Spanish ferry operator Baleària is collaborating with Dutch tech firm AmendTec to provide real-time position and AIS data visualisation for Baleària’s fleet and nearby ships
With this innovative collaboration, Baleària hopes to gain an edge in the safety management and decision-making segment.
Previously, Baleària used ship tracking and vessel intelligence software that visualised AIS data. However, the company said some issues affected safety management and business process reliability.
AmendTec’s AmendTrack software is a new satellite terminal designed for maritime applications. It uses AIS receivers along the coast and AIS satellites. When a ship is out of range of the coast and there is no satellite nearby, there is no information on the ship’s location or that of surrounding vessels.
The software is an internet of things gateway that can independently send data via the Iridium satellite network and uses an integrated 92-channel global navigation satellite system receiver to gather more accurate position data.
AmendTrack can also be connected to the existing onboard internet connection of a ship to determine a vessel’s location, speed and direction.
The platform is connected to the AIS receiver, which collects the same data from surrounding ships. This data is sent to the coast via VSAT or LTE antenna and made visible to Baleària.
Baleària operates a ‘control tower’ that visualises real-time data collected from AmendTrack’s and other vessel sensors, including vessel positions, fuel consumption, emissions, and calculated ETAs, which can then be used to take informed decisions and manage operations more safely and efficiently.
Ship tracking and vessel intelligence software often transmits data with a low frequency, making it difficult to draw reliable conclusions. To overcome this flaw, AmendTec said AmendTrack increases the frequency of data transmission, to provide Baleària with fleet updates every 10 seconds.
In the event a signal from the VSAT or LTE fails, AmendTrack switches to its satellite antenna and uses it as a backup.
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