Mechanical Technology

Mechanical Technology — December 2015

⎪

Modern transport and vehicle solutions

⎪

ar i ne Dat a So l u t i ons

(MDSol) is a Cape Town-

based company specialis-

ing in world-leading mari-

time surveillance technologies, services

and solutions. Founded in 2004, the

company has the largest installed base

of marine domain awareness technolo-

gies on the African continent, and was

excited by the opportunity to showcase

its technology capabilities at this year’s

African Ports Evolution in Durban.

Under the dynamic, entrepreneurial

leadership of Steve Nell, MDSol has

built up a strong customer base among

South African and African maritime

authorities and related industries. This

‘young-at-heart’ organisation has seen

consistent growth since its inception, and

a number of acquisitions have served to

augment its customer offering and value

proposition.

“Our vision at MDSol is to provide

an increasingly holistic solution to our

customers, ensuring that our service

offering meets the requirements of our

customers in the long term. We have

made it company practice to listen care-

fully to our customers and find new ways

of adding value,” says Nell.

The company made its most recent

acquisition in October 2015, acquiring

a majority shareholding in Marine Radio

Acoustic Devices (MRAD), a well-estab-

lished provider of world-class on-board

electronic equipment for the maritime

and fisheries industries. Leveraging the

key synergies between the two compa-

nies, MDSol and MRAD have worked

together on a number of projects over

the past couple of years.

Following the acquisition by Marine Data Solutions

(MDSol) of Marine Radio Acoustic Devices (MRAD) earlier

this year, Steve Nell and Eddy Elschot talk about their

products showcased at African Ports Evolution and the

exciting future of the African maritime industry.

Formed in 2004,

Marine Data Solutions

(MDSol)

is a holistic service provider specialising

in marine domain awareness (MDA) solutions.

The company is partially owned by Kongsberg

Norcontrol IT, a global leaders in maritime sur-

veillance solutions.

MDSol Galactic

, a subsidiary of MDSol,

provides fire engineering, safety and security

solutions, while

MRAD

, now part of the MDSol

group of companies, provides a wide range of

electronic equipment for the marine and fisher-

ies industries.

A proudly African company, MDSol is

ISO 9001:2008 and holds a B-BBEE Level 1

certificate.

Maritime data technologies showcased

“This acquisition has

been in the pipeline for

more than two years, and is

an exciting step forward for

both companies,” says Eddy

Elschot, general manager

of MRAD. “We have estab-

lished an extremely good

relationship with MDSol

and are looking forward to

combining our respective fields of exper-

tise to bring our mutual customer base

greater levels of service, technology and

product support.”

Nell adds: “As specialists in shore-

based marine technologies, we are very

pleased to be joining forces with such

a well-established provider of on-board

systems. It means that we will be able to

offer a wider-ranging maritime technology

solution to our mutual customers; and

our shared approach to service and firm

commitment to excellence forms a strong

foundation for the future growth of both

companies.”

MDSol has a strong presence in the

maritime sector, with over 65 installa-

tions both in South Africa and along the

African coastline. Its range of globally

proven technology includes vessel traffic

management and information systems,

ports and coastal surveillance systems,

automatic identification systems and

navigation aids, amongst others.

“MDSol is committed to building in-

tegrated technology platforms to create

an increasingly accurate picture of the

marine domain. It is about gathering cus-

tomer-specific and relevant intelligence,

with the overarching vision of creating

new levels of safety and efficiency in the

Steve Nell, managing director of the MDSol group of companies with

Eddy Elschot, general manager of MRAD.

maritime sector. African Ports Evolution

is an invaluable forum to share our vision

with likeminded individuals and organisa-

tions,” Nell says.

“With the blue economy, or ‘ocean

economy’ on everyone’s lips – spurred on

by the government’s Operation Phakisa

– the maritime industry is an exciting

space in which to operate. Furthermore,

creative use of technology can really

assist in fast-tracking growth and devel-

opment of the industry; and contributes

to a growing economic sector – not only

in South Africa – but around the entire

continent,” he concludes.