Trelleborg Marine and Infrastructure supplies its advanced, highly accurate navigation and piloting solutions for pilotage applications, to facilitate the safe and efficient berthing of vessels and to increase safety of larger vessels at Peel Ports Group’s Port of Liverpool, located in the North West of England, Clydeport on the West Coast of Scotland, and the Port of Sheerness in the South East of England.
The contract award follows the successful trial of Trelleborg’s SafePilot Portable Pilot system at Peel Ports Group’s Port of Sheerness in 2021. Combining professional piloting software with portable pilot units (PPUs) to deliver situational awareness of a vessel to within 1 centimeter accuracy, SafePilot Portable Pilot system has enabled the port to successfully, safely and efficiently accommodate larger vessels, including liquified natural gas (LNG) vessels, to enhance operational safety in support of the strategic drive to strengthen the UK’s stock of gas.
Trelleborg’s supply of navigation and piloting solutions to the Port of Liverpool and Clydeport includes its SafePilot CAT ROT, SafePilot CAT 1, SafePilot CAT MAX and SafePilot Shore Viewer. Trelleborg’s SafePilot CAT ROT is a small and compact pilot unit primarily designed to connect to a ship’s AIS pilot plug to transmit data via Wi-Fi to the pilot’s tablet. Trelleborg’s SafePilot CAT 1 is additional add-on option to SafePilot CAT ROT that provides more accurate positioning than can be provided by the ship’s own positioning through the AIS pilot plug. Trelleborg’s SafePilot CAT MAX is a dual antenna solution that consists of heading and positioning units, developed for applications that require the highest positioning accuracy such as confined waters and offshore operations.
Richard Hepworth, President of Trelleborg Marine and Infrastructure, says: “Today’s ports, terminals and offshore operations are managing bigger vessels to ever tighter schedules and increasingly variable and difficult operating conditions. We are delighted that our range of smart, next generation piloting and navigation solutions are capturing and integrating data in real time, both on board and jetty-side, to improve communication, safety, reduce delays and optimize vessel throughput across Peel Ports Group’s Port of Liverpool, Clydeport and Port of Sheerness.”
Gary Doyle, Group Harbour Master at Peel Ports Group, commented: “As a leader in designing and manufacturing advanced, highly accurate piloting and navigation solutions for offshore and pilotage applications, we had no doubt that Trelleborg’s solutions would successfully improve situational awareness during maneuvers and enhance the safety, efficiency and sustainability of our port’s operations, enabling the accommodation of larger vessels.”
Together with its SafePilot software, Trelleborg’s portfolio of navigation and piloting solutions integrate with the SmartPort technology platform to better connect marine assets and optimize performance across the port environment. All port and pilot functions, data and schedules are linked together via the SmartPort cloud, enabling full transparency, information sharing and live access to all relevant information with a touch of a finger at the right time to the right staff – and in real time.