Global leader of satellite navigation, Garmin, announces that for the second year in a row it received the honour of being the most recognised company in the marine electronics field for its support of products, awarded by the NMEA.
In addition to Manufacturer of the Year, Garmin also received seven Product of Excellence Awards in the following categories: autopilot, multi-function display, mobile application aid to navigation, mobile application utility, fishfinder, AIS, and multimedia entertainment. The honours were announced at the prestigious 2016 NMEA Convention held last week in Naples, Florida.
Dan Bartel, Garmin Vice President of Worldwide Sales comments, “We are incredibly honoured and humbled to yet again be recognised as the Manufacturer of the Year by the NMEA, and to have so many of our products and applications receive top recognition – these coveted awards are the result of our dedication to the marine industry, and a true testament to our continued commitment to design, manufacture, sell and support industry-leading products.”
For the fourth year in a row, Garmin received an award in the autopilot category for its GHP ReactorTM Hydraulic Autopilot with SmartPump. The GHP Reactor was Garmin’s first recreational autopilot system to utilise AHRS technology and boasts the usability, installation flexibility, and many other features that prove to be valuable for any vessel. Garmin also earned accolades in the Multi-Function Display category, yet another consecutive honour. This year’s MFD award went to the GPSMAP® 8624, a 24-inch all-in-one chartplotter that boasts the highest screen resolution on the market and is pre-loaded with both BlueChart® g2 coastal, and LakeVü HD inland maps.
Smartphone applications are essential tools for mariners in today’s connected world, and Garmin’s mobile app offerings received top honours yet again in these categories. Garmin BlueChart Mobile, a route planning application with streaming weather capabilities, was named the best mobile application aid to navigation; and Garmin HelmTM, an application that allows mariners to view and control their chartplotter from a smartphone or tablet, scooped the prize for mobile application utility.
Other recognised Garmin products include the GSDTM 26 black-box sounder and the AIS 600. FUSION®, a Garmin brand, also won the new multimedia entertainment category for the MSUD750, a marine entertainment system with internal UNI-Dock for charging.