The English Channel is the busiest shipping route in the world. More than 500 ships pass through the Channel every day, from cruise liners and ferries to fishing boats, oil tankers and military vessels. With so much traffic, safety is paramount. Under international maritime rules, ships need to ensure they have a 'transceiver' on board, a black box which shows where they are, where they are heading and where other vessels are in relation to them.
SRT Marine Systems, a small, Somerset-based firm, pioneered the technology some 15 years ago and it is now used on hundreds of thousands of boats worldwide. The group has just gone one stage further, with a new piece of kit, Nexus, which links up to users' mobile phones. That allows them to see what's ahead and talk to coastguards, other vessels or even crew members wherever they are on their boat.
Launched just a few weeks ago, Nexus has already attracted considerable interest. Traditionally, ship captains can only communicate with the outside world via an old-fashioned radio, fixed to the cockpit and of often dubious quality. Nexus changes all that and orders are streaming in, with sales expected to gather steam from early next year.
So far, so good. But SRT chief executive Simon Tucker has another arm to his business, offering full-service surveillance at sea via Maritime Domain Awareness Systems. Oceans can be dangerous places. Pirates can seize vessels, smugglers can bring in drugs, weapons and migrants, terrorists can jeopardise ships en route.
