Free webinar reveals how to prevent lightning strikes at sea

A speaker from an electromechanical engineering company is giving a free webinar this week, detailing technologies that can prevent damage and injury from lightning strikes at sea.

At 3pm BST on Friday 14 July, 2023, guest speaker Stephen Horsley is presenting lightning prevention systems from Sertec, which specialises in developing technology that can offer protection against atmospheric discharges.

The webinar is organised by marine trade distributor Technical Marine Supplies (TMS), which distributes Sertec equipment to the UK, European and Scandinavian markets.

Paraguay-based Sertec says it is the ‘only company accredited by the Tesla Institute.’ It says its technology can protect single-hull yachts, catamarans, trimarans, superyachts, cargo ships and offshore platforms from the dangers posed by lightning strikes.

M5, the largest single-masted monohull in the world, is said to be protected by Sertec’s CMCE device; a passive sensor system that provides permanent protection by balancing and deionising the effects of atmospheric electric fields during navigation.

“I have a strong belief that shared technical knowledge through education is key to long-term successful partnerships, and we cannot ignore that we have a very real problem with ongoing boat ownership costs, insurance being one of them,” says Nick Cook of TMS.

“With the average lighting strike costing in excess of £30,000 to fix, spending a fraction of that cost on a lightning prevention system is a very viable and sensible option. Having the support of Steve and the 120-plus engineers in the Sertec organisation certainly helps us calculate the correct unit for the client, and Steve’s kind offer to host an open webinar to share his knowledge is certainly an opportunity not to be missed.”

Cook adds: “We have so far seen registrations from as far as the Middle East, and with superyacht engineers, insurance underwriters and skippers all registered so far, it is going to be a fantastic broad spectrum of clients making up the audience.”

Registration for the webinar is now live, with sign-ups available via an online form.