Getting Smarter

E-Navigation Report, Atlantic:

By: Capt. Andrew Rae, VP Atlantic

Canadian Marine Pilots’ Association

Presentation to SFC Mariners’ Workshop

January 27, 2016

E-Navigation initiatives in

Atlantic Region

1. SmartATLANTIC Inshore Weather Buoy Network

2. MEOPAR’s CODAR Network

3. Shell Oil deployment of Triaxys buoys

4. Smart Pilot Boat/Redundancy for Herring Cove Buoy (proposed)

5. iHeave Measurements study (proposed)

6. Dalhousie University marine applications for high-resolution,

relocatable ocean/atmospheric model for generating forecasts

7. Environment Canada World Class Tanker Safety

Marine Observations Requirements Initiative

8. Canadian Coast Guard AIS Messages User Needs Survey and

Marine Portal

SmartATLANTIC Inshore Weather

Buoy Network is Priory #1

Priority: Continue to enhance SmartATLANTIC's high-

resolution modelling and forecasting capabilities. e.g. more

sensors and partnerships with external organizations to share

relevant information/data to enhance high-resolution

forecasting;

Priority: Get a SmartATLANTIC AXYS 3-metre buoy for

Chedabucto Bay (Canso), Nova Scotia;

Priority: Secure long-term operating and maintenance cost

funding for the SmartATLANTIC Alliance buoy at the pilot

boarding station in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland.

Priority: Users need a fully operational

Environment Canada network of offshore

(deep-water) buoys

Users in Atlantic Canada need:

Offshore and inshore smart buoy data;

Environment Canada to provide a renewed and working offshore buoy network;

Canadian Coast Guard to receive sufficient budget to support it with vessels of convenience;

Multi-agency co-operation to resolve this issue (Environment Canada, Canadian Coast Guard, Transport Canada and the Canadian Transportation Agency).

We have flagged this as a major priority with:

Transport Canada (World Class Tanker Safety)

Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA Review)

Environment Canada (World Class Tanker SafetyMarine Observations Requirements Initiative)

Canadian Coast Guard (E-Navigation User Needs Matrix)

… Here’s why

The overlay of one year of AIS vessel tracking (produced at Dalhousie University)

Actual AIS Vessel

Tracks

January 2016 Another tanker in distress off coast of Nova

Scotia: M.V. British Merlin (Aframax)

Loaded with crude oil Whiffen Head, Newfoundland

Outbound from Placentia Bay (Jan. 17) enroute to Philadelphia.

Port of Refuge request received at Port of Halifax (Jan. 19)

Mechanical failure of main engine turbo blower. Vessel max speed cut to 3 kts in good weather.

Offshore supply vessel Maersk Cutter is responding.

Just one-year since M.V. Australian Spirit (also an Aframax tanker) lost its rudder off the coast of Halifax enroute from Placentia Bay to New York.

Draft: Loaded to 13.6 m Deadweight: 114,761 mt

Dec. 10, 2014 Call for help comes in from loaded Aframax

tanker M.V. Australian Spirit

Loaded crude tanker

adrift 40 NM from Halifax

with no rudder

Cargo: 775,000

barrels of crude

Approx. 3,000 m3 bunker

Transiting water too

deep to anchor

Weather conditions: Gale

force winds, heavy rain

and heavy seas

Port of Refuge: Halifax

SmartATLANTIC Buoys and high-

resolution forecasting are critical

tools for “Port of Refuge” Vessel

Operations

High-resolution forecasting derived using SmartATLANTIC Herring Cove Buoy data will find safe weather window to bring the British Merlin into Halifax, Jan. 2016

Same as SmartATLANTIC forecasting of weather and sea state identified safe weather window for rudderless Australian Spirit to enter Halifax, Dec. 2015

SmartATLANTIC Buoys and high-

resolution forecasting are critical

tools for Spill Response & Clean-up

Monday January 4, 2016

Refinery at Come By Chance reported a crude oil spill into Placentia Bay, NL caused by a broken section of pipeline.

Company said leak stopped within an hour of the discovery and its response team deployed containment boom and immediately started clean-up in the area.

Estimated spill 1500 litres(10 barrels) of crude

Eastern Canada Response Corporation (ECRC) was contacted Monday January 4.

ECRC found oil on the shores near Bordeaux, which is six kilometres southwest of the refinery.

M.V. Miner: 223m bulk carrier Grounded Scatarie Island, Nova Scotia Sept. 20, 2011.

It is still here causing problems in 2016.

Towline parted during a storm while en route from

Montreal to Turkey to be scrapped.

Clean-up costs already + $11 million

Economic Benefits of

SmartATLANTIC Alliance

Buoys

More effective planning of pilotage resources, tug escort requirements and dispatching of longshoremen.

Keep principals and customers informed of extreme weather, action plan for the port during the event and anticipated time of reopening of the port.

Reduce the costs associated with vessel delays through better planning of vessel arrivals and departures.

Know weather windows for cargo operations

Enhance safety of navigation

Supports work of outside agencies e.g. Canadian Coast Guard, Transport Canada and Environment Canada.

SmartATLANTIC is a Network

of Sensors Working Together

High Resolution Forecast

Environment Canada

Offshore BuoysCODAR Sensors in Ports

Oil & Gas Offshore Buoys

Smart Pilot Boats

SmartATLANTIC

Herring Cove Buoy

SmartAtlantic

Newfoundland Buoys

SmartATLANTIC

Saint John Buoy

SmartATLANTIC

Chedabucto Bay Buoy

Smart Atlantic Alliance: SmartATLANTIC (NS and NB) inshore weather buoys

+ Marine Institute's Smart Atlantic (NL) inshore weather buoys. Also shown: Environment Canada’s 9 offshore weather buoys (red dots) and Shell Oil’s 2 new

Triaxys buoys (yellow hexagons)

SmartATLANTIC Chedabucto Bay

Buoy (Proposed)

SmartATLANTIC Buoys’

Sensors Collect Real-Time Data

Maximum wave, wave height,

wave direction and wave period

Current speed and direction

Wind speed and direction

Water temperature

Air temperatureAir pressure (barometric pressure)

Amec Foster Wheeler builds the models and generates

the high resolution weather, wind and wave forecasts

SmartATLANTIC Saint John:

Expanding the Network

3-metre buoy deployed by CCG March 14, 2015

Website launched June 25, 2015

www.smartatlantic/saintjohn.ca

SmartATLANTIC Saint John Buoy location

45⁰ 11.85’N, 066⁰ 05.90’W

SmartATLANTIC Halifax:

Expanding Capabilities

Two anemometers installed in 2014 (Pier 31 and Pier 9). HPA funded.

Third anemometer operational Nov. 26, 2015 (Fairview Cove Container Terminal). HPA funded.

One new tidal station

Upgrade AtoN system to broadcast the Halifax Harbour Bridges Air Gap System and the 3 new anemometer stations.

Plan to include wave period and wave direction in the forecast, in 2016. Amec Foster Wheeler.

Plan to provide a wave height distribution field, in 2016. Amec Foster Wheeler.

Port of Halifax Upgrades AIS

The "Big Lift" (replacing

of decking on Halifax

Harbour Bridges)

Created the need to

upgrade the AIS portion

of the Air Gap measuring

system for the bridges

Created opportunity to

connect the Port's 3 new

anemometer stations

into an AIS network.

Navigation Corridor

As the bridge deck sections are removed from the centre span (between the towers), the

profile of the bridge will change and the high point of the bridge will vary. During the

construction phase between the towers, Halifax pilots will use an AtoN and visual

reference for the high point of the bridge.

Work-in-Progress:

SmartATLANTIC Modelling & Forecasting

Add wave height data from Shell Oil’s 2 new Triaxys buoys

recently deployed 145 nm south of Halifax. These buoys were

deployed to support the drill ship STENA ICEMAX

Add wave height data from MEOPAR CODAR sites

R & D: Smart Pilot Boat Project to develop wave height sensor

for APA pilot boat (in Halifax) - sponsored by Institute for Ocean

Resource Enterprise (IORE) – (proposed)

R & D: Develop marine applications for high-resolution,

relocatable ocean/atmospheric model for generating forecasts

(from global scale down to harbour scale) – Dalhousie University

Continued on next slide

Work-in-Progress (continued

from previous slide):

Canadian Coast Guard, Atlantic Region

Working on getting AIS met/hydro data from

SmartATLANTIC Herring Cove and Saint John buoys visible

at CCG’s MCTS Centre (Halifax).

DUKC (Port of Halifax)

iHeave Measurements study (proposed)

Shell Oil: Sharing data with

SmartATLANTIC from new buoys

in Shelburne Basin, Nova Scotia

MEOPAR CODAR Network,

Nova Scotia

New CODAR site at Clam Harbour, NS - January 2015

New CODAR site at Sandy Cove, NS - November 2015

CODAR shore-based facilities will measure wave heights up

to 100 NM (185 km) offshore. Significantly extending the

range of the SmartATLANTIC Herring Cove Buoy for wave

heights and surface currents.

Additional information for masters approaching/departing

Halifax

CODAR sites operated by MEOPAR (Marine Environmental,

Observation, Prediction and Response Network)

Coastal Ocean Dynamics

Application Radar (CODAR) is the

new kid in Atlantic Canada

Definition:

CODAR describes a type of portable, land-based, High

Frequency (HF) radar developed between 1973 and 1983

at NOAA's Wave Propagation Laboratory in Boulder,

Colorado.

CODAR is used to measure and map near-surface ocean

currents and wave heights in coastal waters.

It is transportable and offers output ocean current maps

on site in near real time.

Coastal Ocean Dynamics Application Radar

(CODAR) shown in red

Extends from Shelburne to Sheet Harbour, NS

MEOPAR’s

CODAR Network

superimposed over

AIS tracks

Smart Pilot Boat project

(Halifax) - proposed

Date: 2016

Project to develop wave height sensor for APA pilot boat (in Halifax) -sponsored by Institute for Ocean Resource Enterprise (IORE)

Purpose: to investigate if pilot boats equipped with sensors could be used to accurately measure wave height / act as backup for SmartATLANTIC buoys

Supports SmartATLANTIC Herring Cove Buoy.

iHeave Measurements Study(Halifax) - proposed

Supports the operational realities of piloting large ships.

Provides critical information for quantifying safe operating parameters for underkeel clearance in varying sea states.

CMPA is investigating funding sources.

Target date: Winter 2016

Portable

carry

aboard

system

(7kg)

Note: Dynamic Under Keel Clearance (DUKC) readout in upper left-hand corner

(green text)

iHeave Video Clip

New Project: Dalhousie UniversityHigh-resolution, relocatable ocean/atmospheric

model for generating forecasts

What is being developed:1) A new real-time “pre-operational” atmosphere-ocean forecast system that downscales

forecasts of the global atmosphere and ocean, across the Scotian Shelf and Gulf of Maine, to major coastal centers such as Halifax Harbour and the Port of Saint John. Forecasts will reach up to five days into the future;

2) A new real-time atmospheric downscaling system that will provide wind forecasts for the GoMSS region with an unprecedented horizontal resolution of order 1 km;

3) Potential practical applications for marine users:

1) High-resolution surface currents (down to 1 km grid)

2) High-resolution winds (down to 1 km grid)

3) Sea-level predictions (down to 1 km grid)

4) Improved storm surge forecasting (% of probability)

Data from SmartATLANTIC buoys is assisting in the modelling

Principal Investigator Dr. Hal Ritchie, Department of Oceanography at Dalhousie University

Outcome: potential new capabilities for SmartATLANTIC websites

National E-Nav. initiatives the

Atlantic Region participated in

during 2015

Environment Canada World Class Tanker Safety

Marine Observations Requirements Initiative

Canadian Coast Guard AIS Messages User Needs Survey

Canadian Coast Guard Marine Portal user assessment of

test site

Next Meeting

of CCG E-Nav.

Committee,

Atlantic

Region

Week of

February

8, 2016,

in Halifax

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