CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., June 12, 2006 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has been awarded type approval from the Italian classification society Registro Italiano Navale (RINA) for its Sperry Marine VoyageMaster II Simplified Voyage Data Recorder (S-VDR).
The RINA type approval certifies that the Sperry Marine S-VDR meets the International Maritime Organization (IMO) carriage requirements and performance standards for mandatory "black box" recording devices to be installed on ocean-going ships. Similar to the cockpit recorders on aircraft, the S-VDR provides a permanent record of data from ship sensors and recordings of voice communications from the ship's bridge for use in incident investigations.
The S-VDR is a simplified version of shipboard voyage data recorders (VDRs), which are required on all new ships constructed since 2002. The S-VDR standard was created by the IMO for products to be retrofitted on existing cargo ships, many of which were built with older, analog systems and sensors that cannot easily be interfaced with the VDR.
Sperry Marine's VoyageMaster II S-VDR has also received similar type approval from the German certification authority Bundesamt fur Seeschiffahrt & Hydrographie.
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 global defense company headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. Northrop Grumman provides technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in systems integration, defense electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft, shipbuilding and space technology. With approximately 125,000 employees and operations in all 50 states and 25 countries, Northrop Grumman serves U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.
For commercial sales inquiries, contact Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine by phone, +1 (434) 974-2656 or by e-mail, sales_commercial@sperry.ngc.com. For military sales inquiries, call +1 (434) 974-2134 or e-mail sales_military@sperry.ngc.com. Visit our Web site at www.sperrymarine.northropgrumman.com.