Garmin International Inc. was named Manufacturer of the Year for the fifth consecutive year by the National Marine Electronics Association for its support of products in the field.
Garmin also received four Product of Excellence Awards in the multifunction display, or MFD, autopilot, multimedia entertainment and mobile application categories.
The awards were announced at the 2019 NMEA Convention and Expo in Portsmouth, Va., Sept. 16-20.
“These coveted awards are a true testament to our unwavering commitment to design, manufacture, sell and support industry-leading marine electronics,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president global consumer sales, in a statement. “We’re proud to be a part of the NMEA, and it’s truly an honor to be held in such high regard by our industry peers and customers. As we celebrate Garmin’s 30th year in business, these accolades validate the hard work and dedication of our entire team.”
That was one of three announcements made by the company today; it also announced that Garmin marine electronics would be standard features on Sea Hunt Boats, and that it has added nine marine companies to its OneHelm roster.
Sea Hunt Boat Company selected Garmin to outfit its full line of center console boats ranging from 18 to 30 feet. As the exclusive provider, Sea Hunt will offer Garmin electronics packages including chartplotters, VHF radios and autopilots standard on every new boat starting Nov. 1.
“We’ve had an overwhelming increase in the amount of boats ordered with Garmin electronics packages, so we’re excited to have Garmin as our exclusive provider going forward,” said Sea Hunt president Bubba Roof in a separate statement. “We believe in giving our customers the best available options and features in the industry, and Garmin provides the perfect combination of leading technology and user friendliness that our customers desire.”
Finally, Garmin announced several new partnerships with companies in its effort to provide an integrated system.
Nine new marine brands will be integrated into the company’s OneHelm, the HTML5 platform designed for third-party companies that seeks to simplify onboard system operation via a Garmin MFD.
The companies are HP Watermakers, LED manufacturer Lumitec, vessel monitoring and control system Maretron, onboard switching and automation system PowerPlex, nautical equipment engineers Quick Spa, onboard power system controls company Scheiber, electronic product maker Victron Energy, and Yacht Controller.
“OneHelm simplifies control and customization of the boats most crucial systems to one master source – the Garmin MFD,” said Bartel in a third statement. ”We’re fortunate to work with so many industry brands to incorporate their systems and technologies into OneHelm to provide added convenience, control and security onboard. We welcome these new companies onboard and look forward to adding more soon.”
