SafeSurround Marine Hazard Detection System

This project aims to bring collision avoidance technology to the marine market. Like a vehicle
parking sensor, the SafeSurround concept aims to provide audio and visual alarms to warn
ships’ officers of collision hazards. However, the technical challenges to achieve this are
much greater than for a vehicle parking sensor, when the vehicle is a 90m-long vessel being
buffeted by waves.
The need for a hazard detection system has been raised by the Marine Safety Forum as a
result of an increasing number of vessel collisions with offshore oil installations. This is partly
because increased size and power of support vessels increases their capability to cause
damage, and also because inexperienced crews are failing to adhere to safety procedures and
guidance. In 2005 a support vessel collided with the Mumbai High North processing platform,
causing a fire that resulted in 22 deaths, the destruction of the platform and $195m in lost
revenue and clean-up costs.
Guidance Marine Ltd (GML) is the leading developer and supplier of local position reference
sensors for Dynamic Positioning (DP) and other vessel control systems. GML’s laser and
radar sensors can be integrated by all major DP manufacturers and are used on a daily basis
by most Offshore and Platform Supply Vessel operators. GML’s products accurately measure
the relative position of the target in relation to the sensor to enable the vessel to hold position
and operate safely in close proximity to an installation.
SafeSurround is envisaged as the final piece of the DP jigsaw, giving close-range (<300m)
relative position information for hazard detection to work alongside laser and microwave DP
sensors. The ultimate goal is to integrate SafeSurround into DP systems, but first the concept
must be proven as a stand-alone system. The project will test the positioning and configuration
of sensors required to protect a vessel from collisions, in a range of environments from
harbours to oil rigs to the open sea.