Australia improve maritime security and surveillance

Australia has invested in new coastal surveillance and vessel traffic service (VTS) radar in ports to improve security and control of shipping. The nation’s port authorities and energy companies have invested in surveillance radar, supplied by UK-based Kelvin Hughes, in the ports of Melbourne and Hedland and Barrow Island.

For the Port of Melbourne in Victoria state, Kelvin Hughes supplied SharpEye SBS-900 series coastal radar for the VTS. This included two dual redundant X-band transceivers, Doppler processing and enhanced pulse compression. 

Kelvin Hughes said the frequency diversity enables additional target detection and smaller target detection for monitoring many types of vessels using one of Australia’s busiest ports.

In Port Hedland, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, a SharpEye SBS-900 X-band radar has been ordered as part of a complete VTS system. This will be installed in Q3 2018 to improve vessel management and supplement existing S-band radar.

Chevron, which operates oil and gas export facilities on Barrow Island, 30 miles northwest of Pilbara, is installing SharpEye SBS-800 series of radar. This is a solid-state radar that does not have a magnetron and does not need regular maintenance routines. 

Kelvin Hughes said the Doppler processing and enhanced pulse compression reduces clutter and improves target identification and tracking. The radar is expected to be in service from December 2017.