BP not sharing AIS with NAIS and ERMA

Kurt's Weblog
August 25, 2010 9:30 AM
by Kurt

BP not sharing AIS with NAIS and ERMA

This is a case where I must set the record straight now that <a href="http://www.portvision.com/">PortVision</a> has issued a <a href="http://www.marinelink.com/news/vesseltracking-portvision335326.aspx">press release</a>. I fully understand that it will likely be a long time before the response effort is completed. <br /><br /> For the Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico, the primary situational awareness tool for responders and the public was provided by the <a href="http://www.crrc.unh.edu/erma/index.html">Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA)</a>. I wrote the AIS software that drove ERMA and used the USCG's NAIS data feed to it. I can say definitely that NAIS received NO data from BP or PortVision. I talked to BP and requested that they at least send the output from one or more of their receivers out at the well area to the USCG NAIS system. The process of sending data to the USCG is really easy and I offered to give BP the contact information of the people at the USCG that could make this happen. BP said, "NO. We already are showing the data on a single computer display that the Coast Guard can view." So the AIS data collected by BP and PortVision were in no way distributed to the rest of the response teams through ERMA. There is a fiber ring out on the seafloor in the Gulf of Mexico getting the data back to the shore, but it did not make it to ERMA. <br /><br /> The person at BP complained that he could not give me the data and did not know who I was. I reminded him that I was requesting that he give the data to the USCG through the official USCG NAIS system, not to me. However, he seemed unable to acknowledge that I was not requesting the data come through me. I then tried to explain that the USCG would then distribute the data back to me through normal approved channels. I do not know why this was difficult for BP. <br /><br /> Although PortVision may have provided excellent support to BP throughout the crisis, unfortunately, due to BP, none of the AIS data made it to the ERMA interface for the responders in the Gulf. <pre> "We have worked closely with BP and the Unified Command operations team in support of real-time vessel-tracking activities related to the Gulf incident response and restoration effort," said Dean Rosenberg, chief executive officer.</pre> I hope that oil and gas companies will work more in the future with the USCG to get AIS feeds from platforms and remote installations to the USCG NAIS system before incidents occur and make a plan to have satellite or cellular data up links to NAIS setup on the fly for incidents that happen away from fixed infrastructure. If you are a first responder or oil & gas company and want to work with the USCG to make this happen, I can put you in touch with the right people at the USCG (and give you a couple setup tips). It's not that hard to setup. <br /><br /> On a positive note, the ERMA team worked with <a href="http://www.findmespot.com">FindMeSpot</a> to track a number of response teams. FindMeSpot worked much better in the Gulf of Mexico than my experiences with it in New England. <br /><br /> The full press release: <a href="http://www.marinelink.com/news/vesseltracking-portvision335326.aspx">PortVision Vessel-Tracking for Gulf Cleanup Ops</a> <pre>PortVision, provider of business intelligence solutions for the maritime industry, announced that BP has used the company's PortVision vessel-tracking service and PV-OnBoard battery-operated satellite trackers to enhance and accelerate response and restoration operations related to the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon incident. <!-- --> "The PortVision service has significantly improved how we have managed vessel activity related to the Gulf response and restoration operation," said Scott Neuhauser, Deputy Branch Director for Plaquemines Parish with BP. "PortVision has given us significantly greater visibility into what's occurring in the field so that we could assess progress and more effectively allocate the more than 30,800 personnel, 5,050 vessels and dozens of aircraft that are engaged in the response effort." <!-- --> "We have worked closely with BP and the Unified Command operations team in support of real-time vessel-tracking activities related to the Gulf incident response and restoration effort," said Dean Rosenberg, chief executive officer. "This includes providing a combination of hardware and customized software, extensive support services, and our PV-OnBoard satellite trackers. The PortVision service offers significant benefits in incident-response and other maritime intelligence applications, and also enables responders and other parties to access historical AIS and satellite data for a variety of purposes, from policy development and training to litigation support and the verification of vessel operating fees and service charges." <!-- --> The PortVision service leverages the world's only comprehensive database of AIS real-time and historical tracking data to provide detailed visibility into commercial vessel activity, from port arrivals and departures to ship movements on the open sea. To track smaller vessels that are not equipped with AIS transponders, BP and the Unified Command team have used the PortVision service with data provided by the company's PV-OnBoard battery-operated satellite trackers, which are now being deployed on the Louisiana Gulf Coast. Information from the combination of AIS and satellite data has simplified the team's challenging task of monitoring and managing the many ships, fishing boats, skimmers and barges that have been operated by multiple organizations in adjacent and often overlapping response areas. <!-- --> Additionally, PortVision has customized its offering for BP and the Unified Command team, adding screen overlays of divisional response areas throughout the affected Gulf regions, and color-coding vessel types within these areas using the PortVision VesselZones feature. The ability to create user-defined VesselZones simpifies vessel viewing, tracking and alerts while streamlining and enhancing incident response.</pre>

Art Trembanis

CSHEL

University of Delaware

www.geology.udel.edu/cshel