Supporting Local Business

February 2, 2011 – Port Moody, BC, Canada: British Columbia Premier Christy Clark visited Current Corporation to discuss the local and provincial economy in regards to job creation and small business growth. Current Corporation is a British Columbia high-tech company that designs, produces and distributes Night Navigator camera systems to the global marine market.

Current Corporation’s Night Navigator 3 is installed on a range of yachts, workboats, research vessels, high-speed craft and Coast Guard/patrol vessels worldwide. The Night Navigator 3 incorporates three cameras, in three spectrums, in one system. It includes a High-Definition Day Camera, High-Resolution Dual Field of View Thermal Imager, and Gated Image-Intensified High-Definition Night Vision Camera. These three leading-edge cameras are housed in a marine optimized, stylish unit for the ultimate in night and day navigation, object detection, and surveillance.

However, the Night Navigator 3 led to Current Corporation deciding to enter into a major research project for the last 6 years to develop a camera system capable of seeing in adverse weather. This became the Night Navigator SOS ‘ Safety On Seas ‘. Company President, Douglas Houghton, explains, “We have invented the equivalent of marine radar with an optical camera system. This is a major breakthrough for the marine market worldwide for the increase of safety and reduced bridge stress while underway at night.” The Night Navigator SOS is capable of seeing through mist, rain, heavy rain, snow and smog. This is because the system is an Active Laser-Gated Image-Intensified Camera fused with a High-Resolution Thermal and High-Definition Day Camera. The system also has an automatic detection mode distance of up to 4km.

Objects on the water that affect navigation and ship safety include such things as: logs, crab pot floats, un-lit craft, un-lit buoys, containers that have fallen off ships and debris. The Night Navigator SOS fully integrates into a ships’ bridge with radar slaving and object tracking as well as having internal stabilization for various sea states.

“It’s very encouraging to have the Premier visit us and understand how our Night Navigator systems work,” Houghton says. “Current Corporation supports the creation of jobs by sourcing components from local businesses and hiring locally”.

Current Corporation continually invests in Night Navigator R&D for a diverse range of applications including anti-piracy, whale and whale spout detection, extreme weather search and rescue, and oil spill detection.

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Helping to protect and restore our seas

November 1, 2011 – Port Moody, BC, Canada: Current Corporation is pleased to announce, as part of its sustainability pledge, a donation to the International SeaKeepers Society. The donation was made in the form of an auction at the annual Bal de la Mer SeaKeepers event in Monaco, September 22, 2011. Current Corporation President Douglas F. Houghton, an International SeaKeepers Society Founding Member and Board Member, successfully bid on the ‘Robb Report: Car of the Year Judging’ package.


All proceeds from the auction go towards the protection and restoration of our seas.


Current Corporation’s purpose is ’To Save Lives and Property at Sea’. Current Corporation is the manufacturer of the Night Navigator series of day and night vision camera systems installed worldwide on superyachts, workboats, high-speed craft, Coast Guard ships, fast patrol vessels and research vessels. In addition, Night Navigators are deployed internationally for coastal surveillance. Incorporating High-Resolution Thermal Imaging, Gated Image-Intensified HD Night Vision, High-Definition Day Cameras and Laser-Gated Imaging, the Night Navigator series provides the best vision ever for all marine applications.


Current Corporation continually invests in Night Navigator R&D for a diverse range of applications including whale and whale spout detection, extreme weather search and rescue, and oil spill detection.

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Helps reduce seismic vessel downtime and ship strikes

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September 22, 2011 – Port Moody, BC, Canada: Current Corporation is pleased to announce the successful detection of whales and whale spouts at night by the Centre for Whale Research (WA) Inc. through the aid of the Night Navigator 3 camera system. The Night Navigator 3 incorporates a High-Resolution Thermal Imager, a High-definition Night Vision Camera and a High-Definition Day Camera. The Australian-based centre is a non-profit institute established to conduct scientific research into marine mammals such as whales, dolphins and porpoises. Studies conducted by its researchers in NW Australia since 1990 have yielded new information regarding the behaviours and migratory characteristics of humpback whales.

Curt Jenner, Managing Director of the Centre for Whale Research (WA) Inc., discusses how effective the Night Navigator 3 is for detecting whales and whale spouts aboard the RV WhaleSong research vessel.

“We’re trying to find whales giving birth at night up in the Kimberly region of Northwest and Australia. And using new technology like this gives us the edge in (documenting) this sort of thing”, says Jenner.

Another important finding of the research is the value to seismic vessels in the oil and gas industries which are required to temporarily shutdown when within two kilometers of a whale sighting. The ability of the Night Navigator 3 to detect whales and whale spouts within this regulatory distance (and beyond) can be highly beneficial towards reducing the expensive downtime of seismic vessels.

“A tool like this that could give you a pinpoint distance to the whale, and especially at night, is going to be very effective in terms of protecting whales from being disturbed by the seismic vessels and also allow the seismic vessels to operate in areas where jurisdiction might prohibit them otherwise”, says Jenner.

The Night Navigator 3 also aids in the reduction of ship strikes, a worldwide concern.

“When you have a tool like the Night Navigator, you’ve instantly got a safety barrier. It’s like driving along in the daylight. It’s surprising how effective a tool it is,” says Jenner.

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Find out more about the Night Navigator 3

Find out more about the Centre for Whale Research

Current Corporation’s purpose is ’To Save Lives and Property at Sea’. Current Corporation is the manufacturer of the Night Navigator series of day and night vision camera systems installed worldwide on superyachts, workboats, high-speed craft, Coast Guard ships, fast patrol vessels and research vessels. In addition, Night Navigators are deployed internationally for coastal surveillance. Incorporating High-Resolution Thermal Imaging, Gated Image-Intensified HD Night Vision, High-Definition Day Cameras and Laser-Gated Imaging, the Night Navigator series provides the best vision ever for all marine applications.

Current Corporation continually invests in Night Navigator R&D for a diverse range of applications including whale and whale spout detection, extreme weather search and rescue, and oil spill detection.

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For more information contact:
marketing@currentcorp.com

Demonstration to take place aboard the 86’ M/Y Aurora

Current Corporation is pleased to announce that their latest system, the Night Navigator SOS ‘Safety On Seas’ will be demonstrated aboard the 86’ M/Y Aurora in Vancouver, Canada from April to June, 2011. The Night Navigator SOS allows you to see in adverse weather conditions such as heavy rain, snow, smog and fog. Fusing an active, Laser-Gated Image-Intensified Night Vision Camera with a High-Resolution Thermal Imager produces unprecedented detail and clarity. In addition, the Night Navigator 1, Night Navigator 3 and Night Navigator 3000 will be demonstrated aboard the vessel. To inquire about your own personal demonstration in Vancouver, Canada contact: marketing@currentcorp.com

Current Corporation’s purpose is ’To Save Lives and Property at Sea’. Current Corporation is the manufacturer of the Night Navigator series of day and night vision camera systems installed worldwide on superyachts, workboats, high-speed craft, Coast Guard ships and fast patrol vessels. In addition, Night Navigators are deployed internationally for coastal surveillance. Incorporating High-Resolution Thermal Imaging, Gated Image-Intensified HD Night Vision, High-Definition Day Cameras and Laser-Gated Imaging, the Night Navigator series provides the best vision ever for all marine applications. Current Corporation continually invests in Night Navigator R&D for a diverse range of applications including whale and whale spout detection, extreme weather search and rescue, and oil spill detection.

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For more information contact:
marketing@currentcorp.com

Current Corporation provides camera systems to world’s ships, including South Korean Coast Guard

Excerpted from the Vancouver Sun newspaper – March 9, 2011

By Brian Morton

METRO VANCOUVER – A Port Moody company that provides sophisticated night-vision camera systems for boats and ships now has Somali pirates in its sights.

Current Corporation, which counts the South Korean Coast Guard among its clients, is set later this month to start introducing its latest system, called Night Navigator SOS (Safety On Seas).

The company plans to market it for several purposes, largely to large yachts and shipping companies navigating treacherous weather conditions and other hazards in the world’s oceans.

But another use for the system -developed over the past five years -is to protect ships in the deadly waters of the Indian Ocean, where Somali pirates are wreaking havoc on one of the world’s most important shipping lanes.

If successful, Current’s new system is timely with many shipping companies now avoiding the area or paying huge insurance premiums to enter the high-risk pirate-infested shipping zone.

“Early detection is the best implementation of any procedures that are in place,” Current president Douglas Houghton said in an interview about his company, whose motto is To Save Lives and Property at Sea.

“Usually, pirates board the ship before [the ship's crew] even know they’re there. Our system gives them the most response time by the earliest detection. Then, the ship can increase speed, radio for help, change course or implement on-board safety measures.”

Current’s new system will sell for about $440,000, with delivery beginning in 2013.

Already, Houghton said, Current has 10 orders, all for largeyacht owners in Europe, New Zealand and Singapore.

“The new system includes a high-definition camera, a highresolution thermal camera and a pulsing infrared amplification camera,” Houghton said, adding that it picks up what radar can’t.

“It emits an infrared beam that has the capability to penetrate weather, such as rain, mist, smog, snow and fog. It will detect the spout of a whale from two kilometres, day or night.

“The markets are anti-piracy, object detection, search and rescue and ice detection.”

Houghton said the new system can detect a 10-metre small boat -the type utilized by pirates -at 14 kilometres.

“The closer we get, the more detail there is.

“Our goal was to see a man’s head in the water at 1,000 metres. It’s easy to see him [with the Night Navigator SOS] at 1,300 metres.”

The company, which was established in 1986 as an electrical distribution company with two employees, now markets night-vision systems from $50,000 to $500,000.

Eighteen years ago, it started selling night-vision goggles and monoculars to police forces in Canada as well as the Canadian Coast Guard and Fisheries and Oceans.

“We still provide that service today for the Canadian market.”

Current, which now has more than 30 employees, provides imaging systems to ferry operators worldwide, luxury private yachts, offshore supply vessels, patrol boats and coastal surveillance programs.

But Houghton said his company has so far not sold systems to the world’s massive freighter and tanker fleet, something the Night Navigator SOS will hopefully change.

“We [already] consider ourselves at the highest level of commercially available night vision systems,” Houghton said.

“And this [the Night Navigator SOS] goes way beyond that.”

Houghton said that 95 per cent of their business is night navigator camera systems and that their strongest markets worldwide are in Europe, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. He said sales are projected to grow 50 per cent each year for the foreseeable future and that cameras are built at their Port Moody facility, with design, software, sales and marketing handled from the head office.

About 12 years ago, he said they started to build Night Navigator systems for the highspeed ferry market, adding that they were used on the BC Ferries PacifiCat vessels and are now used on over 100 ferries worldwide. He said that 12 years ago, few in the shipping business knew about Current’s products, but that today “we are lined up at our booths all day long.” at global trade shows.

Meanwhile, Capt. Steve Poole, who spent 37 years with BC Ferries including 20 as a ship captain and three years as marine superintendent for North Coast operations, had a chance to try out the Navigator SOS when it was being developed.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” he said in an interview.

“It’s technology that’s second to none from what I’ve ever seen.”

Poole said that in his years at sea, there were two people who went overboard and weren’t recovered.

“With the [old] system, you couldn’t see through rain or snow.

“If I had that technology [Navigator SOS] when I lost people over the side of the ship, I truly believe we would have recovered them.”

Current Corporation Article PDF

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

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Current Corporation is pleased to announce that the Night Navigator 3 now comes with High-Definition Gated Image-Intensified Night Vision.

Night Vision amplifies any available light in near-zero light conditions (0.000001 lux). Combining this with High-Definition allows for a much sharper image which improves object detection and identification at night. Night Vision is a military-grade technology that is now available to the commercial marine market as part of the Night Navigator 3 system.

The Night Navigator 3 Dual Field of View is a premium, three-camera system that provides the best commercially available images, night and day, to the marine market. The system includes a High-Definition Day Camera, High-Resolution Dual Field of View Thermal Imager, and now High-Definition on the Gated Image-Intensified Night Vision Camera. These three leading-edge cameras are housed in a marine optimized, stylish unit for the ultimate in night and day navigation, object detection, and surveillance. Mounted in a two-axis gyro-stabilized gimbal with 360° continuous azimuth rotation, the Night Navigator 3 Dual Field of View offers either 20°/6.8°, or 13.8°/4.6° optical field of view thermal imaging with an additional 12x continuous zoom.

The Night Navigator 3 Dual Field of View from Current Corporation: Best. Vision. Ever.

Current Corporation’s purpose is ’To Save Lives and Property at Sea’. Current Corporation is the manufacturer of the Night Navigator series of day and night vision camera systems installed worldwide on superyachts, workboats, high-speed craft, Coast Guard ships and fast patrol vessels. In addition, Night Navigators are deployed internationally for coastal surveillance. Incorporating High-Resolution Thermal Imaging, Gated Image-Intensified HD Night Vision, High-Definition Day Cameras and Laser-Gated Imaging, the Night Navigator series provides the best vision ever for all marine applications. Current Corporation continually invests in Night Navigator R&D for a diverse range of applications including whale and whale spout detection, extreme weather search and rescue, and oil spill detection.

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For more information contact:
marketing@currentcorp.com

Current Corporation is pleased to announce the successful results of testing involving the simulation and detection of whale spouts with the Night Navigator 3.

The purpose of the testing was to prove that ships can detect whale spouts at great distances, night and day, through high-resolution thermal imaging. This allows ships to avoid collisions with marine mammals.

Two separate camera systems were used during testing; a Night Navigator 3 with a thermal optical dual field of view of 20° and 6.8° (25 micron pitch), and a Night Navigator 3 with a thermal optical dual field of view of 13.8° and 4.6° (17 micron pitch). Both systems also feature image-intensified night vision and high-definition day cameras.

To simulate the spout of a whale, an air compressor was customized to eject from 0.5-2 liters of mammal temperature (98°F) and ocean temperature (60°F) seawater and freshwater. When initiated, the simulator blew the contents approximately 3-6 meters into the air. The simulator was placed on a 13 meter test barge which was then sent to varying distances of 100, 250, 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 meters. At each distance, night and day, the simulator made several blows. In each instance the spout could clearly be seen through the thermal imager.

The testing was overseen by Professor Joe Mobley, PhD, MA, Professor, of the University of Hawaii, a leading expert in whale research, who validated the results. “I’ve been presented with a lot of papers, proposals and products over the years and have never seen what was demonstrated to me in Vancouver by Current Corporation”.

The results were presented September 21-24, 2010 at a workshop in Monaco jointly presented by the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS). Current Corporation President Douglas Houghton explains, “We have been working with Professor Mobley for the past three years on the verification of whale spout detection capabilities by Night Navigator systems and are pleased with the results of the testing. Whale spout detection is essential to the conservation of marine life and the protection of vessels at night”.

Current Corporation’s purpose is ’To Save Lives and Property at Sea’. Current Corporation is the manufacturer of the Night Navigator series of day and night vision camera systems installed worldwide on superyachts, workboats, high-speed craft, Coast Guard ships and fast patrol vessels. In addition, Night Navigators are deployed internationally for coastal surveillance. Incorporating High-Resolution Thermal Imaging, Gated Image-Intensified HD Night Vision, High-Definition Day Cameras and Laser-Gated Imaging, the Night Navigator series provides the best vision ever for all marine applications. Current Corporation continually invests in Night Navigator R&D for a diverse range of applications including whale and whale spout detection, extreme weather search and rescue, and oil spill detection.

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For more information contact:
marketing@currentcorp.com

Current Corporation is pleased to announce that President Douglas Houghton has been elected to the Board of Directors at the International SeaKeepers Society.

The International SeaKeepers Society is an organization of leaders promoting synergy among citizens, governments, educational institutions and corporations to restore and protect the world’s oceans. A founding member of the society since 2006, Mr. Houghton has increased his involvement as part of Current Corporation’s commitment to environmental sustainability and stewardship.

Current Corporation’s purpose is ’To Save Lives and Property at Sea’. Current Corporation is the manufacturer of the Night Navigator series of day and night vision camera systems installed worldwide on superyachts, workboats, high-speed craft, Coast Guard ships and fast patrol vessels. In addition, Night Navigators are deployed internationally for coastal surveillance. Incorporating High-Resolution Thermal Imaging, Gated Image-Intensified HD Night Vision, High-Definition Day Cameras and Laser-Gated Imaging, the Night Navigator series provides the best vision ever for all marine applications. Current Corporation continually invests in Night Navigator R&D for a diverse range of applications including whale and whale spout detection, extreme weather search and rescue, and oil spill detection.

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For more information contact:
marketing@currentcorp.com

Current Corporation Forms Strategic Partnership with Diamon-Fusion International, Inc

Current Corporation is pleased to announce its strategic partnership with Diamon-Fusion International, Inc., the global developer and exclusive licensor of patented hydrophobic nanotechnologies. Current Corporation will be utilizing the award-winning, patented Diamon-Fusion® nanocoating on Night Navigator camera glass which protects the lens from harsh sea salt and environmental elements. In addition, the coating provides better visibility, reducing night glare as well as the corrosion and mineral buildup that can occur from ever-present saltwater.

Current Corporation’s purpose is ’To Save Lives and Property at Sea’. Current Corporation is the manufacturer of the Night Navigator series of day and night vision camera systems installed worldwide on superyachts, workboats, high-speed craft, Coast Guard ships and fast patrol vessels. In addition, Night Navigators are deployed internationally for coastal surveillance. Incorporating High-Resolution Thermal Imaging, Gated Image-Intensified HD Night Vision, High-Definition Day Cameras and Laser-Gated Imaging, the Night Navigator series provides the best vision ever for all marine applications. Current Corporation continually invests in Night Navigator R&D for a diverse range of applications including whale and whale spout detection, extreme weather search and rescue, and oil spill detection.

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For more information contact:
marketing@currentcorp.com