Baleària has signed up AmendTec to provide real-time position and AIS data visualisation for its own fleet and nearby ships.
The Spanish ferry operator previously used ship tracking and vessel intelligence software that visualised AIS data. However, there were some issues that affected safety management and the reliability of business processes.
Amendtec’s software uses AIS receivers along the coast together with AIS satellites. When a ship is out of range of the coast and there is no satellite nearby, there is no information on the ship’s location or that of surrounding vessels.
The company’s AmendTrack is an Internet of Things gateway that can independently send data via Iridium. It includes an accurate GNSS receiver to gather position data.
In addition, AmendTrack can be connected to the ship’s existing on board internet connection. By using AmendTrack, the location, speed, and direction of the ship are determined.
AmendTrack is also connected to the AIS receiver, which collects the same data from surrounding ships. This data is sent to the coast via VSAT or LTE antenna and made visible to Baleària.
Baleària said that it had taken safety and decision-making to new heights with its ‘control tower’. This tower visualises real-time data collected from the AmendTrack’s and other sensors on board the vessels, including vessel positions, fuel consumption, emissions, and calculated ETA’s.
With this data analysed and readily available, Baleària can make informed decisions and manage safety more effectively than before, the company claimed.
AmendTrack also has a positive impact on data frequency. Ship tracking and vessel intelligence software often transmit data with a low frequency, making it difficult to draw reliable conclusions.
However, AmendTrack increases the frequency of data transmission, providing Baleària with fleet updates every 10 seconds.
If the signal from the VSAT or LTE fails, AmendTrack switches to its satellite antenna and uses it as a backup. Thanks to this functionality, data obtained by Baleària comes at a higher level of reliability.
As a result, it is now possible to analyse data from the coast and pass it on to the ship to make certain safety-related decisions.
In addition and most importantly, AmendTrack has enabled Baleària to significantly increase the data frequency for tracking vessels’ location, resulting in improved accuracy in calculating ETA through its algorithm.
Baleària has 25 years of history, with routes that link mainland Spain with the Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla on a daily basis. Internationally, it operates in Morocco, Algeria, France, US and the Bahamas.
