Drifter Buoys to be Used Off West Africa
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Drifter Buoys to be Used Off West Africa

Fastwave, of Perth, Western Australia, has recently delivered an initial shipment of its Voyager drifter buoys to a major oil and gas operator with projects located off the coast of West Africa. They will be used for oil spill response and oceanographic applications. The Voyager buoys are equipped with Iridium satellite and AIS Aid to Navigation (AtoN) communication systems.

The Iridium system enables global near real-time ocean current and spill tracking via Fastwave’s buoy tracking application, while the AtoN provides local visibility of the buoy location to nearby vessel traffic equipped with AIS receivers. The Voyager’s AIS capability can enhance situational awareness of local currents and the boundaries of an oil spill for vessels deployed during containment and clean-up operations.

Since its introduction in 2014, the Voyager Drifter buoy has been widely adopted by the offshore energy sector for oil spill response, marine environmental and oceanographic applications. 

The AtoN equipped version of the Voyager has also recently been purchased by the Canadian Coast Guard for search and rescue purposes.

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