Applications & Product Management: a post by our colleague Thomas Merz

During the last few years more and more customers have asked for maritime offshore certificates, especially the DNV Type Approval.

Therefore we started in late 2012 by assessing the DNV approval requirements for offshore PA/GA systems.

First, we decided on the components of the INTRON-D plus system which were important for us to pass the certification process. The final system for approval was designed as a high level secured  A+B System in shared operation. Our intention behind this was to build a system with as many components as possible from our construction kit in order to ensure that the options most required by our customers were covered. We selected our outdoor, explosion-proof, as well as our indoor intercom stations and the IP based Access Panel for the certification process as each of them has the option for redundant system interconnection.

In early 2013, we started with the laboratory tests to evaluate electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), vibration and various environmental conditions. After making minor adjustments to the system, we passed all tests meeting the international standards required (e.g. SOLAS, DNV standard for certification 2.4, IMO A.1021(26), LSA Code, etc.) and forwarded the reports to DNV Norway for approval.

Finally, an examiner of DNV Norway visited us in Wertheim to verify that our INTRON-D plus system complies with the DNV rules and guidelines. During his visit, all functions required for a PA/GA system were successfully tested, e.g.:

•    General Alarm mutes entertainment system
•    General Alarm activates ship whistle
•    PA emergency announcement mutes an external General Alarm temporarily

Fulfilling all criteria required during this performance test was the final step toward approval.

In October 2013, we received our DNV Type Approval Certificate for the INTRON-D plus system. This proves our commitment to ensuring that our high quality standards are met in the offshore market.