Case Study
Maritime surveillance installation in Acajutla, El Salvador
Discover the vessel traffic system installation deployed in El Salvador
The port of Acajutla, El Salvador was until recently only equipped with a maritime surveillance system that consisted of a single AIS transmitter/receiver. To optimize the surveillance of merchant vessels entering and leaving a narrow shipping channel, a new maritime surveillance was very much necessary, able to track maritime traffic through multiple VTS instruments, accessible to multiple marine facilities. Discover the cutting-edge vessel traffic system surveillance installation they set up.
An old vessel traffic system requiring an overhaul
The port of Acajutla was in need for an upgrade to improve the safety and efficiency of vessels passing through. The VTS configuration chosen was designed to have the port director, the IT department and other port officers all have remote access to the VTS system. Tell us about your project!
Radar DRS25A
The DRS25A marine radar from Furuno has a maximum antenna size of 6ft and a peak output power of 25kW. A large antenna provides more radar resolution, allowing for ARPA target acquisition. This radar can detect a medium sized vessel (10m2) up to 6 nautical miles away. With the VTS software, no programming is required and the radar can be connected straight to a PC running the vessel traffic system without needing a dedicated radar screen or processor.
Furuno AIS sensor FA-150
A compact transponder unit that contains a VHF transmitter, two TDMA receivers of parallel VHF channels and an internal GPS receiver among other features. This AIS sensor provides the MMSI, IMO number, call sign & vessel, length/beam of ship which allow the officers at Acajutla to identify ships entering and leaving and based on size and type to categorize the vessel. The AIS provides destination, ETA, COG, SOG, heading among other details to understand where the ship is going and it`s velocity. Finally, this AIS system allows for text messages to be sent freely from the remote access VTS. Anyone of the port authorities with access to one of the remote access VTS solutions can communicate with incoming vessels.
AXIS Camera
This camera offers 720p HDTZ and 30x optic zoom with autofocus. Inside the VTS software, rules can be set to automatically focus on a given vessel by selecting a vessel in the AIS list for example.
Other camera types such as the FLIR M-series can also be used to make use of thermal imaging which mitigates fog and other weather conditions that can render standard video surveillance ineffective.
TZ Coastal Monitoring - surveillance software
This maritime surveillance software makes possible to monitor all instrument data from one smart interface. It allows automatic targets acquisition and tracking (200 ARPA targets / 1000 AIS targets), sound and visual alarm management according to customizable rules, camera integration with manual and automatic tracking. Record up to one month of data (radar, target, video, audio) with unlimited archiving and display weather (real time and forecasts).
Directly from the control center, discover the potential of this software demonstrated by our expert within this video presentation.
Safe Vessel Traffic System installation
The installation made in the Philippines includes the following equipment:
- Pangutaran Island: 1 TZ CM 2 radar (X-band 2167 DS and S-band 2127)
- Tongkil Island: 1 TZ CM 1 radar (FAR 2127)
- Pandami Island: 1 TZ CM 1 radar (FAR 2127)
- Taganet: 1 TZ CM 2 radar (X-band 2167 DS and S-band 2127)
- Bongao Island: 1 TZ CM 2 radar (X-band 2167 DS and S-band 2127)
The only common success factor of all coastal surveillance systems is Expertise
The port now boasts a fully equipped coastal surveillance system with permanent access available to both management and information technology teams. In the control center, 3 screens were installed so that information from various devices could be displayed in tandem.
Every installation is different depending on the project, the area, the resources, objectives and limitations. A large range of innovative VTS equipment is considered before designing an efficient vessel traffic system.
Our experts are recommending customized solution for all kind of maritime surveillance projects. Get in touch with us for more information