Spanish engineering company Acastimar chooses WhisperPower generators and control equipment as the core of the electrical installations they design aboard commercial ships and large yachts. Online monitoring using a smartphone is the latest addition to their networks.
“Aboard large yachts, connectivity is requested nowadays,” Sales Manager César Díaz de la Cruz of Acastimar reveals his clients’ demands. His company in Tarragona, Spain, does the engineering and supply of electrical systems, air conditioning, refrigeration, propulsion, water treatment and comfort aboard commercial vessels as well as luxury yachts. Their engineers design and configure the whole installation from power sources like alternators or generators to the end equipment. Acastimar engineers like to work with WhisperPower generators and power management tools. They also train technicians that do the installation work aboard the ships and yacht how to create the most efficient onboard network.
“As we were starting with a big project aboard a 68 foot (21 meter) motor yacht, we wanted to install a complete electrical system running with DC power supply to provide for the high air conditioning demands in the Mediterranean. The yacht is fitted out to do one day charter trips with sometimes large groups of guests.
César Díaz de la Cruz, Sales Manager
Generators need to be running all the time. Because of the silent operation of the Piccolo generator sets, we planned to install these in the yacht. We have been working with WhisperPower before, and they told us about the new OctoControl system monitoring devices that integrate in the marine NMEA connectivity and allow for remote controlling with the WhisperCare app. The new product was about to be launched when we started configuring the onboard electricity installation of the yacht.
We got all the specifications of the OctoControl monitoring equipment beforehand and could fit it into the installation. This is another reason for us to keep designing WhisperPower equipment into our systems. It allows for seamless integration and provides the connectivity that clients in the yachting sector seek.”
Continuous development
Acastimar was founded as an equipment supply and engineering service for the maritime and marine industries company in 1981. They work as a business-to-business service for yards and installers. Owners of large commercial vessels show less demand for connectivity than yacht owners. In professional maritime operations, reliability is the most sought after quality of equipment. Here, also the WhisperPower generators score very good.
“We have a long relationship,” Mr. Díaz reveals. “I have known Roel (ter Heide, founder of WhisperPower) even before the company was founded, when we worked with the companies that provided electrical installations and from which WhisperPower has originated. I was happy to see that Roel took up the development of even better generators. At first hand, we work with the products that are still WhisperPowers’ core business: generators. But we are glad to see that the company provides complete solutions for electrical installations. The Lithium batteries and new generation control devices integrate to provide a very stable and reliable supply of electric power.”
Training
Acastimar has a team of 12 engineers. Every year in November and December, they organize training sessions for the mechanics of the companies they work with to install the electrical systems as designed for the ships and yachts. A basic installation course introducing the right way to connect all the advanced equipment into a network in November and an advanced course introducing system monitoring in December. This way, product development and mechanics’ professional development evolve in equal pace.