FOR OFFICER ON WATCH
04/11/09
Following AMI Marine’s attendance at Europort and significant interest shown in the new BNWAS system, this further statement has been issued.
AMI Marine has already incorporated the latest changes following the release of the final draft international standard (IEC 62616) on 23rd October 2009, into the fully tested BNWAS which is compliant with IMO regulation MSC128(75) and undergoing type approval.
Design work for the system has been ongoing to interface with other bridge equipment under the standard. If any equipment capable of transferring an alarm by contact closure or equivalent circuit is not acknowledged within a specified period, then the BNWAS second stage alarm is automatically activated.
Additionally, BNWAS provides an interface for the NMEA standard alarm code, which needs to be recorded by the ship’s VDR or displayed by the ship’s alarm and monitoring system.
Should there be a power failure, BNWAS is fully operational running on battery power for six hours. AMI’s system also incorporates resets from an input by the Officer of the Watch, which registers physical movement and mental alertness, using motion sensor equipment.
Stuart Newman of AMI Marine said, “AMI is always at the forefront of interfacing and retransmission solutions and this is a good example of our immediate response to regulatory requirements. BNWAS already has the necessary specification for the IEC’s standards and we are now finalising the type approval and expect to be one of the first fully approved systems on the market.”
IMO Decision for Mandatory fitting
Following the IMO Committee’s decision adopting the mandatory fitting of this equipment on all vessels of 150gt (keel lay base) or over, the designers at AMI UK have already developed their new Bridge Watch Alarm System (BNWAS) with manual interface and motion sensor versions. This completely new product, in accordance with the IMO specification, has been fully tested and put into production, and is now undergoing type approval.
The BNWAS System’s alerting procedure
Designed to be unobtrusive, yet easy to use, this smart touch screen system consists of a main alert panel, a remote alert panel and a watch alert panel for second and third stage alerts. Other outputs from BNWAS include a third stage active watch alarm for the general ship alarm and a fourth stage to activate the Ship Security Alert Distress System (SSAS).
Under the IMO specification two options are offered, either push button or motion sensor activation. With the first option, the system requires the Officer on Watch to push a button at regular intervals, which automatically triggers an alarm if they fail to do so.
The second option using the BNWAS motion sensor, removes the need for the Officer to manually press a button to stop the alarm; the sensor detects movement from the Watch Officer which, once detected will not allow the alarm to trigger.
Come along to the AMI stand and view the system at Europort:
It is in the interests of all marine purchasing managers, Captains and Marine Superintendants to see the BNWAS system in action, as it is soon to become mandatory.
AMI UK can be found at stand number 8.216 at Europort in Rotterdam from 3rd – 6th November, where the design team and sales experts will be on hand to advise on other AMI Marine designs and innovative equipment:
Gyro converters (KW950-E)
Voyage Data Recorders (VDR/SVDR)
Data distributors (KW930-DD)
GPS Docking Systems (Ship’s Movement Information Display
System – SMIDS)
Handheld PDA remote for SMIDS
Sonar Beacon Tester
Ship’s Email Alarm System (SEAS)
Retransmission and Interfacing solutions
Note to Editors:
The IMO Committee approved the draft amendments to the SOLAS Regulation that requires the mandatory carriage of a bridge navigation watch alarm system for the subsequent adoption at the MSC 86. (Amendments to the SOLAS Regulation V/19 - Carriage requirements for a bridge navigational watch alarm system).
The draft amendments stipulate as follows:
1st July 2011 on or after for all new builds of 150 gt or over - (keel lay base)
Ships constructed prior to 1st July 2011 will have to retrofit the BNWAS by the 1st survey after that date
1st July 2012 for cargo ships of 3000 gt or over and all passenger ships
1st July 2013 for cargo ships of 500 gt or over but less than 3000 gt
1st July 2014 for cargo ships of between 150 gt or over but less than 500 gt
These requirements also apply to ships not engaged on international voyages.
For more information please contact: AMI UK at Europort on stand number 8.216
AFTER THE SHOW:
Stuart Newman - AMI Marine (UK) Limited
+44 (0) 2380 480450
sales@amimarine.net
Press enquiries:
Titch Blachford - Strawberry Marketing
Telephone: +44 (0)1590 645082
Mobile: +44 (0)7809 141219
titch@strawberrymarketing.com