What does the MED approval mean for marine equipment?

The MED mark of conformity confirms that a product or piece of equipment is approved for use on board EU member state ships and ships of countries which have agreed to apply the Marine Equipment Directive 2014/90/EU.

This is sometimes referred to as the ‘wheelmark’ or ‘wheel mark’ and also known as M.E.D/MED approval or certification. It provides confirmation that the equipment or product is suitable for marine industry use.

In order to supply fire alarm products such as sounders to shipyards and install them on board, MED certification in accordance with the European Directive 2014/90/EU (MED) is required, as well as compliance with the latest standards specified in the Implementing Regulation 2019/1397/EU.

The required standards are also international standards for all IACS member classed ships such as ABS, Bureau Veritas, CCS, CRS, DNV GL, IR Class, Korean Register, Lloyd's, Class NK, Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (NK Class), Polski Register, Rina and Russian Martime Register.

Almost all ships around the world are assigned to one of these classification societies.

Consequences

The regulation limits the installation of sounders to those approved in accordance with the latest edition of IEC 60092-504 (2016) and IEC60533 (2015) as well as EN 54-3 (2014).

New equipment which does not comply with the MED Directive at the end of the transitional periods may no longer be installed on board from this date.

Our MED Certified visual and audible devices

Pfannenberg offers an extensive range of products and solutions designed specifically to withstand the rigors of the marine industry.

The PATROL series (sounders and combined beacons/sounders) already meets the above requirements from the standards IEC 60092-504 (2016) and IEC 60533 (2015) with approval by DNV GL (Germanischer Lloyd).

You can rely on Pfannenberg products whenever you need fire protection alarm devices, such as sounders or visual and audible combination units, for ship and marine applications.