Following an attack by Pirates on a drill ship in the Indian Ocean in Autumn 2011, Marine Electronics Systems (MES) Ltd was sub-contracted by Cobham to design, install and commissioning a 360 degree surveillance system onboard the deepwater drill ship Saipem 10000.
The available budget and timescale for the project was tight. From initial enquiry to project completion and acceptance took only 7 weeks including a busy 6 days installing and commissioning the equipment onboard the ship which was located 150 miles off the coast of Mozambique. The system comprised: 5 CCD and IR Bosch cameras, 3 Furuno radars and an integrated operator station with a MES designed display specific for the ship.
Fibre optic cable was used to ensure no loss in radar and video signal quality between the sensors and the central control station. Part of the contract was to develop a software solution to integrate the cameras to the radars to enable the appropriate camera to be cued onto radar contacts which enabled early identification of suspicious activity and improved the reaction time for the onboard response team. The console was made in wood to meet the short timescale for delivery and installation.
The photographs show the ship, the equipment provided and Ollie Haselden who commissioned the system with Rob Potter and the Cobham team.