Sea Clutter News

Houthi rebel drone attacks on vessels traversing the Red Sea and Suez Canal route, accounting for 10% of global trade, have exposed the shortcomings of current ship alert systems.The unpredictability and increased frequency of these attacks have created a challenging security environment for ships passing the area via the Bab el Mandeb strait, posing a substantial risk to seafarers and maritime trade by endangering the safety of the crew and cargo.Initially focused on Israel-related ships in solidarity with Hamas…

Taking the Furuno 15X8 series radar out for a spin; Furuno’s newest entry has found a welcome place on inland waters. Furuno’s newest radar is now on the market. The first workboat installation of the company’s FAR-15X8 series was completed in late February and early March. Following installation, test runs were carried out on the Bruce M, a 65-foot, 1,900 Hp inland pushboat operated by SDS Lumber based out of Bingen, Wash. The vessel works the Columbia Snake River system, mainly pushing either construction or wood chip barges.

Elcome International, the leading marine solutions provider and system integrator in the Middle East and one of the largest marine technology companies in the world, will showcase a full array of the latest technologies at the Dubai International Boat Show next week. Elcome will feature the new Raymarine Quantum Wireless CHIRP marine radar, the industry’s first recreational radar dome featuring pulse compression technology. This advanced system sets a new standard for compact solid-state radar, delivering superior radar imaging on both long and short ranges. Quantum’s CHIRP pulse compression technology uses multiple compressed, radar pulses with FLIR’s exclusive ATX™ advanced target separation technology to display targets like boats…

International manufacturer of panoramic infrared thermal imaging systems HGH Infrared Systems was selected by the British Navy to incorporate its Spynel-S 3500 into an integrated Compact Combat System (C2S) for situational awareness and ship-based protection against small fast inshore attack crafts (FIACs). The system has already been tested in trials in the U.K. and will be used in part toward securing war ships in perilous locations. Leading the project is U.K.-based Qinetiq…

Buffalo Computer Graphics (BCG) Inc. announced the addition of another emulation product to its family of Radar Simulators. BCG has completed an emulation of the VisionMaster FT radar – our PCVM. PCVM utilizes the same simulation engine as the rest of BCG’s products, which results in a powerful training tool used to familiarize a student with the use of the VisionMaster radar for ship navigation and collision avoidance training. The radar image incorporates realistic simulation of landmass, moving targets, precipitation returns, sea clutter and other effects seen on a real radar.

Moxa said it has long partnered with Intel to produce industrial computing platforms, using innovative advances in hardware and software designs to make the most of industrial-grade Intel processors, producing rugged solutions tailored for mission critical maritime applications. The recently published Intel case study ‘Marine Disaster Recovery through Intelligent Systems’ highlights how the combination of Intel processors with Moxa design and engineering has resulted in certified…

The Institution of Engineering and technology published the second edition of “Sea Clutter: Scattering, the K Distribution and Radar Performance,” written by Keith Ward, Robert Tough and Simon Watts. The book gives an authoritative account of current understanding of radar sea clutter. Topics covered include the characteristics of radar sea clutter, modeling radar scattering by the ocean surface, statistical models of sea clutter, the simulation of clutter and other random processes…

The value of being able to detect small vessels approaching in any weather conditions, and automatically identify potentially hostile behaviour, is highlighted by a report of piracy in 2011’s first edition of ‘Maritime Feedback’ (issue 28), a newsletter from Confidential Hazardous Incident Reporting Programme (CHIRP). “Thick low clouds and rain may provide a hiding place for pirate craft,” warns a CHIRP report about an incident in the South China Sea. While passing the Anamabas Archipeligo in the middle of the night, an officer of the watch noticed two small unidentified targets on the radar, and thick low clouds forming and developing in their direction. The targets became lost in rain clutter.

During three days of extensive testing, the advanced capability of Consilium’s oil spill radar to detect oil slicks has been successfully verified. The sea trials were part of an exercise in order to certify satisfactory safety and efficiency in oil spill response operations. The operation was conducted by the Norwegian Clean Seas Association For Operating Companies (NOFO), from June 8 – 10, 2010. With the permission of the Norwegian Coast Guard, the Consilium Selesmar Selux ST 340 radar display and a 12kW 9ft antenna radar sensor were temporally installed on the Vessel KV Bergen.