Martek’s Marine 4 Portable Gas Detector
Maritime safety equipment innovator, Martek Marine, has released a MED-certified portable gas detector that can be easily and safely recalibrated onboard, providing tamperproof certification to meet the many regulations governing detector calibration.
The Paris and Tokyo MOUs and oil major criteria require calibration records to be kept for all fixed and portable gas detectors onboard. Martek’s Marine 4 is supplied with a self-certification/calibration station which provides the user with fail-safe automatic bump testing and calibration. The seafarer simply places the Marine 4 gas detector in the station, press a button and waits one minute for the detector to be tested and certified, ensuring that calibrations are carried out in a repeatable, tamperproof manner without the possibility of human error. The system then automatically produces a tamper-proof calibration certificate which is acceptable to classification societies, oil majors and port state control.
The Marine 4 removes the high cost of sending detectors ashore for calibration, paying for calibration certificates and the need for additional detectors to cover shortfalls when detectors are ashore.
Additional cost savings come from the Marine 4’s increased efficiency, using approximately 75% less gas than manual calibrations which leads to significant savings in wasted gas and additional administration and carriage costs. The robust Marine 4 provides audible and visual alarms in the event of exposure to any of four flammable or toxic gases. The flexible sampling pump reduces risk of exposure further by allowing users to safely carry out pre-entry checks in deep tanks, holds and void spaces.
The testing programme can be set to meet individual requirements, for example: daily bump tests with weekly calibration and monthly certification. Responsibility for the testing process and testing frequency is taken away from busy or untrained crew, for maximum safety.
The MED-certified Marine 4 should be welcome news to shipowners after increasing concern about non-approved portable detectors being found on ships. While fixed detectors attract strict scrutiny when they are installed, portable detectors are not subject to the same attention.
Steve Coulson, Director of Martek Marine, says:
“Many owners don’t realise the extent of the problem of non-approved detectors, but it would only take one gas death and a subsequent investigation that finds non-approved gas detectors onboard for the owners and managers to face corporate manslaughter charges and extremely damaging, negative publicity.
Founded in 2000, Martek Marine provides equipment and services designed to enable the shipping and offshore sector to meet the latest environmental and safety regulatory standards. The company provides world beating systems for BNWAS, engine emissions monitoring, gas detection, water level detection, and cargo tank monitoring. The company also supplies a specialist marine defibrillator. Martek provides an extensive system servicing and system spares service for customers.
Martek Marine is headquartered in the UK (Rotherham) and has regional offices in the USA and Singapore as well as 44 office strong global network of sales and services offices. www.martek-marine.com
Marine 4 specifications
Measuring Ranges and response times LEL
0 – 100% – 10 secs (IEC 60079‐29‐1) O2
0 – 25% – 12 secs (BSEN 20 104) H2S
0 – 100 ppm – 35 secs CO
0 – 1000 ppm – 25 secs
Certification ATEX, CSA, IEC Ex, MED, CE
Environment Temperature Limits: – 20 Deg.C to + 50 Deg.C
Humidity: 0 – 95% RH non-condensing
Alarms Highly visible flashing LED Ultra loud audible alarm, >90 dBA
Sampling System Diffusion operation Optional internal sampling pump
Physical Properties Dimensions: 121 x 59 x 32 mm Weight (with pump): 230g Weight (without pump): 215g High impact rubberized polycarbonate case
Power Supply Lithium Ion rechargeable battery Run Time > 14 hrs (>8 hrs pumped) Charging Time < 4 hrs
