The Canadian government is using Victoria company Barnacle Systems technology to help remotely monitor abandoned vessels.
BRNKL Rapid Deploy units from Barnacle Systems have been purchased for $513,000 by the Canadian Coast Guard and will be used in seven different regions across the country.
“I’m so proud of our team and I’m so proud that the products we’ve developing will actually be able to help protect our coastline,” said CEO of Barnacle Systems, Brandon Wright. “Knowing that they’re 2,700 vessels that are abandoned and are hazardous along our coastlines, knowing that the Coast Guard is using our technology to help with their efforts to protect the coastlines and recover the vessels is just such an honour.”
Exactly 39 of these remote monitoring devices are being installed on hazardous vessels across the country in the Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific and central lake regions.
This will benefit the Coast Guard, according to Wright, because “instead of actually having to visit the boats to check the status of them every month or couple of weeks, they’ll actually be able to get real-time updates quickly from the boats 24/7.”
The BRNKL Rapid Deploy units are designed in Victoria and manufactured in Vancouver. The units work by mentoring the pitch and heel of the vessel using an accelerometer to understand the data of the boat if it’s beginning to sink.
“We also have GPS on board so we can understand the position of the boat,” said Wright. “So if the abandoned boat begins to drag anchor and float to shore, the users will get notifications immediately.”
This is just another step in the federal government’s Oceans Protection Plan.
“The Government of Canada is taking action to eliminate abandoned vessels from our waters,” said Minister of Fisheries, Ocean and the Canadian Coast Guard Joyce Murray. “By investing in new technologies, we enhance the Canadian Coast Guard’s capacity to monitor, manage, and address marine risks leading to greater protection of waterways today and for the future.”
Since 2016, almost 500 projects to remove and dispose of abandoned boats across Canada have been funded through the plan.
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