Kongsberg Maritime Looks Forward to the Future of Bridge Operation with K-Master

Kongsberg Maritime will unveil a new focus for its offshore aft bridge workstation during SMM 2010. The sophisticated K-Master platform is now available as a forward looking bridge, initially for luxury vessels, enabling skippers and crew to navigate and maneuver from a single seated workstation, with all relevant systems, such as propulsion control, chart radar and conning display, at their finger tips.


"K-Master was originally conceived as an intuitive, safety and efficiency enhancing control solution for more complex offshore operations such as anchor handling," explains Roy Larsen, Marketing Manager, Kongsberg Maritime. "However, the concept of a seated operator with all systems on-hand naturally transfers to other applications, so our engineers have re-designed K-Master to make it suitable for forward bridge operations, and at SMM we are showing the solution we have created for use aboard luxury vessels."


K-Master's touch-screen operation ensures that all control and data is within easy reach of the sitting operator. It was introduced to the market at Nor-Shipping in June 2009 and can include a wide variety of sub-systems including Dynamic Positioning, independent DP joystick, thruster control, machinery automation and cargo control, chart radar and conning display, and bridge auxiliaries. The sheer breadth of functionality available to the operator is astounding, and its design ensures that each and every sub-system can be operated safely and efficiently.


With K-Master as the primary navigation and maneuvering workstation, luxury vessel builders now have the opportunity to completely re-imagine the integrated bridge system. This is especially important in the superyacht and megayacht markets, where style and individuality are high on the owner's wish list. K-Master is based on cutting-edge human factors and ergonomics research carried out by Kongsberg Maritime over the course of several years, with the end result offering safety and operational improvements, leading to improved efficiency and fewer operator errors.


"We have found that many luxury vessel makers and owners look to the offshore and merchant market for systems and inspiration, because they know it's where they will find the top-end equipment that will ensure fault free and functionality rich operation. So we're confident that the new K-Master for forward bridge operation will find a natural home aboard the world's most stunning luxury vessels, especially since the K-Master design was recognized with an Award for Design Excellence from the Norwegian Design Council in March this year," concludes Larsen, Kongsberg Maritime.