Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has supplied electronic chart display and information systems (ECDIS) for 12 BP oil tankers.

Northrop Grumman's Sperry Marine business unit installed four of its new-generation VisionMaster FT™ ECDIS workstations on each of the 12 ships, supplementing their existing Sperry Marine integrated bridge system installations, including radars, autopilots and gyrocompasses.

The Sperry Marine ECDIS is type-approved to meet International Maritime Organization carriage requirements and International Electrotechnical Commission performance standards, and will permit the ships to sail without paper charts. All aspects of route planning, navigation and piloting are carried out through the ECDIS workstation.

"These ECDIS upgrades build on our longstanding relationship as a major supplier of navigation technology to the BP fleet," said Hans Rasmussen, director of business development, Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine. "Our VisionMaster FT navigation technology is designed to meet the demanding requirements for safe and efficient ship navigation in the modern age."

The British-flagged Bird-class vessels were originally built for BP in Korea by Samsung Heavy Industries Company Limited. The 115,000 deadweight ton double-hull "ice-class" Aframax ships typically transport crude oil or heavy lubricant oils worldwide.

Sperry Marine is a business unit of Northrop Grumman's Naval and Marine Systems Division. Headquartered in Charlottesville with major engineering and support offices in New Malden, United Kingdom, and Hamburg, Germany, Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine provides smart navigation and ship control solutions for the international marine industry with customer service and support through offices in 16 countries, sales representatives in 47 countries and authorized service depots in more than 250 locations worldwide.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide. Please visit www.northropgrumman.com for more information.

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