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54 st / November 2016 www.sea-technology.com More Vigilance Needed For ECDIS Safety Risks The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) has called for ship- owners, operators and managers to exercise greater vigilance in order to tackle the rise in ECDIS-related deten- tions and the risks to safety at sea. With a growing majority of the global fleet having completed the switch to digital navigation, evidence is emerging that the number of ECDIS- related issues during inspections and audits is on the rise. Earlier this year, the Australian Maritime Safety Author- ity (AMSA) reported a significant in- crease in the number of ships detained because of ECDIS deficiencies. The consequences of ECDIS de- ficiencies during inspections were highlighted in the recent case of a ship detained in Brisbane by AMSA due to lack of onboard familiarization training in the use of ECDIS. This re- quired an ECDIS trainer to be flown in from Singapore to train the crew. The vessel, which had passed through the Great Barrier Reef on its journey, was released from detention upon comple- tion of this training. "ECDIS can deliver tremendous benefits for safe, compliant and effi- cient navigation," said Thomas Mellor of UKHO. "However, once installed, shipowners, operators and managers must fulfill their responsibilities for its ongoing use, including compliance with all relevant regulations. This in- cludes updating their bridge proce- dures, upgrading their ECDIS software to the latest IHO ENC standards and, above all, ensuring that bridge teams are trained and certified in the op- eration of ECDIS and in line with the requirements of Port State Control in- spections and audits." Cougar Helps Cut Grouting Hoses at Gode Wind Farms Cutting off 194 grouting hoses from 97 structures in 24 days, DCN Diving deployed a compact version of a Saab Seaeye Cougar XT, measuring 1.3 by 0.78 m. The success of the project came from incorporating a tooling package created by DCN Diving into their Cougar XT Compact, a robotic system designed for handling strong currents around wind farms with its six-thruster power and low-profile structure. DCN's solution for removing the grouting hoses following installa- tion of transition pieces on top of the monopiles at the Gode Wind 1 and 2 wind farms came from combining a Seaeye hydraulic power pack with a miniBOOSTER and a TNT Rescue "Jaws of Life" hydraulic rescue cutter. The task for the Cougar also includ- ed offloading 58 tons of the grouting hose into containers. TRIAXYS Successfully Completes Sea Trials AXYS Technologies (AXYS) has an- nounced that their next-generation TRIAXYS g3 wave sensor has suc- cessfully completed a series of rigor- ous sea trials conducted in the Ger- man Bight and off the west coast of Canada using the TRIAXYS wave buoy and other industry-standard buoys as references. The TRIAXYS g3 is a next-genera- tion solid state wave sensor that offers frequency partitioning, continuous wave analysis and processing output and refactored messages. AXYS has already begun more sea trials with partners across a variety of sea states to establish more objective standards for wave measurements that can be relied on by users to support a high degree of measurement accu- racy. First-Ever Autonomous Marine Transport System Wärtsilä, together with other lead- ing marine sector and information and communication technology compa- nies, is supporting a project aimed at creating the world's first autonomous marine transport system. The initial focus will be on devel- oping a fully autonomous system for the Baltic Sea by the year 2025, with cargo ships and freight transportation being the first pilot applications. The program is being financed largely by Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for innovation, and the eco- system platform is being handled by DIMECC. The main corporate inves- tors in the program apart from Wärt- silä are Rolls-Royce, Cargotec, Erics- son, Meyer Turku and Tieto. Norway Approves PBES Energy Storage System Plan B Energy Storage's (PBES) ma- rine energy storage system was ap- proved for use in electric and hybrid vessels by the Norwegian Maritime Au- thority. PBES, a lithium-ion battery man- ufacturer, uses the proprietary CellCool cooling and E-Vent ventilation systems. The PBES energy storage system was tested at PBES's Trondheim facil- ity. The test attempted to force over- charge the batteries into a thermal run- away situation that was prevented by the PBES safety systems. The batteries passed all tests with no uncontrolled thermal event, fire or explosion. Furuno Doppler Radar Wins NMEA Tech Award The marine electronics industry honored several manufacturers with product awards at the annual National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) International Marine Electronics Confer- ence and Expo held in Naples, Florida. Furuno's DRS4D-NXT Doppler solid-state radar took top honors in the 2016 NMEA Technology Award compe- tition from among 10 nominated prod- ucts. NMEA members selected the Prod- uct of Excellence Award winners through an online voting process. There were 16 product categories this year, including three new ones: Com- mercial, Safety and Security, and Mul- timedia Entertainment. The category of Manufacturer of the Year-Support went to Garmin for the second con- secutive year. Greensea Software For VideoRay ROV Greensea, creator of the OPENSEA marine industry operating platform, has been selected by VideoRay as the software provider for the new Mis- sion Specialist ROV. Greensea, which provides navigation, advanced auto- pilots and automation for VideoRay's powerful new customizable vehicle, recently completed final testing of the product in Burlington, Vermont. The Mission Specialist's modular design accommodates a wide selec- tion of interchangeable ROV com- ponents. Initial configurations of the vehicle are available for cavitation, tunnel inspection and destruction of explosive ordnance. ST marine electronics