On March 22, 2018, the official closing demonstration of the joint project “Guidance and assistance systems for increasing the safety of navigation on inland waterways” (LAESSI) took place in Würzburg. At the event, representatives from shipping authorities and media representatives were able to witness live on the vessel MS Jenny, as the new assistance systems were demonstrated.

In recent years, inland vessels have become longer, wider and thus heavier. Furthermore, the goods transported changed from dry goods, as coal and ore, to containers. The result is heavier traffic and increasingly complex logistics. In the joint project LAESSI, the four project partners (in-innovative navigation GmbH, WSV, DLR and Alberding GmbH) developed a system with new assistance functions for the ship’s command. In the future, they should reduce the risk of collision and make barges safer.

Basic technology for this purpose is the highly accurate and reliable satellite-based determination of position, height and heading of a ship as well as the provision of up-to-date information about the waterways (e.g., blockings, restrictions, work on bridges, etc.).

In the project, four support systems have been developed:

• The bridge collision warning system alerts the skipper as soon as there is a problem with the bridge crossing.
• The mooring assistant displays the measured and calculated distances to the quay wall or to other ships, thus, assisting the skipper in demanding maneuvers.
• The automatic track control relieves the skipper of the trip by keeping the ship on a previously defined route.
• The conning indicator permanently displays all movements of the ship, the rudder position and the speed of the propeller.

About the project:

In the joint project, partners from industry, science and the federal government worked together. It was funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) as part of the Next Generation Maritime Technologies program and ended after two and a half years with the successful demonstration of the new technology.

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