Marine Lightning Protection

Being at the forefront of both the basic science and product development in this area, we are uniquely qualified to address all of the problems inherent in lightning protection on the water. Whether for a fiberglass jet ski or a superyacht our method is the same - to place lightning conductors on the outside of the vessel with multiple air terminal... s at the top and multiple grounding terminals at the waterline. This provides a shielding enclosure, external current pathways, and more effective grounding to the water surface. We can also address lightning issues with metal-hulled vessels ranging from jon boats to supertankers, and can give advice on electronics protection by considering wire routing, shielding and surge suppression. The desirable features of a ship lightning protection system cover a broad range from personal safety of passengers, surge protection of electronics, protection of vulnerable instruments or structures, lowered downtime to repair lightning damage, safety procedures for loading explosive materials, etc. Over the years we have had many enquiries from ship agents who have been interested in addressing lightning protection and are very familiar with both the type of damage to be expected and the techniques needed to address any problem that might be encountered. While the priorities for each lightning protection project vary from ship to ship, one common feature for all projects is that in a task of this size an appropriate amount of analysis is required in order to assess the best course of action. In order to expedite this we recommend our consulting services so that we can give the matter the attention it deserves. Given the wide range of potential issues with lightning protection of ships, it is not surprising that a common problem is that the agent does not understand how to define the most pressing concern. Ill defined Class regulations, use of ambiguous terms such as "lightning arrestor", and the widespread availability of devices with checkered histories do not help. To this end ...Read More