Integrated Bridge System for Rapid Intervention Vessel
The new Trinity House rapid intervention vessel Alert, which entered service last month, has been equipped with an integrated bridge system supplied by Northrop Grumman Corporation. Alert was built at the Remontowa shipyard in Gdansk (Poland) and is the first of its type to be deployed by Trinity House. Based out of Harwich, the ship’s primary mission will be to deploy rapidly to the Dover Strait or other locations on England’s southeast coast to establish a protective zone around any new shipwreck or other hazard to navigation. In addition, the ship will also be used for a wide range of hydrographic surveying and maintenance of aids to navigation. Alerts integrated navigation system includes radars, electronic chart display and information system, autopilot, dual-axis speed log, dual fiber-optic gyros, magnetic compass, echosounder, automatic identification system, differential GPS and voyage data recorder. Due to the confined space available on the bridge, a number of the displays have multifunction capability. The system runs on Sperry Marine’s proprietary Voyage Management System software. The communication equipment includes satellite and radio systems meeting the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System carriage requirements, as well as an Iridium satellite terminal.
Sperry Marine is also supplying similar bridge systems for two new multifunction tenders being built at the same shipyard for the General Lighthouse Authority fleet for delivery in 2007 and 2008.
