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Modern Collision Avoidance System Subject Of Symposium A ship can complete its voyage more safely and with fewer maneuvers if it is equipped with a modern collision avoidance system, according to experimenters at the U.S. Mari- time Administration's Computer-Aided Oper- ations Research Facility (CAORF). These findings were presented to government and industry authorities at a symposium held June 23 and 24 at the research facility in the National Maritime Research Center, Kings Point, N.Y. Martin Pollack, senior research psycholo- gist with Grumman Data Systems Corpora- tion, which operates the facility, reported that ships using a collision avoidance system pass each other with a 33 percent larger safety margin than ships that depend on visual sightings or radar in the same cir- cumstances. The report also showed that ships in high-density traffic which may be encountered in major ports could achieve al- most the same degree of safety as in low- density traffic by using a collision avoidance system. The experiments were conducted at CA- ORF, a computerized marine simulator de- signed, built and maintained by the Sperry Division of Sperry Rand for the U.S. Mari- time Administration. The research simulator is located on the grounds of the U.S. Mer- chant Marine Academy. A Sperry collision avoidance system was used in the studies. In the experiments, six ship officers from U.S. tankers handled the same sailing situ- ations using visual, radar and computerized collision avoidance techniques. Each officer was observed under 30 test conditions involv- ing meeting, crossing and overtaking other ships. The experiments showed that, in addi- BRUSH SUB SYSTEiriS A COMPLETE LINE OF UNDERWATER CLEANING EQUIPMENT: BRUSH KARF SEA SCRUBBER® UNIT, AND HYDRAULIC BRUSHING HEADS. 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Situation displays inform the Control Cen- ter of the position of CAORF "own ship" in relation to other ships and geographical features of the area being navigated. CAORF is a research simulator in which the Maritime Administration conducts expe- riments in ship operations and equipment functioning. It can duplicate many conditions such as darkness, fog, moonlight and other environmental factors. It will also duplicate the handling characteristics of all types of oceangoing ships. The simulator projects computer-generated color images of ships, buoys, landmarks and other navigation information on giant screens surrounding a ship's bridge. The computer can create and move up to 40 ships at sea and in harbors, accurately reproducing their appearances and sailing characteristics. The crew members pilot their own vessel through the simulated traffic, operating with steer- ing, navigation and communications equip- ment identical to that used at sea. The collision avoidance system used in the experiments was furnished by Sperry Divi- sion's Marine Systems unit, Great Neck, N.Y. Sperry's Systems Management unit, also in Great Neck, built and maintains the simulator for the National Maritime Research Center. MTU DIESELS FOR SWIFTSHIPS — Jerry L. Hoffpauir (center) of Swiftships, Inc., Morgan City, La., and Paul Haines Jr. (right) of Co-Mar Offshore Corporation, also Morgan City, recently toured the Motoren und Tur- binen Union plant in Friedrichshafen, Ger- many. Shown with Mr. Hoffpauir and Mr. Haines is MTU official Jorge Hartmann (left). As a result of the tour, Swiftships purchased eight 12V331 MTU diesel engines. These en- gines, to be delivered in late 1977, will power four new Swiftships all-aluminum 122-foot crewboats. The vessels will have two engines each and a cruising speed of 26 knots. 40 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
