Page 16: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (January 1971)

Nordata Inc. To Manufacture And Market In U.S.

Norwegian Designed Marine Computer Systems

A series of advanced computer-aided systems aimed at achieving greater safety and reduced operating cost for super-tankers and other large ships were introduced into the United

States at a recent seminar in New York City sponsored by Nordata Inc. The systems were developed in Norway by Norcontrol, a leading supplier of Scandinavia's marine automation systems. Nordata Inc., 459 E. Main Street,

Denville, N.J. 07834 will manufacture and mar- ket the equipment in the United States.

In order to establish the feasibility of the systems, the units were installed on the Nor- wegian-flag ship Taimyr. The firm of Noratom-

Norcontrol A/S was chosen to design and in- stall the computer system and its software.

The work was carried out in cooperation with the Norwegian ship classification society Det norske Veritas, the Technical University of

Norway and the Ship Technical Research As- sociation.

This development and testing program cov- ered four areas: the engine room, bridge, cargo handling and administrative routines.

One of the systems, computerized bridge control called DataBridge, consists of an ad- vanced anti-collision system, an improved auto- pilot and a computerized method of dead reck- oning, position fixing and great circle sailing.

This group is subdivided into DataRadar,

DataSailing and DataPilot units.

The managing director of the Noratom-Norcontrol com- pany, Ibb Hoivold (right) and Norcontrol Director Erik

Gjeruldsen checking the testing of a DataBridge system.

The advanced anti-collision system, Data-

Radar, is based on a coordination of radar and computer. The system gives automatic track- ing and also a relative and true-motion vector display. The vector for each target tracked is superimposed on the normal radar picture and gives data on position, velocity and bearing.

In the standard version of the unit 12 tar- gets can be tracked automatically and four manually.

DataSailing is an advanced navigational system. In the basic version the coordinates of the starting point are read into the compu- ter. The computer calculates the great circle to steer and by means of data from the log and gyro the present latitude and longitude.

Computations also are made of the remaining distance to the next turn point and the esti- mated time of arrival. In the more advanced version of DataSailing the computer will be interfaced to one of the available position- fixing systems, Decca, Omega or Satellite.

The DataPilot system is an improved auto- pilot. The DataPilot comprises a normal con- troller based on proportional, integral and derivative action and an adaptive controller which computes the neutral position of the rudder to counteract the steady forces acting on the hull due to wind and sea. The system accepts automatic input of the great-circle course to steer from DataSailing, or manual input of the same information. The advantage of DataPilot is the optimum use of the rudder.

The DataChief is the name of a correspond- ing family of systems for the engine room.

The computer is mounted in the console in the engine room and the same computer serves a number of sub-systems. The two basic sys- tems are DataSafe and DataTrend. DataSafe covers the watchkeeping and monitoring part of an unmanned engine room. DataTrend is a system which carries out continuous com- putations in order to determine the thermo- dynamic state of the machinery, based on measurements of certain parameters, the use of process modeling technique and comparison with stored reference data. With these results as input data to the process models, the ma- chinery maintenance may be scheduled.

Another field which lends itself to computer application is cargo handling. The system de- veloped for this project is called DataLoad and can use one of the other computers on the ship. It was developed originally for tankers and carries out the same functions as the analogue loading aids. The great advantage of using a programmable computer lies in the possibility of up-dating and changing the pro- gram as more experience is gained and new ideas are developed—it is possible to keep the installation modern after the customer has taken over the ship.

Other sub-systems have been developed and are in the process of development. Two of these systems are called DataDiesel and Data

Freeze which cover special engine-room func- tions.

Spokesmen for Nordata Inc. state that Nor- control has delivered instruments in the last few years for unmanned operation of engine rooms to 38 ships and has installed systems for control from the bridge on 52 ships with large

Diesel engines. This vast experience is avail- able to Nordata Inc.

The PPI unit of the bridge-control panel is put in place in the DataBridge unit. The radar screen is the central component in this system. The computer-aided radar will plot ships on a collision course and warn the watch.

Northen And Chakas Named

To New Positions At ACT (USA)

Michael B. Northen

Michael B. Northen and Donald S. Chakas have been named president and executive vice- president of Associated Container Transporta- tion (USA). Formerly executive vice-president and vice-president for operations, respectively, the announcement of their new positions was made in New York by R.A. Lloyd, director of

ACTA (Ltd), London-based parent of ACT's worldwide integrated, intermodal container transportation and distribution service.

Visiting in New York for conferences with

ACT's North American partners, Mr. Lloyd cited Mr. Northen's and Mr. Chakas's promo- tions as indicative of the importance which

ACT assigns to the impending container trade between North America and Australia and

New Zealand. Five giant containerships are presently under construction for the trade, the first of which will enter service next spring.

Mr. Northen has been with ACT (USA) since its inception in February 1969 and is primarily responsible for developing and co- ordinating the new service. A veteran steam- ship man, he joined the U.K.-based Blue Star

Line in 1949 after service with the Royal Navy.

In 1956 he was assigned to Blue Star's Well- ington, New Zealand office. Mr. Northen was transferred to New York in 1964 to establish and manage the line's services from the east coast of North America.

Mr. Chakas has also been associated with

ACT (USA) since its formation. He had been with the Caterpillar Tractor Company, Peoria, 111. for 16 years where he was successively su- pervisor of domestic traffic and supervisor of export traffic. In the latter capacity he was in the forefront of the international shipment of heavy equipment and spare parts in marine containers. Mr. Chakas is a graduate of the

University of Illinois and attended the College of Advanced Traffic and the John Marshall

Law School. He is a member of the Associa- tion of Interstate Commerce Practitioners, the

American Society of Traffic and Transporta- tion and the transportation fraternity, Delta

Nu Alpha. "AM? TH'S 'S HOLP KW/l

Donald S. Chakas 18 Maritime Reporter/Engineering Hews