OceanWise collaborate with Marico Marine

OceanWise has collaborated with Marico Marine on an auspicious project to install a brand-new VTS system at the Port of Dover. The new ‘state of the art’ system (see above picture) which is now commissioned and fully operational, has been designed to improve operations, support decision making and enhance efficiencies at the Port.

The project included the supply of new VTS Operator Workstations, a Port Management Information System (PMIS), various Radars, a VHF System, Radio Direction Finders (RDF), an Automatic Identification System, CCTV and - importantly for OceanWise - new metocean sensors and an environmental data sharing platform (Port-Log).

Steven Masters, Dover Harbour Master says:

“Over the years, the role of a VTS Officer has changed, it has evolved in response to ever increasing volumes of vessel traffic and ever improving developments in information technology and legislation. The new Port of Dover system blends together superbly.”

Bruce Mills, Associate Director of Marico Marine, who led the project commented “The Port of Dover VTS upgrade project was a prestigious contract requiring a complete replacement of all the VTS equipment at the busiest Ferry Port in Europe. Many aspects of the project were technically demanding, and the client required modern and state-of-the-art integrated market-leading solutions”.

Integration and optimisation: The new environmental monitoring system

OceanWise who specialises in marine environmental monitoring solutions, collaborated with Marico Marine to deliver a fully integrated system which met the unique data requirements at the Port of Dover.

The above image illustrates the various sensors that were installed across the port in a range of key onshore and offshore locations. The sensors included a Valeport tide gauge, a Gill Instruments weather sensor, a Vaisala visibility sensor and a DWR-G wave sensor supplied by RS Aqua. The complex data from the new sensors, and data from an existing Xylem current meter, was carefully integrated together by experts at OceanWise creating a modern, optimised system. The essential real-time data produced by the network of sensors is transmitted, digested and stored in Port-Log - the OceanWise data platform which manages and publishes environmental data.

Robert Proctor, Oceanographer at OceanWise comments: “We have successfully installed and integrated a range of existing and new sensors which will monitor the constantly changing environmental conditions at the Port. Historical and real-time data will be published via Port-Log which is designed to display the complex range of sensor data in an easy-to-use web page and publish the data more widely to be viewed and manipulated by multiple users including Maritime Pilots who can access this essential data on their PPUs”.

Bruce Mills, Associate Director of Marico Marine, who led the project also comments “The OceanWise system was chosen by Marico and the Port of Dover as it provided a powerful range of features/functions whilst at the same time being robust and reliable.”