INS Sujata of the Indian Navy – Image from Insider Media Limited.
Coltraco Ultrasonics ‘Seals’ Deal with Indian Navy
Coltraco Ultrasonics, an innovative British ultrasonic technology manufacturer for the maritime and naval sectors, has secured a new contract with the Indian Navy, thanks to support from the Department for International Trade (DIT).
The contract will see the British business supply almost 200 of its advanced watertight integrity inspection product, the Portascanner® WATERTIGHT, to the Indian Navy. The instrumentation will protect Indian Navy sailors by ensuring the hatches, doors and cable transits on its 155 warships are watertight. The contract will service one of the largest navies in the world, employing more than 67,000 personnel.
The deal follows a determined effort by the business to bolster its presence in India, by exhibiting at various trade shows in the country. Coltraco was supported by DIT’s Tradeshow Access Programme (TAP), which is part of the Exporting is GREAT campaign.
Coltraco has provided a similar service to the Royal Navy in the UK for over 20 years and works with customers in 109 countries including Singapore, China and the US. Asia accounts for 40% of the company’s exports, while North America, the Middle East and Europe account for 17%, 10% and 15%, respectively, with the balance to South America and Africa.
Carl Hunter, Chief Executive of Coltraco Ultrasonics, said: “We presented our Portascanner® WATERTIGHT to the Indian Navy who carried out extensive trials with competitors. The Indian Navy selected our product for its accuracy – it’s the most mathematically accurate model available worldwide – its ease-of-use, and the local in-country support. We secured the Indian Navy contract with thanks also to our Indian Naval Partners.
Working in international markets like India presents opportunities and challenges. With our 30-year export experience, we are well accustomed to managing and succeeding abroad, and one contributing factor is the support from UK Government, especially DIT. For example, we started exporting many years ago with the help of the Market Research Reports provided by DIT (formerly UKTI) – today called OMIS reports. We have also attended workshops e.g. an Overseas Agent Masterclass that advises on global network development.
“My advice to any company considering exporting is to do it. Exporting has had a huge impact on our business, and if we can, so can other British businesses.”
Enhancing the Global Navies Availability
The principal reasons for ships, warships, submarines, and auxiliary vessels loss at sea sadly remains sinking and fire. We are global leaders in:
- Watertight Integrity Monitoring
- Contents Monitoring of Liquified Gaseous Extinguishing Systems
- Contents Monitoring on Non-Liquified Gaseous Extinguishing Systems
In order to ensure the maximum availability of all five Fighting Arms of Global Navies, whether the vessel in question is a surface ship, a submarine, or an amphibious vehicle.
Maintaining the overall structural integrity of a vessel is the key element that will enhance the vessel survivability in the event of major leak events. Watertight integrity testing can provide a huge insight from a safety and survivability perspective, especially in the event of drastic hull breaches, internal leaks, and unexpected water transit through the vessel.
- In Port – the Portascanner® WATERTIGHT PRO may be used to scientifically locate and assess areas that require remedial work while a vessel is in port to enhance and advance Damage Control and Safety & Survivability in warships and submarines.
- At Sea – It may also be used while the vessel is undergoing dynamic stresses at sea to understand and prioritise water leakages, ultimately providing knowledge of the time before a compartment floods and contributing to the internal “damage control battle” of the navies warships to save the ship at the damage moment.
Liquified Fixed Gaseous Extinguishing Systems, such as Halon, CO2, FM-200™ & NOVEC™ 1230, are gases stored at very high pressures, making them liable to slow seepage and accidental discharge; if the contents fall below the amount required to deliver the designed concentration, the remaining extinguishing gas will not be enough in the event of a fire. This is particularly challenging to test at sea but is also where these tests are most-necessary.
IMO SOLAS II/21.3 state that the crew must have the means to, “periodically test the watertight doors and all mechanisms at least once a week”.
IMO SOLAS Fire Suppressions Safety Code state that the “crew must have the means to test the contents” its fixed extinguishing systems at sea, for this.
The Portalevel® MAX MARINE PLUS is hand-held instrument, enabling the crew to test for the contents of liquefied CO2, FM-200™ and NOVEC™ 1230 Clean Agent extinguishing systems to an accuracy of +/-1.5mm, contained within the highly pressurised gases contained within their large cylinders.
Non-liquefied fixed fire Gaseous Extinguishing Systems containing the non-liquefied gas Inergen™ is typically stored in 45KG/100lb cylinders at pressures between of up to 300 Bar. At such pressures they are also subject to slow seepage of contents or occasionally accidental discharge.
The land-based fire industry who install the systems leave the maritime user dependent on the dockside maintenance and pressure gauges to monitor pressure, but this does not enable the warship or submarine to monitor the contents at sea. The Portagas® allows Global Navies to monitor both at sea, so that the integrity of the Inergen™ system can be maintained by the crew who depend on it.