CLIENT'S PROFILE

Namibia’s Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) is responsible for the monitoring of local and foreign flagged vessel engaged in fishing operations along the Namibian coastline, as well as Namibian flagged vessels engaged in fishing operations elsewhere around the world.
After several years of use, the MFMR upgraded their vessel monitoring system at their control centre.
The obsolete system relied on a data report received from a vessel making use of a satellite transceiver based upon Cobham’s Inmarsat-C architecture (TT-3022D). Therefore it was imperative that the new system would also be able to make use of existing hardware on board vessels in order to have a minimum impact on existing fishing operators.
As long-standing distributor and service agent for Cobham products, Radio Electronic has been involved with the roll-out and implementation since initiation of the VMS project in Namibia. Based on this the MFMR once again reached out to Radio Electronic for support with shipborne equipment in order to ensure full compatibility with the new system.

THE CHALLENGE

– The obsolete system made use of a proprietary data report format, which was not compatible with the new VMS system. Therefore, it was required to liaise with the Inmarsat-C terminal  manufacturer and modify the existing systems in order to conform to the new data report requirements.

– As the current transceivers (TT-3022D) have reached EOL, it was of utmost importance to find a suitable replacement Inmarsat-C system that could be used moving forward. The Sailor 6140
was identified as the most suitable replacement, including use of the optional TCU (6194) and Battery Option (6195). The TCU also provides the option to add a SD card with optional script should any additional features be required. Radio Electronic made use of this option in order to further optimise the system as per MFMR’s requirements.

THE SOLUTION

With the technical assistance of Radio Electronic, the MFMR successfully commissioned the new Vessel Monitoring Control Centre.
For the past 7 years, Radio Electronic has successfully supplied and maintained tracking systems on board more than a 150 vessels, ensuring they conform to requirements as set forth by the MFMR.

Radio Electronic is a company with expertise in Marine Electronics, Radio and Satellite Communications. It offers their clients solutions that are adapted according to their needs.