NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette — Integrated PA/Phone/GA System National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) | Direct Federal Contract

Fail-Safe Electric designed and fabricated an integrated Dial Telephone, Public Address (PA), and General Alarm (GA) system for the NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette, a federal research vessel based in Honolulu, Hawaii. The $263,710 project was executed under Contract #1305M224C0029 with NOAA's Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO).

The project initiated with a comprehensive ship check in September 2024, documenting existing systems and gathering vessel-specific data essential for the integrated design. The engineering team resolved vessel classification questions through direct coordination with ABS, confirming the vessel's status as Special Purpose Vessel / Cargo Ship—a determination critical to establishing applicable regulatory requirements.

The system design encompassed complete compliance with ABS Rules 4-8-2 and 4-8-4, 46 CFR I-J Part 113, SOLAS II-2, and NFPA 70. The scope included a loud hailer array and fog horn integration on the forward mast, fire alarm integration with configurable 5-minute delay announcement capability, and automated message repeater programming for safety announcements including Man Aloft, Smoking Lamp, and Divers Over Side protocols. Primary control was established on the Bridge with secondary control at the Trawl House, and the system was designed to integrate with the existing alarm bell system via relay contacts for redundancy.

Throughout the design phase, the team coordinated 11 formal Change Field Requests (CFRs) to refine system requirements while maintaining project schedule. The ABS submission achieved approval, and all components were procured and delivered to NOAA's Honolulu facility.

Reference: Andrew Hildebrandt, Contracting Officer's Representative | ANDREW.HILDEBRANDT@NOAA.GOV