High tech sensor to help mariners safely navigate the SF Bay
Port of Oakland in collaboration with local and federal agencies hosted the placement of a maritime visibility sensor at the Ben E. Nutter Terminal (Berth 38) operated by Seaside Transportation Services, LLC and home to Evergreen Marine Corporation.
The sensor is a continuously operating visibility data collection platform that helps mariners make informed decisions in foggy or low visibility situations thus making the bay safer for marine traffic. The Port of Oakland (Port) is the first port on the West Coast to embrace the FS11 Vaisala visibility sensor technology.
The equipment is also designed to be operationally reliable even during the harshest weather.” Mobile Bay, Alabama is the only other major port in the nation to install visibility sensors.
Port of Oakland Chief Wharfinger Chris Peterson stated, “This installation is the culmination of a two-year project and successful collaboration that included our Port, the San Francisco Harbor Safety Committee, U.S. Coast Guard Sector San Francisco (SF), Marine Exchange of SF Bay, NOAA’s National Weather Service Office Monterey and NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS).
Here is the complex technical name for the system of which this new visibility sensor is a part: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Ocean Service (NOS) Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS?). This system provides real-time water level, currents and meteorological data for navigation aid in twenty major ports and harbors across the country.
The integration of this sensor technology in the overall PORTS? will result in improved navigation safety and will facilitate decision-making for the US Coast Guard, San Francisco Bar Pilots, tug boat operators, ferry operators and the sailing public on San Francisco Bay, especially during the winter and summer months when fog is more prevalent.
Visibility sensors are widely used and essential for aviation and are becoming more critical for maritime applications as well. The SF Harbor Safety Committee has adopted “Temporary Safety Guidelines for Navigation in Reduced Visibility”, which includes the Oakland Bar Channel Critical Maneuvering Area (CMA) less than 750 yards away from the new sensor location.
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Source: Port of Oakland