The U.S. Coast Guard has certified Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) as an authorized annual service provider for shipboard voyage data recorders (VDRs).

The certification was awarded to Northrop Grumman’s Sperry Marine business unit, a leading supplier of VDR systems for commercial shipping fleets worldwide. Sperry Marine is authorized to conduct required annual performance tests on VoyageMaster VDR units. The shipboard inspections will be performed by Sperry Marine’s worldwide network of field service offices.

Shipboard VDRs are similar to the “black box” cockpit data recorders used on aircraft, recording data from the ship’s sensors and audio from the bridge in a protective capsule that can be retrieved for analysis following an incident at sea. VDRs are currently required by the international Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention on all new ships over 3,000 gross tons. A new carriage requirement, adopted last year under the SOLAS regulations, requires a simplified voyage data recorder (S-VDR) to be retrofitted on existing cargo ships over the next few years.

The International Maritime Organization requires that shipboard VDRs and S-VDRs, including all interfaced sensors, must be inspected and recertified annually, on or before the anniversary date of the original installation. The tests must be conducted by an approved testing or servicing facility to verify the accuracy, duration and recoverability of the recorded data.

Sperry Marine has also been certified as an approved service supplier by American Bureau of Shipping, Lloyd’s Register, Det Norske Veritas and Germanischer Lloyd to perform annual tests.

Sperry Marine, headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., and with major engineering and support offices in New Malden, United Kingdom and Hamburg, Germany, 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 Corporation is a global defense company headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif. Northrop Grumman provides technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in systems integration, defense electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft, shipbuilding and space technology. With approximately 125,000 employees and operations in all 50 states and 25 countries, Northrop Grumman serves U.S. and international military, government and commercial customers.