UK based, marine security specialist company, Photonic Security Systems (PSS) this month (February 2011) launch a new proactive pirate defence system, the LDS100.

The LDS100 acts in a non lethal and humane manner and is based on a proactive method to prevent pirates from approaching a ship.  The system works by sending a 10 metre wide multi-band laser light beam, up to a distance of 1 km, to dazzle the potential intruder and disable them from locating and boarding the ship.
 
This newly developed alternative will help to prevent pirates boarding merchant ships and makes it very difficult for them to filter its beam and still retain a view of the intended target.

US Sailboat magazine SAIL has presented the Discovery 50 Cat with two Awards following its appearance at the US Sailboat Show in Annapolis. SAIL Magazine sailed the yacht after the show, awarding the Discovery 50 Cat with the coveted Best Cruising Multihull Award as part of the publication's annual Best Boat awards, commenting, "This is a well thought out and beautifully finished cruiser".

Judges viewed the interior of the yacht during the boat show and came to an exciting conclusion for its British builders, "This Cat was so impressive that we had no hesitation in also presenting the Discovery 50 Cat with the 2011 Accommodations Award".

C A Clase, the UK's leading distributor of marine electronics for leisure and commercial users, received two prestigious awards during this year's METS from manufacturers KVH and Nauticomp. On Monday 15th November, C A Clase received the 'Biggest Total Turnover in 2010' for the second year in a row, at KVH's annual distributor awards. This was followed by an award from Nauticomp, for the 'Distributor of the Year'.

"I am thrilled to be returning from METS with not just one, but two awards that recognize our strength as a UK-based distributor. 2010 has been another tough year for the industry, but our ongoing commitment to providing high quality customer support and service has resulted in us exceeding targets and performance expectations across both KVH and Nauticomp product lines," comments Andrew Bush, Managing Director, C A Clase.