Page 27: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (July 2016)

The cables are buried 10 ft. deep under the Long Island Sound, and the repair process time-consuming and costly, taking an estimated ? ve to eight months and “tens of millions of dollars” to ? x.

Robert J. Schwabe, Director

Asset and Maintenance Management, NYPA

Photo: Greg Trauthwein

Enter Vesper Marine WatchMate Asset

Protection.

Virtual Beacons

Maritime Reporter & Engineering

News was on the Long Island Sound with

NEW

NYPA’s Schwabe and representatives of

NEK 606 OFFSHORE

Vesper Marine late last month as the new

THE PERFECT CONNECTION

CABLES system for NYPA was in its ? nal stage of approval, acceptance and implemen-

We enable the perfect connection for your business. tation. Integration of the Vesper Marine

Connect with us at helkamabica.com system is part of NYPA’s Strategic Vi- sion 2020 plan to use existing and emerg- ing technologies to make its transmission IEC Marine and Offshore Cables • NEK 606 Offshore Cables • Flexible Cables • Industrial Cables • Optical Fibre Cables system more resilient and reliable.

In reality the solution is elegant in its simplicity and customizability, using two land-based communication towers to es- tablish a set of ‘virtual beacons’ on the water clearly marking the cable ? eld, as well as establishing a wide buffer zone that is clearly seen on commercial ves- sel’s electronic charts. The system from

Vesper Maritime is anything but passive, as it monitors vessels 24/7/365, monitor- ing vessel speed and taking into consid- eration tide and wind conditions. A set of web-based software rules created by

NYPA and Vesper determine if it appears that a vessels is likely to anchor in the ca- ble potential strike zone. The true value of the system comes with the rapidity of the warning, as a safety message is de- livered automatically and directly to the bridge of the commercial vessel warning it of the dangers below, and copied to

NYPA as well. “There were other systems that offered noti? cation, but they ? rst noti? ed the

Coast Guard and then the vessel, which could take up to half and hour,” said

Schwabe. “You don’t have that much time.”

The system comes complete with an in- formation back-up and archive.

Greg Trauthwein www.marinelink.com 27

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