Maritime Reporter, September 1997

<BODY> <div> (Continued from page 131) Inmarsat E system are: Raisting (Germany), which covers the Atlantic Ocean East and Indian Ocean region satellites; Perth (Australia) which covers the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean satellites; and Niles Canyon (U.S.) serving the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean West regions. Inmarsat is currently negotiating for a fourth LES installation to provide duplicated cover in the Atlantic East and West regions. "This will give the system the added security of double coverage in every region," said Mr. Fuller. "But in fact, even now with three stations operating, there is only one small section of the Pacific without double coverage." Like Inmarsat, the LES opera- tors — Deutsche Telekom in Germany, Telstra in Australia and IDB in the U.S. — are all providing their Inmarsat E ser- vices free of charge. Each LES is connected to its national rescue authority via a dedicated link. In Germany this Is the Bremen rescue coordina- tion center; in Australia it is a similar RCC in Canberra and in the U.S. it is the U.S. Coast Gluard data network. These authorities will deal with an emergency themselves or pass ;he information on to an appro- Driate RCC, usually the one learest the source of the distress alert and therefore in the best position to coordinate rescue efforts. A range of Inmarsat E float free and personal portable EPIRBs is being marketed by four manufacturers: Nortel Dasa GmbH;, OHB System GmbH; Nokia; and Kreiger Gesellschaft GmbH. As an affirmation of Inmarsat's commitment to safety services, the Inmarsat E EPIRB has "real benefits over those that we've seen up till now," said Peter Goldsmith, Inmarsat's market manager for merchant shipping. "It's much faster than previous systems ... as soon as the button is pressed, there's a record of that in the RCC, rather than the ship in distress having to wait for a satellite pass, which could mean up to a couple of hours. So speed of response is dramatically enhanced." In tests carried out shortly before its introduction, Inmarsat E proved to be 100 per cent reli- able in delivering a comprehen- sive distress message to LESs, typically within two minutes of an initial alert. "This is a great improvement on current satellite and radio systems, which can take hours to deliver an alert," said Goldsmith. "As we have seen recently, if such alerts are not sufficiently comprehensive they often raise as many questions for rescuers as they provide answers." Goldsmith also stresses the accuracy of the position report- ing. "It's much, much higher ," he said. "Earlier alerting sys- tems were accurate only to with- in four or five kilometers; Inmarsat E is accurate to within 200 meters. If an aircraft is look- ing for a person in the water, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack. "After all, just three weeks before we launched Inmarsat E, the British yachts- man Tony Bullimore was lost in the Southern Ocean for five days during the Vendee Globe race. It's very difficult to find a hull 60 feet long in the sea, espe- cially if it's upside down as his was ... an aircraft's pilot would be lucky to see it. When you're searching for someone lost in the sea and you have Inmarsat E, you can home right in on that person and check the accuracy of the position reporting." Bethlehem Steel To Sell Shipyard Bethlehem Steel Corp. report- sdly agreed to sell BethShip Inc.'s Sparrows Point Yard in Baltimore to the private investment firm Veritas Capital Inc. of New York. The deal is reportedly subject to Veritas completing a revolving credit agreement, but Bethlehem said it expected to close the sale before September 30. 5&l Insurers Confident Of Zountering EU Objections The London P&I Club says it is :onfident that marine Protection ind Indemnity insurers can over- :ome EC objections to the sector's :urrent liability pooling agree- nent. "The (Commission's) statement of Objections was writ- en by a middle-ranking bureau- rat who had not fully considered he February 20 agreement," iraham Edmiston, chairman of he London Club's managers, told September, 1997 a news conference. The European Commission has given the International Group of P&I Clubs until September 16 to respond to its call for greater competition. Under the February 20 Agreement, P&I Clubs work together to provide high levels of liability cover in the event of marine pollution and other claims on shipowners. They represent 90 percent of world shipping. The agreement also means that a shipowner must pay the same level of premium for the first year after moving from one club to another, a clause which has attracted particular criticism from Brussels. The London Club and its man- agers do not expect the International Group of P&I Clubs to split over this issue because of the benefits to their owners, the shipping industry. One P&I source said reinsurers had received few P&I claims in recent years and could afford to see the premium cut to $150 mil- lion. Siemens makes Inmarsat E Beacon. Circle 259 on Reader Service Card 135 Proficiency in the design and application of hydrody- namic bearings for rotating machinery sets ORION apart from most other suppliers. Many customers bring their requirements to ORION, and we design and produce the bearings to do the job. Others bring their design to us to manu- facture according to their specifications. Our experienced engineers are support- ed with the latest computer programs and CAD hardware to design bearings for specified performance requirements. Our Quality Management Systems are recognized with ISO 9001 certification. Pre-engineered bearings are available to meet typical load/lubrication requirements. Bearings requiring special materials, lubrication fluids and tight delivery dates can be designed and produced. ORION serves the hydrodynamic bearing needs of the world's largest manufacturers of rotating machinery. We're ready to serve you, too... T ...Whatever It Takes. ORION CORPORATION 1111 Cedar Creek Road Grafton, Wl 53024 414-377-2210 FAX 414-377-0729 </div> <span id="lblContents"></span> <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.digitalwavepublishing.com/" title="Digital Magazine">Digital Wave Publishing</a> </BODY>