik
Saeter who has been promoted from his
previous position in the Project
Department to Area Sales Manager for
Norway, Iceland, Sweden, and off-shore
related projects.
Good luck to you all!
New MB-45
bracket for
Tron 45S
In response to demand from the leisure
boat market, we have designed a new
bracket for our personal EPIRB Tron 45S.
Based on the existing FB-5 bracket, but
slimmer and with more sophisticated
mounting options, the MB-45 standard
version is white with plastimo universal
clips for easy vertical rail mounting.
Another refinement is the fast release
bracket which allows the unit to be easily
removed from the rail when port is reached
and stored until the next trip - a perfect
solution to avoid thefts, considering the
The MB-45 bracket in operation.
EPIRB is programmed with the individual
vessel's identity, which would cause
confusion if activated in emergency
situations.
It is now possible to activate the Tron
45S in the bracket, and the battery
capacity has been increased to 38 hours at
-20ûC.
The MB-45 bracket has been in
production from August 2005.
www.jot

on.com
JOTRON @ NOR-Shipping 2005
The massive Nor-Shipping 2005
exhibition in Lillestroem was
one of the biggest events for our
marketing this year, with over 820
exhibitors and 13,000 visitors
over the three days from June 7 to
June 10.
As in previous exhibitions, JOTRON
and PHONTECH joined forces on one
stand to promote our
products to visitors.
This year, the main
focus was our new Tron
S-VDR CAPSULE. The
S-VDR was already
under type approval, so
we were happy to enter
the exhibition with an up
to date demonstration
unit with the latest
upgrades to the interface
connector and some
hardware changes on
both the capsule and the
bracket.
Industry rumours
about the new float-free capsule had
already created enormous interest in the S-
VDR, so it was very important for us to be
able to exhibit the finished product, if only
to dispell some of the misconceptions!
Visitors were able to see both the capsule
FOCUS ON:
The Materials Administration
Department's primary tasks are
to ensure both that the production
department receives the right
components at the agreed time,
and that our customers receive the
correct products at the agreed time
and price.
The department consists of 10 highly
experienced people in three units that are
responsible for purchasing, warehousing
and planning. Their excellent knowledge
of the industry is a great asset for both our
customers and our own company.
Purchasing goods and services
currently accounts for 50% of our annual
turnover making it one of the most
important sectors of our business with
factors such as price, availability and tied-
and the bracket and receive correct answers
to their various questions.
Overall, Nor-Shipping 2005 was very
successful with most of our staff staying in
Oslo where we were able to entertain
visitors, agents and customers during the
evenings.
This year’s event also coincided with
the national Centenary celebrations of the
The JOTRON stand at Nor-Shipping 2005
ending of the Union between Sweden and
Norway in 1905, which added extra colour
to Oslo. The city was extra full with
visitors, live concerts, visits from various
Navy fleets, old sailing vessels and much
more.
The MATERIALS ADMINISTRATION
DEPARTMENT
up capital requiring extremely
professional management skills
and the very best systems.
The essential tools we use,
apart from our own experience
and knowledge, are the very best
management and tracking sytems
and good contact with our
distributors during the purchasing
process to get the best deals from
our suppliers.
We are now reducing the
number of our suppliers but
forging closer and deeper links
with those we do work with,
almost in partnership
arrangements, so that choosing
our suppliers is also critical to our
future success.
Prewarning
More than 2000 newbuilt SOLAS
vessels are entering the seven
seas every year. As the market
leader for GMDSS safety
equipment, we will make our
GMDSS package even more
attractive by introducing our Tron
UAIS TR-2500 to a most favourable
price in the package. This will be
introduced from Jan 1, 2006.
GMDSS Package with
Tron UAIS TR-2500
Front Row (L to R) Kjell Haffalden, Tom E.
Andreassen, Linda Ørbeck, Trude Lokander,
Back Row (L to R) Tommy Hofseth, Randi Løken,
Geir Kittilsen, Mariann S. Hansen, Roar Anundsen,
Jan Einar Gullord.
3

4
DISTRIBUTOR FOCUS:
Our German distributor, Nera GmbH, are
based in Hamburg, where the company
was founded in 1965 as a wholly owned
subsidiary of the Norwegian company, Nera
Satcom AS.
Nera GmbH specialise in mobile land
and maritime communication and handle
the German speaking, as well as the Central
and Eastern European, markets with a very
broad product portfolio that includes
satellite communication, broadband
communication and a variety of marine
electronics, incl. GMDSS and internal
communication.
And finally...
After being a representative office
since 2002, JOTRON Asia Pte. Ltd.
was established as a wholly owned
subsidiary of JOTRON in June
2004. They moved to new premises
in Singapore recently and the editor
visited them in September to update the employees of our
sales and logistic programme. They are now maintaining
a stock of products and spare parts, and are able to
provide real time response and same day shipment of
urgently required orders. Also, JOTRON USA, Inc. has
relocated since their establishment in 2004, to larger
premises to meet the increased demand for our products.
Please find their new addresses below.
Anita Stokkan, Editor
JOTRON Electronics a.s. P.O. Box 54, N-3280 Tjodalyng, Norway
Tel: +47 33 13 97 00 Fax: +47 33 12 67 80
E-mail: sales@jotron.com
PHONTECH a.s. P.O. Box 274 N-3192 Horten, Norway
Tel: +47 33 08 35 00 Fax: +47 33 08 35 01
E-mail: info@phontech.no www.phontech.com
JOTRON USA, Inc. 10645 Richmond Avenue,
Suite 140, Houston, TX 77042, USA
Tel: +1 713 268 1061 Fax: +1 713 268 1062
E-mail: contact.us@jotron-usa.com
Nera offers customers a “one-stop-shop”
with a full range of services including
project planning, engineering, hardware,
installation, airtime, service and support.
They have a built a reputation for the very
highest quality in both products and services
to satisfy customer demand and create a
solid basis for long-standing business
connections.
For further information, please visit the
NERA web-site, www.nera.de
The company’s successful partnership
with ourselves goes back over 20 years and
is one which we look forward to continuing.
www.jotron.com
NERA GmbH
The staff of NERA GmbH
NEW REGULATIONS INCREASE SALE OF EPIRBS
In December 2004, to increase marine
safety in several areas and to harmonise
more with general IMO regulations, the
Norwegian Maritime Directorate, brought
in a new regulation (MSC/Circ.1039)
concerning radio communication for all
NOR/NIS cargo ships.
One main safety upgrade was the
implementation of an additional manual
EPIRB (Tron 45SX) in the wheel house.
The background for this was mainly
caused by the various ways and places the
Float-free EPIRB was mounted on board
and the fact that this could reduce a
reliable release of the unit in an
emergency. Without the addition of an
extra manual EPIRB, the only way to
meet the regulation would be to remotely
control the release from the wheel house.
Since none of the common float-free
EPIRBs in the market have this function,
the result has been that most of the
NOR/NIS cargo fleet have to add an extra
manual EPIRB on board.
As usual, the new regulation comes
into force, in steps. New vessels have to
meet the regulation by Jan 1 2005;
retrofits to vessels which operate in Sea
Areas 3 and above must meet it by Feb 1
2006 and retrofits to vessels which operate
in Sea Areas 1 and 2, must meet the
regulation by Feb 1 2007.
To meet the demand for manual
EPIRBs resulting fromthe new regulation,
we have increased the production of the
Tron 45SX, and, after some delivery
problems during the Summer period, we
are now capable of handling Tron 45SX
deliveries from stock.
Events
You’ll find Jotron or our distributors
exhibiting our products at the
following international
exhibitions throughout
Calendar
the year.
2005/06
DATE VENUE LOCATION
September BALTEXPO Gdansk
September NEVA St. Petersburg
October KORMARNE Pusan
October Genoa International Boat Show Genoa
November Hong Kong Boat Show Hong Kong
November EUROPORT MARITIME Rotterdam
November METS 2005 Amsterdam
December Marintech China Shanghai
February ATC Maastricht
JOTRON Asia Pte. Ltd. Changi Logistics Centre,
19 Loyang Way #04-29, Singapore 508724
Tel: +65 65426350 Fax: +65 65429415
E-mail: sales@jotron-asia.com
JOTRON (UK) Ltd., Crosland Park, off Crowhall Road, Cramlington,
Northumberland, NE23 1LA, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1670 712000 Fax: +44 (0) 1670 590265
E-mail: sales@jotron.co.uk