Page 51 - Журнал Sozvezdye Review - «СОЗВЕЗДИЕ» #38

Virtual kilometers are defined as number of ki-
lometers covered by a vessel during sounding, multi-
plied by a reduction coefficient (depends, among other
factors, on the vessel’s speed). The need to use virtual
kilometer as a measurement unit for bottom relief sur-
vey coverage was due to the use of previous generation
echo sounders. But this time, the company is going to
use 5th-gen echo sounders, known to provide much
higher accuracy regardless of interferences. From 2022
and onwards, Hydrographic Enterprise will be mea-
suring hydrographic coverage in accordance with the
generally accepted standards – in linear kilometers –
calculating the distances traveled between sounding
lines (intervals between changes of tack).

Object ho!

In pursuance of its NHS plan, in 2021, Hydro-
graphic Enterprise installed independent power sup-
ply on 17 marine lights. The company has installed
and surveyed a total of 96 buoys and serviced 193 on-
shore navigational aids.
In 2021, to increase the safety of navigation, the
buoys along the channel were moved to new locations
and, for first time ever, installed with Automatic Iden- This Center will operate as a basis for the projects
tification System (AIS). This rearrangement was part designed to improve the efficiency of infrastructure
of the channel reconstruction plan. and NHS development, involving, among others, dig-
In March 2022, Hydrographic Enterprise signed a ital technologies. Its geoportal will serve as an inte-
contract for the supply of equipment for the trial mon- gration platform for more convenient interaction be-
itoring of the navigation aids on the Yenisei River. The tween partners and investors in joint projects – within
plan is to install 18 sets of equipment for terrestrial and beyond the waters of the Northern Sea Route. The
aids and 40 sets for buoys. This equipment is designed Center’s other tasks relate to accumulating research
to enable remote monitoring of the navigation aids’ and elaborating project documentation.
performance and, specifically, geolocation, power lev-
el, and LEDs. Malfunctions can now be detected and No want of charts
fixed much faster. The trial phase has a duration of
one year. Data collection process is as follows. Read- Given the suspension by the European countries of
ings will be transmitted from buoys via a radio chan- sales and updates of electronic nautical charts (ENC)
nel to be accumulated by terrestrial navigation aids for and navigation manuals, Hydrographic Enterprise has
further transmission, via a satellite, to Hydrographic announced its preparedness to act as a provider of do-
Enterprise office in St. Petersburg. Upon completion mestically developed ENCs for the Russian seafarers.
of the trial phase, the equipment for the navigation The work to design, update and deliver the high-den-
aids might be revised to include extra sensors to en- sity ENCs, and digital reference data sets, covering the
able monitoring of meteorological, environmental, hy- Northern Sea Route has already been started. The digi-
drological and related parameters of the Northern Sea tal reference data sets (DRDS) will cover specifically
Route water area. the water areas whose depths and isobaths aren’t there
in the official ENCs and therefore cannot be updated
The only way is forward by providers to ensure safety of navigation and ma-
neuvering. The procedure for providing the crews with
In 2021, Hydrographic Enterprise hired a contrac- ENCs and DRDSs is in line with the requirements of
tor for the performance of design and survey works the International Hydrographic Organization.
for project “System for Monitoring the Hydrometeoro- The range of services being provided by the Hydro-
logical Hazards (HHMS) Affecting the Safety of Navi- graphic Enterprise will only be increasing. The company
gation Within the Marine Channel in the Gulf of Ob will take care that the ships operating in the Russian mar-
and Its Surrounding Waters”. Acting as contractor is itime zones of the Arctic and Pacific Oceans, the Baltic,
LENMORNIIPROJECT. The first stage of works was Black, Azov and Caspian Seas, are assisted by the electron-
completed in 2021. ic nautical charts developed by the RF Ministry of Defense
One more contractor, Atomenergo, was hired in Chief Directorate for Navigation & Oceanography.
the same year to do the engineering surveying and de-
sign work for the federally owned onshore hydraulic
structures as part of the plan to install, in Pevek near В 2022 году Гидрографическое
Cape Nagleynyn, a floating power unit and associated
infrastructure. In place are the basic design solutions предприятие будет
and feasibility studies, developed in 2021 and substan- использовать в тестовом
tiating the choice of the location for the onshore hy- режиме надводные автономные
draulic structures, based on geodetic and engineering
site investigations. необитаемые аппараты с SOZVEZDYE #38
Starting from 2023, Hydrographic Enterprise эхолотом для исследований
will be in charge of a greater number of projects to
be built along the Northern Sea Route. Its areas of акватории Севморпути
operation will increase likewise. To tackle this truly The surveys to be conducted судоходство
colossal amount of work, the efforts to streamline by Hydrographic Enterprise navigation
the current business processes should be assumed
today. For this purpose, in February 2022 the com- along the Northern Sea Route in
pany started its Center for Engineering Excellence, 2022, will involve testing of echo
which is tasked with enhancing the quality of proj- sounder-installed unmanned
ect development by attracting contractors early at the
design stage. surface vehicles 49