Chittagong Port Maximises Efficiency and Monitoring

Background

SL-C600 with SATCOM pre-installation testing

Chittagong Port Authority is a government authority in Bangladesh. They are responsible for the management, maintenance, and governance of the country’s major port of Chittagong. It is located on the bank of the Karnaphuli River, on the shore of the Bay of Bengal.

Chittagong Port is recognised as the major seaport of Bangladesh. It handles about 92% of seaborne trade of the country and its importance in the national economy is paramount. The port is also one of the oldest ports in the world, making it a rather significant attraction to visit.

Challenge

Historically, the Chittagong Port Authority has always suffered from heavy congestion issues. In 2019, the port handled 3.1m TEU (twenty- foot containers), well above its design capacity of 1.7m TEU. The extra demand has added significant pressure on port operations, safety and has made the navigation of vessels quite hazardous.

Pilots and seafarers have warned authorities of visibility issues at the port. Navigational buoys have been reported as missing or have shifted from their assigned location. In 2020, the port authority had major project funding approved to expand capacity and increase mariner safety within the channel.

Solution

SL-C600 packaged solution uses the SL-155 as the light head

Sealite helped resolve the safety issues within the CPA channel with Sealite’s SL-155 marine lanterns as the right solution for this project, fitted to floating navigational buoys. The CPA has been using the SL-C600 lantern for some years now.

The order was initiated as a special project into Sealite’s Solutions Team based in Australia. This required them to integrate Satellite connectivity into the SL-155 marine lantern for the very first time.

The project consisted of twenty, Sealite SL-C600’s (that use the SL-155, 12NM marine lantern as the light source), supplied complete with four x 20watt solar panels and a 12v, 110 Ah Gel SLA battery. In addition, another twenty stand-alone SL-155’s with satcom were supplied to be used with CPA’s existing SL-C600 lantern body. The project installation was undertaken by our representative in Bangladesh under the guidance of Sealite’s technical support team.

Sealite SL-155 series, now with SATCOM as a standard option

This project paved the way for Sealite, who recently offered satellite connectivity as a standard option on the SL-155. This mid-range marine lantern is extremely versatile and is now available in the following product options:

• 2.5-degree, 5-degree and 10-degree lens options; with
• A choice of Satcom, GSM, AIS Type 1 and 3 and GPS synchronisation;
• In six product configurations including stand alone, self-contained, or external solar power supply options.

The Chittagong Port Authority chose Satellite connectivity using Star2M, to enable them to bring the management of all their marine assets together into a single hub. From Star2M they can control and monitor their assets as well as manage the maintenance scheduling and reporting from one single platform. Star2M gives them the ability to manage the entire asset management life-cycle.

It was important to the port authority that the system would be fast, secure and reliable, and provide them with powerful coverage of the outer river area where GSM network coverage is low.

Outcome

Today the Chittagong Port Authority has vastly improved the safety of their main navigational channel into the largest port in Bangladesh, with the installation of forty new Aids to Navigation marine lanterns.

The combination of SL-155’s and SL-C600 packaged solutions, clearly identify the navigational channel and their satellite connection into the Star2M portal, provides uninterrupted coverage to ensure they have full visibility of these important assets.

The Chittagong Port Authority are now receiving regular notifications of lantern performance and are actively monitoring the location of these critical assets with little effort. In the event that any of these assets drift off station, are damaged or their performance falls, the pre- configured alerts will allow them to investigate and action quickly. As a result, channel navigation and overall safety has improved significantly.