COURSE June 2015 Magazine

on course
Issue 02|15
BETTER SITUATIONAL AWARENESS:
INS IMPROVES SAFETY AT SEA
SAFER NAVIGATION
Research Projects at Raytheon Anschütz
FIVE QUESTIONS
Captain Gerald Immens (Pilot Kiel Canal)
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InternatIonal | InnovatIons | solutIons | outlook | Products
contents
FIve QuestIons
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IntroductIon
dear readers – this is the next issue of on|course,
the customer magazine issued by raytheon
anschütz.
as always, on|course is encouraged by your
feedback and thoroughly edited. But we changed
something: you may recognize a new feature on
page 3 – “Five Questions”, this time answered by
captain Immens, pilot for the kiel canal. and the
whole issue follows a main theme: safety in navigation. how can Ins increase safety? and which
international research projects deal with future
technologies to increase safety and simplify processes aboard? answers can be found here! Finally
– we introduce an image gallery. open for your
submissions, but this time dedicated to our new
radar, which is ready for sale.
we are happy to read your feedback, now and in
future. In the meantime: enjoy reading!
Better sItuatIonal
awareness:
Ins IMProves saFety
at sea | 4-5
saFer navIgatIon
research Projects
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enhancements for standard 22 gyro compass | 2
new nx radar delivered | 2
raytheon anschütz expands u.s. operations | 7
jan lütt
director
Business area commercial
enhanceMents For standard 22
gyro coMPass
In line with its focus on increased safety in navigation, Raytheon
Anschütz has released a new revision of the Anschütz Standard
22 Gyro Compass System. The enhancements improve the integration capabilities of the world’s most popular gyro compass and
secure compliance with latest regulations
new nx radar delIvered!
In the past we informed our readers about the launch of our
NautoScan NX radar transceivers. The new transceivers feature
an LAN based distribution of the raw radar video and a new mechanical and electrical design, optimized for reliability and long
lifetime.
Now – after seven months of meticulous on-board, on-shore and
in-house testing have unveiled a rock-solid, reliable performance
– the type approval has been received and the serial production
of the new radars is starting. First deliveries were completed last
month. We have taken few pictures during production and installation – learn more about the radar on page 7.
The alarm functionality of the whole Standard 22 family has been
reworked, upgrading the sensor, the operator unit and the heading
distribution. With these enhancements, the Anschütz Standard 22
offers a clear indication of status information and contributes to
an optimized and intelligent presentation of alerts, not only in
conjunction with an Integrated Navigation System. Thus, the navigator gets access to a new level of alarm handling, reducing stress
in critical situations.
A new operator unit features a color TFT display for heading information and comprehensive alert presentation. The new operator unit is based on the well-known NautoSteer Advanced Steering
operator and alarm unit hardware, maintaining the same look and
feel. Additionally it provides serial interfaces for alert communication with a central alert management system.
During the whole development stage – from design through testing to serial production start – we’ve set our Anschütz gyro compass as the benchmark for performance and quality. We trust in
the high quality and in the strong performance of the new radar,
and we look forward very much to the official NautoScan NX sales
start – scheduled for July 1st, 2015.
Latest information and sales contacts are available on our website
www.raytheon-anschuetz.com. n
Raytheon Anschütz achieved type approval early this year, as one
of the first gyro compass makers. n
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InternatIonal | InnovatIons | solutIons | outlook | Products
FIve QuestIons
What is your greatest challenge or success so far?
My greatest achievement so far is that in my 22 years in this profession I have never had a collision. A pilot must be able to react
at lightning speed in storm and wind. I have been able to do this
many times. As a pilot one has to communicate and cooperate
with the ship, the technology and the other people on board.
At regular intervals ON|COURSE introduces people in our branch
who have to do with navigation, the sea or shipping, on board and
on land. This time:
What do you see as the challenges in commanding a ship?
The challenge is in the ships. These have different loads, technologies and reactions. Most ships nowadays are only run on the basis
of data and therefore one has to trust that the systems are functioning correctly. Regular testing and maintenance of the technology
is the most important aspect of this.
But it is just as important that a precise transfer of complete systems takes place between the manufacturer and the ships command and that appropriate training for the equipment takes place.
Standard procedures are often not possible because one has to react and act from one second to the next. Therefore we pilots need
a great deal of experience and a “feeling” for the ship and the prevailing conditions in spite of the increasingly modern technology.
What do you expect from future navigation systems?
I expect navigation equipment with the highest performance! Reliability and precision are the most important for today’s technology, because as pilots we work, for example, with radars in an
extremely small area and need the highest resolution. Decisive for
us pilots, however, is also the intuitive operator guidance.
Captain Gerald Immens, 57 years old, sea pilot / freelance consultant working for the government
What was your occupational history so far?
After graduating from secondary school in 1979, I successfully
completed vocational training with Esso/ Shell and traveled with
tankers from the Persian Gulf to Rotterdam or the USA.
We have to be able to operate the many different systems quickly
and safely and cannot first read the manual or ask the captain
for help with adjustments. Complex and confusing keyboards or
screen controls are counterproductive for the fast actions often
necessary for us!! n
From 1981-1984 I studied in Bremen and then received the Kapitänspatent AG (“Master License Unlimited”). Since I needed a
little change from the warm weather, I worked first as an officer
and later as captain on a chemical tanker which had icebreaker
capabilities and traveled a lot in northern Finland. Since 1992 I
have worked as a pilot in Kiel and in the Kiel Canal.
What fascinates you about your current job?
I travel with an average of 500-600 ships per year and therefore
have been able to get to know many people from very different
countries and cultures. No pilot run is like any other, because each
ship is unique, has different technology on board and above all has
completely different hydrodynamic behavior. As a pilot I am exempt from today’s all-encompassing paperwork and can concentrate on the thing that made each of us want to become a captain:
Maneuvering ships of all sizes in the narrowest of spaces!
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InternatIonal | InnovatIons | solutIons | outlook | Products
a Better sItuatIonal awareness:
Ins IMProves saFety at sea
In recent years there has been a strong innovation surge in ship
navigation. New technologies simplify operation and can therefore help to avoid accidents.
on the bridge are therefore the first priority of eNavigation. Another important goal of eNavigation is to improve ship-shore data
communication, so that ships can be better supported and monitored by shore based services5).
We all remember the media reports about the Cruise Liner “Costa
Concordia”, the Passenger Ferries “Sewol” and “Norman Atlantic”
three years ago. In 2014, again seven passenger ships were lost at
sea, as marine insurers reported recently1). Why do so many accidents still happen? How can navigation systems help to improve
the situation?
New IMO Standard for Navigation Systems
A first step toward harmonization and ergonomics was the new
performance standard for Integrated Navigation Systems (INS)
MSC.252(83). This Standard defined requirements for uniform
multifunction displays, required central sensor management and
improved alarm signaling. In 2014 this was followed by a new performance standard for the presentation of information in displays.
At the end of 2015 a new standard for digital interface security is
to be expected.
Reports from marine insurers and accident investigators show that
most of the accidents do not occur on the high seas, but close to
the coast and on canals and rivers, where the water is shallow and
the traffic is dense. According to information from the marine
insurers, half of the damages are caused by navigation errors; the
other half are mechanical failures and damage through fire and
explosion. The accidents caused by navigation very often involve
grounding and collisions, while storm damage is considerably less
common2).
The ground work for the new INS performance standards came
largely from Germany, where, in the framework of the research
project “DGON-Bridge”, developers, authorities, classification
societies and manufacturers had worked together to set up new
principles for uniform displays, sensor monitoring and alarm integration.
In 70-85% of the accidents, according to IMO3), the cause is not
technical failure but “Human Error”. False assessment of the situation leads to wrong decisions. Nautical organizations attribute
responsibility to several factors: While ships became larger and
larger, the global level of qualification of watchkeepers dropped,
many have less professional experience. Bridge procedures and
“best practices” are often not followed properly and in addition,
short harbor periods and tight schedules lead to overfatigue. And
finally: Many older ship bridges are not designed and equipped
according to newest standards, which is legal, but far from perfect.
Poor arrangement of bridge equipment can lead to errors4).
In 2012 Raytheon Anschütz, as worldwide first manufacturer,
launched a bridge system according to the new standard: the new
bridge no longer consists of casually combined individual units.
Instead there are five or more identical multifunction displays
(MFD) which contain all the important display elements and operating functions.
In order to improve navigational safety, IMO has again and again
worked out new equipment regulations and he world fleet had to
fit many new kinds of equipment: VDR, AIS, SAAS, LRIT, ECDIS,
BNWAS and more. But all of these new pieces of equipment were
so-called “stand-alone” units, each with its own display style and
its own operator button philosophy. For example: the transponder
system AIS, introduced in 2002, with its rudimentary “Minimum
Keyboard Display”, was hardly of any assistance to a bridge watchkeeper.
Confusing bridges with many individual pieces of equipment are
to be found not only on old ships but even on many newbuilds.
Many shipowners leave it up to the shipyard to decide about the
navigation equipment and have no special wishes of their own
regarding functions and ergonomics. Shipyards then buy the cheapest individual components, just sufficient to fulfil minimum
requirements.
How can an integrated navigation system help to prevent accidents? The fundamental improvement is that it improves situation
awareness. Accidents occur when watch officers are not aware of
actual risks. This can result to wrong decisions which finally lead
to the accidents. The new displays are not necessarily presenting
more information, but better information. Easier to understand
at a glance.
Anti-Collision, Anti-Grounding
The multifunction display monitors not only visualize the dangers
of collision and grounding but it also monitors its own system
performance, especially the availability and quality of the sensor
data. For example, if a GPS receiver is faulty, the system automatically switches to a better sensor.
IMO recognized this problem already in 2006 and therefore started the initiative “eNavigation” with the goal that “Technological advances must be developed in a coordinated and structured
manner”. Harmonization and integration of navigation systems
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The most common cause of accidents is grounding. The risk can
be substantially reduced by using the function “Track Control“.
With this the ship is automatically steered along a planned route.
From the point of departure to the destination, with fully automatic changes of course at each waypoint and with an accuracy of 20
meters! If a watch officer wants to leave the planned route intentionally, this can be done at any time, but it no longer can occur
unintentionally. The “Costa Concordia” had this feature, but the
captain apparently did not use it.
The second most common cause of accidents is collision. The risk
can be considerably reduced if proper information about the ship
traffic is available. The new fusion of radar data and AIS transponder data have greatly improved this. Users can not only assess risk
of collision but also have intuitive decision support about collision avoidance maneuvers with regard to water depths and traffic
zones. Raytheon Anschütz’ unique collision assessment function
SeaScout is another valuable tool for graphical visualization of
collision risks. The latest feature: All radar and AIS data are centrally managed and monitored, so that identical assessment of the
traffic situation is available on all displays. For every ship, the ship
name is displayed next to the target symbol and it is possible to
exchange text messages with other ships directly from the multifunction display.
Can an old ship utilize the new technology at all? Yes of course it
can. Whenever an old radar or an old ECDIS needs replacement,
it should be replaced by a multifunction display, because it just offers more and better functions: radar, chart radar, ECDIS, conning
display, central sensor management, better alarms and most of all:
Safer and easier operation. As the new INS standard becomes applied to a larger number of ships, the new technology will surely
contribute greatly to reduce “human error” and ship accidents.
Implementation and Future
Is the new INS technology already being used? Will the number of
accidents consequently decline? Surely, but it will take more time.
Until now, the modern navigation systems are only installed on
modern newbuilds, but seldom on old ships. The world commercial fleet consists of 65,000, their average age is around 20 years.
Old ships are basically allowed to continue traveling with their
first equipment as long as it works.
Andreas Lentfer
Sources:
1) Allianz, Safety and Shipping Review 2015 2) International Union of Marine Insurers,
Hull Fact Sheet 2014 3) IMO-Subcommitee STW 39/7/3 4) Nautical Institute, The
Navigator Feb 2014: “ECDIS Errors caused Bulk Carrier Grounding”
5) IMO MSC 85/26 annex 20, paragraph 4 n
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saFe navIgatIon – research Projects at raytheon anschütz
In combination with coherent signal processing, targets can thus
be detected better even under unfavorable conditions. Through
the use of different polarizations, the performance of the radar in
adverse weather can be improved.
Improved sensing and evaluation of the environment can deliver
information, for example, about oil slicks on the water, drifting ice
and even objects just below the surface (e.g. reefs) and thus contribute to avoidance of damage to ship and environment.
The unification of these functions in a single system can also be
a relief for the bridge personnel in especially critical situations.
Besides the improved capacity, the multiple-channel architecture
minimizes single points of fail-ure and can thus improve safety
even more.
(Project partner: TU Hamburg-Harburg)
Integrated Navigation Systems can already be seen as a step forward towards reduced accident risk for ships – see pages 4 and
5. As a leading manufacturer of navigation systems, Raytheon
Anschütz, together with other leading maritime companies, is
looking ahead and participating in various research projects to
further improve navigation technologies and safety at sea. This is
a selection of current research projects:
CASCADe
– Cooperative and Adaptive Ship-based Context Aware Design
CASCADe focusses on the navigator, as user of the bridge system.
On the basis of various safety-related scenarios, an ergonomic, adaptive bridge is to be designed to meet the needs of the user. In
experiments with seafarers the requirements are determined particularly with regard to bridge ergonomics and -software.
COSINUS – Cooperative Shipping and Navigation at Sea
All over the world, ship traffic is steadily increasing; this is especially true for the already heavily traveled regions such as the German Bight. In addition, the existing sea lanes and alternative routes are increasingly limited by the construction of offshore wind
parks. COSINUS addresses the resulting higher safety risk.
On the physical level, this first involves an ergonomic optimization of the frame on which the bridge hardware is set up. Second,
the software is adapted to provide a clear visualization of all data
relevant for the ship’s crew; this can be adapted to the current situation. Third, a tablet is developed on which information from the
bridge system can be displayed, thus improving the flow of information between the bridge crew and the captain when the captain
is not present on the bridge. The virtual level is also addressed and
the interaction of man-man and man-machine is simulated.
For use in ever more congested and complex traffic situations, new
possibilities for coordination between ships and the Vessel Tracking Service (VTS) on land need to be found above and beyond
voice radio. In this project, first new means of communication are
evaluated, for example for data exchange between the ships involved and VTS stations on up to cooperative route planning and
visualization via multifunction displays including prediction.
The project will conclude with a further study with seafarers in
which a newly designed „CASCADe-bridge“ will be evaluated.
(Various partners, more information: www.cascadeproject.eu/)
The goal is to create a shared picture of the situation on board and
on land and in this way to support safe traffic guidance. At the end
of the project in autumn 2015, the entire system will be tested in
the German Bight under real conditions with end users.
(Project partners: OFFIS, Signalis, Hochschule Wismar)
If you would like to receive more information or comment on the
projects, please send us an e-mail: oncourse@raykiel.com n
MaReSX
– Marine Radar with Digital Beamforming for S- and X-Band
The goal of MaReSX is the exploration and development of an
electronic beam-steering radar which can work simultaneously in
both X- and S-band. Together with the use of two orthogonal polarizations (horizontal and vertical) a significant increase in performance compared to conventional radars is anticipated.
Through the simultaneous use of X- and S-band in one system,
the high resolution and fidelity to detail of the X-band is combined with the better bad weather- and clutter characteristics of
the S-band. Additional information about the target can be derived from the frequency dependence of the radar cross section.
copyright by symbio-design
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InternatIonal | InnovatIons | solutIons | outlook | Products
radar gallery
Raytheon Anschütz has utilized decades of experience in navigation and radar technology to develop new, state-of-the art radar transceivers. With the new NX Radar we deliver technology made and supported by Anschütz – and first installations have already been completed!
The following pictures represent an intimate view on our new radar, from sophisticated assembling through testing to installation aboard
a container ship.
Assembly of the innovative electronic tray.
The new hardware infrastructure reduces
cabling – it needs less than a handful of
cables; on the table the number of cables
which have been necessary before.
New NautoScan NX pedestals,
ready for assembly.
Testing of the rotary joint and fitting of a new S-Band
pedestal.
One of the first NX Radar installations.
Preparation of the NX Radar for live tests at our facilities in
Kiel.
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InternatIonal | InnovatIons | solutIons | outlook | Products
raytheon anschütz exPands
u.s. oPeratIons
Three years after Raytheon Anschütz returned to the U.S. navigation systems market with the establishment of a regional sales office,
we are now taking the next step on our way to a more dedicated
local support for U.S based customers: Raytheon Anschuetz USA
LLC has been launched!
With the new subsidiary we strive to further improve quality and
flexibility in customer support and to lay the groundwork for a
new service and spare part supply infrastructure. Frank Christophersen has been named President of Raytheon Anschuetz USA
LLC.
Customers are provided with technical advice and pre-sale consultancy regarding International Maritime Organization (IMO)
recommendations, class requirements and operational needs, as
well as an array of lifecycle support services. Raytheon Anschutz’
service network spans U.S. coastlines with a large spare parts and
service coordination center as well as more than 50 service points.
Raytheon Anschuetz USA LLC remains located within the Raytheon Seapower Capability Systems facility in San Diego, California.
uPcoMIng trade shows
In 2015 Raytheon Anschütz – in many cases together with
our worldwide sales partners – plans to exhibit at various
trade shows around the world. We look forward to meeting
you there!
Nor-Shipping Oslo
Donsoe Shipping Meet
Monaco Yacht Show
Kormarine Busan
Fort Lauderdale Boat Show
Marintec Shanghai
New Orleans Work Boat Show
June 02-05
September 01-02
September 23-26
October 20-23
November 05-09
December 01-04
December 02-04 n
aBout raytheon anschütz gMBh
Contact information:
www.raytheon-anschuetz.com/usa n
Raytheon Anschütz is a leading supplier of navigation systems
and integrated bridge systems for all kinds of vessels. The systems are served by a global network of own subsidiaries in
Shanghai, Singapore, Rio de Janeiro, Panama, Portsmouth / UK
and San Diego, and a world-spanning network of highly qualified service stations.
custoMer Box
This issue has focused on safety, and how navigation
technology can help navigators making right decisions.
IMPrInt
Do you have any comments on our articles or suggestions for future articles? Would you like to answer our
“Five Questions”? Or do you have a story or pictures
to share with us about our products in use at sea which
would be in accordance with the idea of this magazine?
Please send us an e-mail: oncourse@raykiel.com
“On Course” is distributed at irregular intervalls by
Raytheon Anschütz GmbH; Marketing Communications
Zeyestraße 16-24; D-24106 Kiel, Germany;
Phone: +49 (0)431 3019-0; E-Mail: oncourse@raykiel.com;
Internet: http://www.raytheon-anschuetz.com
In order to stay updated on product news and important
service information, please visit our website:
www.raytheon-anschuetz.com
Misprints and errors excepted. All Information
subject to correction. All rights reserved.
Pictures © panmaule-fotolia.com, Frank Ludwig,
Cozyta-fotolia.com, Wylezich-fotolia.com, symbio-design.
© 2015 Raytheon Anschütz GmbH
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