Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE: NOC) Sperry Marine unit has received an order to supply 39 VoyageMaster Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) systems for one of Italy's largest ferry fleets. The VoyageMaster systems will permit the ships to meet the new IMO and EU carriage requirements mandating installation of an approved VDR system after July 1, 2002.

The order was placed by Tirrenia Group, of Naples, with Sperry Marine's Italian sales and service representative, Compagnia Generale Telemar S.p.A., which will supervise the installation and commissioning of the equipment.

Tirrenia Group, which includes Tirrenia di Navigazione, Adriatica, Caremar, Siremar and Toremar, operates a fleet of passenger/vehicle ferries in the Mediterranean Sea, with services major Italian ports, including Sicily, Sardinia and Tunisia.

The Voyage Data Recorder, similar to an aircraft "black box," records vital information concerning the ship's position, movement, physical status and command and control for the period leading up to and following an incident. The data, including voice recordings from bridge microphones and VHF radio, is stored in a hardened memory capsule for recovery and analysis by safety investigators following an incident at sea. Beyond its "black box" function, the VoyageMaster VDR can serve as an important management tool, supplying the ship's master and shoreside offices with critical voyage data for automated reports/logs, voyage performance, trend analysis and crew training.

The Sperry Marine VDR system is fully type approved by DNV, BSH, QiniteQ and other authorities. Sperry Marine offers a complete turnkey package for VDR compliance, including system integration, interfacing, installation, commissioning, service and recertification.

Sperry Marine, with worldwide headquarters in Charlottesville, Va., is part of Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector. The business unit provides smart navigation and ship control solutions for the international marine industry under the Sperry Marine, Decca and C. Plath brand names, 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.

Headquartered in Baltimore, Md., Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems is a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of defense electronics systems including airborne radar systems, navigation systems, electronic warfare systems, precision weapons, airspace management systems, air defense systems, communications systems, space systems, marine systems, oceanic and naval systems, logistics systems, and automation and information systems.