Wilson Sons Expand Brazil Towboat Operational Centre

Company vessels in the Brazilian ports of Paranaguá & Vitória will be tracked to enhance security and improve planning.

In the beginning of 2013, the company will begin tracking its vessels serving the ports of Paranaguá (Southern Brazil) and Vitória (Southeastern Brazil). After the expansion, 23 tugs will be managed from the Centre. Following the investment of approximately US$ 750,000, the Towage Operational Centre remotely tracks tugboats and generates indicators on the use of vessels, thus helping to develop strategies and reduce risk of accidents.

The pilot project of the Towage Operational Centre began in 2010 with research on the new technology. The company searched for tools which already existed in the market and examined whether the software was appropriate or whether it would be necessary to develop its own solutions. From the study, Wilson Sons Towage opted to use the VTS (Vessel Traffic Service), developed by Transas.
 
"The VTS was the most appropriate tool. To assure the quality of the software, we visited a Canadian company which uses the same product. We were satisfied with everything we saw”, says the director of Wilson Sons Towage, Sergio Guedes.
 
One of the advantages of using the tool is an alarm system that gives notice of actions that may jeopardize operations, and triggered in time to make last minute adjustments in order to ensure smooth tugboat fleet operations.