Ships Electronic Services (SES), an industry leader in the supply, installation and maintenance of maritime electronics, has won a substantial contract from Finmeccanica-Selex ES, to supply a comprehensive PA and General Alarm system to each of the four Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) tankers currently under construction by Daewoo Shipbuilding in South Korea.

The contract, which covers a comprehensive integrated PA system, is part of a wide range of communications equipment ordered from Finmeccanica-Selex ES.

The MARS communication systems will be similar to that supplied by Finmeccanica-Selex ES to the Royal Navy’s (RN) Type 45 Destroyers.

SES also worked on the Type 45 Destroyer project, providing the company with invaluable experience in technical military installation requirements, which has helped to develop the specific requirements for the MARS vessels.

The equipment, which will be supplied by SES, has been selected as the new Zenitel (Vingtor) EXIGO PA / GA system. The EXIGO PA system provides capabilities for the handling of all kinds of messages and alarms, and is sent to the EXIGO system.

Alarms can be triggered by external alarm systems, alarm panels and manual MOB switches located around the vessel. The system is broken down into two 19in racks, each with 13 200W amplifiers to cover five zones over 12 decks.

SES and Zenitel have a long history of cooperation in the supply of internal communications systems to the marine industry, with recent projects including UK HMS Enterprise and the two recent CalMac Hybrid Ferries built at Ferguson Shipbuilders of Port Glasgow.

According to Finmeccanica-Selex ES, the MARS communications system has been designed to make optimal use of commercial and military systems that have been proven to work on other defence programmes. A number of systems deployed on the RN Type 45 Destroyer will be adapted cost-effectively to meet the needs of the MARS tankers.

SES is an ISO:9001 company based at eight locations around the UK coastline with a team of highly experienced engineers providing a 24/7 service. The company has achieved approvals in several categories of Bureau Veritas and Lloyds Register certification.