MSM has developed a series of devices that are incorporated into our buoys with the aim of guaranteeing greater security against acts of vandalism or negligent damage and to ensure the collection and transmission of Metocean data.
Around the world, there are a large number of buoys distributed throughout the seas, oceans and great lakes, whose purpose is to collect meteorological data, such as the speed, direction and temperature of the wind; and oceanographic, such as waves or ocean currents; and transmit them to the respective scientific centers and communities.
All this information collected by the global ocean observing network can be used to understand the climate and ecosystems to help warn of the dangers of the oceans: storms generated by cyclones, rising sea levels , tsunamis and marine weather forecasts. As well as planning recreational activities or maintaining the safety of industries such as shipping, fishing, tourism or any activity in coastal regions. In addition to being able to carry out oceanographic or climate research where climate change is reflected, for example.
Secure collected data
Due to vandalism and negligent damage, the data collected by the buoys is at risk due to the damage caused to them by boat collisions, damage generated by fishing nets, direct exploitation of the concentration of fish or by being used as tie point.
In 2008 in the Tropical Pacific, in less than a year, approximately 18 stations were out of service due to vandalism that resulted in restoration at a cost of US $ 1 million.
While, in the Indian Oceans, the tsunami detection network suffered more than 30 vandalism incidents in a period of four years, costing more than US $ 3.5 million.
Elements of the Security System
To prevent these incidents of unauthorized access and theft of equipment or damage to the buoy, at MSM we equip our buoys with a security and anti-vandalism system that is made up of the following elements:
- Anti-vandal hardware.
- Reinforced door with vandal-proof lock.
- Impact sensor.
- Water intrusion sensor.
- Intrusion sensor in the tower: alarm with immediate warning.
- Automatic daily report to the client.
- Monitoring of the operational parameters of the buoy.
- GPS positioning with chain break alert.
- AIS AtoN Type 3.
- ShiPRAS: Ship proximity alert system by AIS (location, heading, name, speed and MMSI)
- 360º camera system taking photos of the surroundings of the buoy.
These acts multiply the budget required to keep the systems running and mean a loss of crucial data for early warning systems. Also, it reduces the capabilities of weather prediction and marine forecasting, making these systems less reliable, in addition to posing a possible danger to humans.
