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#Industry News

Fast rescue monitoring

A Canadian company has developed a safety and security system that allows a shore station to closely monitor the machinery and operation of fast rescue boats in any part of the World.

Based on a compact UpLink device a wide range of parameters can be monitored from the shore whilst the boat is operational, allowing the crew to concentrate on the immediate operations without having to be distracted by monitoring the onboard systems such as the engines and the electrical system.

Developed by MarineNav Ltd the complete system can also include specially developed navigation consoles that focus on the special requirements of fast boat operations in small RIB rescue boats. These fully watertight displays are controlled by a unique pointing device that can be installed at any position convenient to handholds so that the operator does not have to relinquish his grip when operating the system.

The Leviathan Mini IP computer on which the system is based, is a computer unit designed specifically to operate reliably in harsh environments. This is connected to monitor the engines and other onboard equipment as well as providing navigation information and this information can be displayed on board to the crew. The monitoring can include cameras and sonar equipment and all of this information can be transmitted to a shore station so that the base station can be aware of exactly what is happening on board and relay advice about the mission and any potential dangers or problems.

The monitoring information is transmitted ashore via the VM UpLink device that is a very compact unit that connects to the low orbit satellites of the Iridium mobile telephone system. From the satellite the information is down-loaded to MarineNav's secure server and this enables it to be viewed on any Internet enabled device on shore or on a mother ship. This means that the monitoring station can see exactly what the crew on board can see as well as being able to make the data available for historical analysis for training and monitoring purposes after the event.

Although designed for application in the rugged environment of fast rescue boats this MarineNav system can have a much wider application in the workboat sector. It could have application in survey operations where more than one vessel is involved and for unmanned vessels. There could be many military applications for this system where patrol boats are operating in remote locations or where the operations of a fleet of patrol boats have to co-ordinated. Search and rescue operations could also be co-ordinated more efficiently with the MarineNav and it could be a very useful tool for training operations.

Details

  • Canada
  • MarineNav Ltd