A Tyneside technology business is sailing into Scandinavian waters after winning Norwegian government approval for its maritime tracking device.
North Shields-based Succorfish is one of just four companies around the world – and the only one in the North – to secure accreditation for its SC2 Gen 2 iVMS system to be used in the commercial fishing industry.
Founded in 2008, the business has a 20-strong in-house design, software engineering, development and customer service team which manages all aspects of clients’ technology requirements. All of its hardware is designed and manufactured in North Shields.
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The vessel monitoring systems it makes are used to monitor the location of fishing boats within the UK’s coastal waters, and after becoming one of the few to complete the rigorous Marine Management Organisation’s approvals process, it has been gearing up to haul in new clients.
Now its system has been approved for use as an electronic reporting system on Norway’s 550-strong fleet of fishing boats that are over 15 metres in length.
The firm worked in partnership with Norwegian software developer Bytek Nordic to adapt the SC2 Gen 2 system to the country’s specific offshore requirements, which include being able to pinpoint the precise location of vessels over a distance of more than 2,200 kilometres.
After several months of work, it has now won Government approval for use anywhere in its fishing waters, which stretch from Kristiansand at Norway’s southern tip right up to Svalbard inside the Arctic Circle, as well as in UK, EU and other international waters.
And as new regulations aew set to be introduced in Norway later this year requiring other vessels to carry the same tech, Succorfish is expecting to expand its presence in the country’s fishing industry.
Chad Hooper, managing director at Succorfish, said: “The SC2 is already being used successfully in fishing waters around the world and this latest accreditation opens up important new markets which will help us further extend its use.
“This type of monitoring equipment has never been more crucial to the fishing industry, whether from an environmental, conservation or regulatory point of view, and the adapted SC2 system comprehensively fulfils all the Norwegian government’s requirements for its coastal waters.
“It is proven, mature technology that offers the usability, reliability and technical specifications that fishing vessel operators need, is easy to transport and install, and gathers all the real time information that users both on the water and onshore need to fully document what is happening offshore.
“Working with Bytek has helped to open up some significant new opportunities for us and we’re expecting to be able to build on them later in the year as new regulations increase the number of Norwegian vessels that need this type of electronic reporting system.”
Dagfinn Lønning, managing director at Bytek Nordic AS, adds: “We identified Succorfish as having the high-quality, cost-effective transponder technology that we needed as the platform for our software, and we have combined our expertise to create a very powerful customer offering.”
