World’s First VDR Solution Targeted at Inland Waterways Market

Orolia has announced a new partnership with Radio Holland that includes the development of a Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) specifically designed for inland shipping.

This solution will enhance safe navigation and ship performance and provide tools for understanding the cause of incidents. Radio Holland will also be installing Orolia’s Netwave VDR NW6000 series as its preferred global VDR solution for retrofit and new build projects, while Orolia will utilize Radio Holland’s established global network as one of its globally preferred service partners.

The architecture of Orolia’s renewed Netwave NW6000 VDR system, which has a global install base of over 6000 vessels, is based on latest ethernet technology, making full use of so-called PoE (Power over Ethernet) solution. This leads to reduced need for cabling saving in installation time. As an increased number of navigation and communication equipment with ethernet output will become available on board of ships, the NW6000 VDR can provide additional tooling for performance measurements. Next to the standard VDR function, the NW6000 VDR can be used for optimizing ship performance.

Example screenshot of Orolia VDR system

Chris Loizou, Vice President Maritime Business Line at Orolia, said, “We have a long-established relationship with Radio Holland and look forward to taking this to the next level. This partnership is based on our mutual experience and understanding of the growth of the marine inland waterway economy, and the ambition to ensure that technology utilized in SOLAS vessels can be used to analyze accident data and help develop risk-reduction strategies for the future.”

Paul Smulders, CEO Europe for Radio Holland said, “Radio Holland is continuously seeking partners with whom we can work to develop and create solutions which can meet our customer’s requirements. As a result, we partnered with Orolia on the new and unique Inland NW6000R VDR, which registers all movements and communications on and around the inland vessels. The VDR is obligatory in Deepsea Shipping, but for inland shipping it is also a relevant tool to enhance safety and ship performance. The NW6000R VDR is perfectly suitable to monitor, measure and improve the performance of the ship. Based on the interest we have found with inland ship owners; we believe this innovative product is a relevant addition on board of inland vessels.”

Radio Holland is also partnering with Orolia on its innovative M-SecureSync system and will adopt this solution as its preferred navigation cyber security technology. The M-SecureSync employs various technologies to resist GPS/GNSS jamming and spoofing attacks, alert the bridge to discrepancies in the navigation signals and activate defense solutions. It offers modular layered protection that can be utilized as a stand-alone safety indicator or integrated into existing vessel navigation solutions.