Well Equipped

Electronics manufacturers are producing new workboat-friendly products.

As marine electronics have evolved, commercial workboats are operating more efficiently and safely. And the technology keeps improving. Some recent examples include the ability to open and close a seacock from the wheelhouse, a radar image fashioned specifically for inland towboats, and a speed log that measures a boat’s movement through the water within 0.02 knot. FURUNO GS-100 You couldn’t have come close to 0.02 knot accuracy in the pre-electronic days of tossing off the stern a log tied to a rope with knots every so often and then counting the number of knots that went out in a given time. About the only thing that has in common with Furuno’s GS-100 satellite speed log and its 0.02-knot speed accuracy measurement is the word “log,” a term that has always indicated an instrument for measuring a boat’s speed. The GS-100 was initially designed for vessels over 50,000 gross registered tons — tankers, container ships, bulkers, etc. It’s doesn’t always happen that equipment built specifically for bluewater has a place on smaller workboats. Yet now and then what’s designed for the merchant fleet makes the transition. Introduced in May, the GS-100 came out in response to an IMO regulation requiring new vessels over 50,000 grt to carry redundant speed and distance measuring equipment. It is fully compliant with that regulation, but as Furuno’s Jeff Kauzlaric will tell you, “it will also work great on OSVs, pilot boats and ocean tugs.” The speed log’s three primary benefits are its precise measurement of movement through the water, a backup heading device or compass and a motion compensator. The GS-100, which is based on GPS heading sensor technology, measures a boat’s longitudinal (fore-and-aft) speed as well as the transverse (athwartship) speed at the bow and stern. The stern speed measurement is even more accurate, within inches per second. “Look at the display and it shows an image of the ship,” said Furuno’s Bill Haynes. “If you are being pushed to starboard it would have an arrow pointing to the right” and the speed would be indicated. “OSVs and PSVs can really use that to back off or give thrusters a little more power. You can look at the display and see how the thrusters are moving the boat.” Most speed logs have a problem displaying a vessel’s speed when its thrusters kick in. That produces bubbles and agitation in the water that can block out a transducer’s signal. However, it’s not an issue with Furuno’s satellite-based speed log. It provides an instantaneous, real time reading, Haynes said. The GS-100’s GPS heading sensor also gives you a backup if the gyrocompass stops working. Without a backup, there are a lot of things you suddenly can’t do. “You lose the ability to render charts with radar, propagate heading out to other ships by AIS, and lose the ability to render AIS on your radar,” said Haynes. The GS-100, being a GPS-based heading sensor, removes that worry. In addition to speed and heading data, the GS-100 calculates a boat’s pitch, roll, heave and the rate of return. That information can then be sent to other sensors on the boat, such as sonars and sounders. Thus, for a survey boat that’s mapping the bottom as it moves across an unsettled sea, the echo sounder “will typically show big waves,” said Haynes. “But the GS-100 sends heave information into the sounder and it flattens it out. You get a more flat, accurate picture.” The GS-100 is priced at $8,295. KODEN RADAR Koden hasadded a new feature to its MDC-2500 radar series that makes it ideal for the inland waterways. “Last year, Koden came up with new river software that’s specifically designed for river tug operations,” said the company’s Allen Schneider. It’s the ability to put the display into a portrait format. Instead of a horizontal view, it’s a “vertical format. It maximizes the view along the river, giving a north and south, fore-and-aft view. A wide screen doesn’t do that,” he said. Two additional benefits of having one of Koden’s 2500 series radars in the wheelhouse are the true trail function and the automatic tracking aid. By drawing tails on the vessels shown on the radar screen, you get a very good idea of the movement of those vessels. In contrast, buoys and land remain stationary, so you always know if you are looking at a boat or a navigation aid. The true trail function shows where a boat is coming from. If you want projected courses for boats in your vicinity, they are displayed with the automatic tracking function. The screen shows each vessel with a directional vector arrow showing which way the target is moving, as well as the closest point of approach and the time for closest point of approach in a digital format. An option is to connect the radar to an AIS receiver to display up to 200 targets. That gives you the vessel’s name, heading and speed. Depending on the radar model that’s chosen, power output ranges from 4 kW to 25 kW and the open array antennas go from 3' to 9'. The standard display is a 15" unit, though Schneider said the black-box options are often selected because they allow a larger display to be used. The black box radar connects to any XGA or UXGA display. The MDC-2500 radar series start at $10,299. GROCO E-VALVE No one wants to go mucking around in the bilge to see if a seacock is fully open, especially if it’s behind machinery or a tank and especially if the operation can be controlled from the engine room or the wheelhouse. The Groco E-Valve, which attaches to a Grocostandard bronze seacock, lets you remotely operate a seacock. A 20' cable with a switch goes from the E-Valve to wherever you want to put the switch. Flip the switch to open or close the seacock. The seacock can be operated manually. A cam in the E-Valve actuates the seacock’s handle, opening or closing the valve. “Then it immediately backs off so there is nothing in the way of the handle,” said Groco’s Paul Cummings. “You can always manually operate it.” Later this year, seacocks with the E-Valve will go completely electronic when Groco offers an LCD screen with a diagram of the boat and the status of all the seacocks with E-Valves. They will be operated individually from a control panel, or with features such as “exercise all.” Before starting a trip, “hit the ‘exercise all’ button and every valve will move and go back to where it was,” said Cummins. You will also be able to program a seacock, say, for the generator to open and close when it starts and stops. If you’re in a harbor that doesn’t allow overboard discharges, just lock the valve. If someone inadvertently kicks a valve halfway shut while crawling around the bilges, the wheelhouse display will start flashing to let you know there’s a problem. Remote controls for seacocks have been available for a number of years, but they’ve mostly been used on mega yachts, said Kevin McConnell with Hamilton Marine in Searsport, Maine, a distributor of Groco marine products. “Those have come out of the oil and gas industry, so you are talking thousands of dollars per unit. This is the first one that’s affordable.” The Groco E-Valve is only available with new seacocks. The cost for the 3/4" to 3" E-Valve range from $1,000 to $1,600. A 5" size will be available later this year.