US company PaR Systems Inc of Shoreview, Minnesota has taken over Marine Technology Systems Ltd, a specialist coating company based in Cheshire, England.

PaR Systems provides a range of engineering systems for naval use. The company has acquired MST because it has successfully developed COMFIRE®, a fireproof composite now being used for fireproof doors for installation in the Royal Navy’s new Queen Class aircraft carriers. PaR Systems has identified further market places for this technology which will also add to the value of its existing portfolio of naval and marine products.
 
Using local development grants, MST developed COMFIRE to provide a fireproof composite to contain fire in enclosed areas..  With a temperature of 1,200 degrees Centigrade on one side of a door,
COMFIRE provides a level of insulation which enables the other side to be handled by bare hands and so prevent fire spreading from compartment to compartment. A COMFIRE equipped door passed
 the US Navy's most stringent fire test (N 30) and is the only door to have done so. The material can be also be moulded into furniture and fittings so adding to the prevention of fire damage.
 
COMFIRE is a state of the art composite based on recycled lightweight minerals that are not only stable in fire but offer non combustibility with no smoke or toxicity and offering excellent thermal and sound insulation properties.
 
Commenting on PaR System’s acquisition of MST, Tony White, Managing Director of PaR Europe, said, “MST has successfully had COMFIRE tested and it meets the requirements of the Royal Navy and US Navy. It has a substantial contract to provide fireproof doors for the Royal Navy’s new carriers and we, at PaR, see COMFIRE being used in other Royal Navy ships. Our acquisition of MST provides us with the catalyst for developing business in Europe, especially for the naval and marine market places.”