AssetMonitor
AIS-based submarine asset protection serviceEven when lying deep below the sea, submarine cables, pipes and other infrastructures are at constant risk of damage caused by shipping and fishing activities. Repairs to damaged assets are very expensive, and availability of suitable repair vessels is difficult to guarantee.
The AssetMonitor service helps to significantly reduce the costs associated with traditional protection methods while giving the reassurance that offshore and undersea assets are being monitored efficiently, providing automatic warnings if an asset is at risk.
AssetMonitor service
AssetMonitor screenshot
AssetMonitor® is a web-based service that uses live vessel positions from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) to help protect offshore and submarine assets such as electricity cables, telecoms cables, and oil and gas pipelines and platforms.
The service relies on the combination of the geographic position of the cable and live vessel positions derived from AIS data sources.The asset owner or operator defines protection zones around the asset such that any vessel exhibiting potentially dangerous activity can be detected and alerts raised.To detect this behaviour, AssetMonitor tests rules in the protection zones against AIS signals from vessels in the area that tell the system how the vessel is behaving in terms of speed, direction, change of course and navigational status etc.
Instant access to AssetMonitor is provided to the user as soon as the system is set-up. The service is delivered online and is very simple to use with an intuitive Google Maps interface. It requires no more than a standard web-browser.
Key Benefits
Damage to undersea assets due to shipping or fishing activity is a significant global problem. To address this risk, some owner managers commission guard vessels to patrol the entire length of cables and pipes to investigate and report upon potentially dangerous vessel activity. This method is reliable but relies upon structured and regular monitoring which can be costly.
The AssetMonitor service helps to significantly reduce the costs associated with traditional protection methods. In addition, in the event that damage has occurred, AssetMonitor's store of historic data and its playback facility can be used as supporting evidence in subsequent cases of compensation.
- Automatic and early warning of a potential damage situation
- All data is securely logged so vital evidence can be provided if the asset is damaged
- Rewind and playback historical vessel movements
- Set-up and configure your own protection zones, protection rules and alerts
- Simple to use, with an intuitive Google Maps interface
- No application installation or maintenance is required
- Unlike other desktop-based AIS viewers, web access removes all the burden of AIS traffic from your intranets
Customers all around the world
AssetMonitor is now used by companies worldwide. Guernsey and Jersey Electricity’s Channel Islands Electricity Grid (CIEG) was the first organisation to deploy AssetMonitor, and use it to protect the two 90,000 Volt submarine cables that supply power and fibre optic communications from France to Jersey and onwards to Guernsey.
The decision to implement the AssetMonitor system makes business sense to the CIEG. One of our key objectives is to provide greater security for the critical infrastructure of the Channel Islands and we believe that this system will help us achieve this.
AssetMonitor is also used to protect the BritNed interconnector: 260km of submarine electricity cable between the UK and Netherlands. ABB used AssetMonitor to monitor the BritNed submarine cable to prevent and record damage by fishing activity and vessels anchoring over the cable. Monitoring activities are now combined with intervention by guard vessels controlled by "Duty Managers".
Read the full case study
I have found using the AssetMonitor service beneficial to this project, in so much as, utilising the guard vessels effectiveness, reducing the number of guard vessels required and having the ability to manage the system to address our concerns.
Functionality
- Route Position Lists (RPLs) can be uploaded in a variety of formats
- Flexible use of AIS Receivers: use an existing AIS network provider, plug-in additional receivers
- Define multiple protection zones around your assets by buffer or freehand
- Set up vessel groups and assign individual vessels to groups: for example, for trusted vessels such as cable ships
- Configure alerts based upon flexible rules, including: vessel type and vessel groups, speed over ground, change in speed (sudden slowing), change in direction (veering off course)
- Rules testing service: rules can be tested in hours using historical data, rather than waiting months for the next event to test their efficiency
- Interrogate individual vessel details, track the vessel, and measure the distance from the asset
- Define the type of alarm based upon severity: raise audible and visible alarms within the control room or network operations centre, send automatic SMS or email to a defined group of users
- Secure and independent logging system for all AIS messages
- Playback facilities with rewind, fast forward, pause and snapshot functions
AssetMonitor
Did you know?
The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is an automated tracking system used on ships and by Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) for identifying and locating vessels by electronically exchanging data with other nearby ships and VTS stations. AIS information supplements marine radar, which continues to be the primary method of collision avoidance for water transport.
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