AssetMonitorNews: BritNed
AssetMonitor, AIS-based submarine asset protection service, protects the BritNed interconnector: 260km of submarine HVDC power cable between the UK and Netherlands
Even when lying deep below the sea, submarine cable and other infrastructures are at constant risk of damage caused by fishing activity and vessels anchoring over the cable both throughout the construction phase and after it becomes operational.
To address this risk, some owner managers commission guard vessels to patrol the entire length of the cable 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 developed by Astrium helps to significantly reduce the costs associated with traditional protection methods while giving the reassurance that undersea assets are being monitored efficiently, providing automatic warnings if an asset is at risk due to shipping activity. 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.
How does it work?
The service is based on the combination of the geographic position of the cable (the RPL: Route Position List) and live vessel positions derived from AIS data sources, that are provided by existing commercial services or via AIS antenna that the asset owners have erected. We also define, together with the cable constructor or operator, protection zones around the cable such that any vessel exhibiting potentially dangerous activity could 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 and change of course.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 (no application installation nor maintenance)
A concrete example
The service was first used by Guernsey and Jersey Electricity’s Channel Islands Electricity Grid (CIEG) to protect the two 90,000 Volt submarine cables that supply power and fibre optic communications from France to Jersey and onwards to Guernsey. It was recently selected by ABB, a global leader in power and automation technologies, contracted to construct and lay the BritNed cable; one of the largest power transmission projects ever undertaken in Europe with 260km of submarine electricity cable between the UK and Netherlands.
In this case, AssetMonitor service is combined with guard vessel cover at BritNed’s mid point. The collaboration extends to the delivery of AssetMonitor alerts to Duty Managers who then pass on the alerts to the guard vessels so that they can investigate immediately. The system went live in less than 4 weeks. From the time of acceptance of the AssetMonitor service by ABB, they started to save thousands of euros per day that they were spending on manual monitoring of BritNed’s route.
“I have found using the Asset Monitoring 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”
Jack Adair, ABB QHSE Manager (Marine)