The APB installs an innovative mooring monitoring system at Botafoch Marina to prevent collisions with docks and to prolong life span
Eivissa
07/02/2017
The APB has installed a new mooring monitoring system at the Botafoch docks at the Port of Ibiza, primarily intended to control the speed at which the vessels are docked. This application aims to extend the life span of docks and in turn save on the cost of works for subsequent repair.
The increased size of cruise ships in recent years, in addition to the fact that the Botafoch docks were initially designed to facilitate service to vessels shorter in length, has driven the APB to back this system, in turn dodging the difficulty and high cost that would be involved in building or adapting new docks to meet these needs.
The technological application is based on the installation of laser scanning sensors at each one of the docks connected via fibre optics. The devices receive information from a weather station and two wave and tide sensors installed in the same port area. All data are transmitted and processed to be used by the shipmasters.
This entire process can be monitored through a smartphone screen that displays the manoeuvre in real-time. The system provides accurate data including the distance between the vessel and the dock, the approach speed, the vessel's angle of inclination, etc. It also discloses metocean data before and during docking, allowing the captain to anticipate the manoeuvre before arriving at the dock.
Among other features the application offers reports from each session, which are sent to the APB, the pilots and shipmasters so that manoeuvres can be managed at all times.
The APB currently advises shipping companies to use this system, but it is expected to become an obligatory requirement once the APB's Board of Directors stipulates a speed limit for mooring at these docks.
