Goodchild Marine Services is building nine new pilot vessels for British ports with advanced engine monitoring systems in a £9M (US$12.5M) deal
It is building the ORC range of fast pilot boats at its facilities in Norfolk, England with engine telemetry for various ports around the UK, to a design by French naval architect Pantocarene.
Goodchild Marine Services turned to long-term technology partner AST Marine Sciences to supply iRAMS engine monitoring systems for these vessels.
“We are building nine more vessels incorporating AST’s iRAMS as our customers want the benefits of new technology,” said Goodchild Marine Services general manager Stephen Pierce.
“iRAMS is a ground-breaking vessel engine and asset management system. Integration with AST’s planned maintenance system means increased automation that drives down costs and reduces the environmental impact of running our vessels,” said Mr Pierce.
With iRAMS installed, engineering and operational teams can read engine data remotely, 24 hours a day. Near real-time performance metrics enable vessel operators shoreside to view engine parameters and receive email alerts when thresholds are exceeded. They can compare fleet vessels against each other enabling more efficient vessel maintenance and management.
Access to the engine data empowers customers to carry out preventative maintenance and spot issues early, said AST Marine Sciences managing director David Davies.
“Port authorities invest millions into pilot vessels and pilot service operations,” he said. “iRAMS enhances these services and reduces operational risk by harnessing accurate engine vessel data,” Mr Davies continued.
“With this data in hand, businesses can make intelligent decisions about how vessels are operated and maintained and ultimately, save time and money.”
Operational teams can set up geo-fences and be notified when a vessel enters or exits the port. Recent and historic reports can be downloaded easily and the information is available via an online iRAMS portal, enabling users to view and share engine data.
Operators can use the data to monitor engine data points including temperature, pressure, boost, CO2 levels and fuel consumption and schedule the automated creation and sharing of data reports by email.
Engine monitoring, propulsion technologies, safety and stability issues will be discussed during Riviera’s first ITS TUGTECHNOLOGY Webinar Week on 29-31 March - use this link for more details and to register for these webinars
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