Vessel management anniversary

Bakker Sliedrecht’s Integrated Monitoring and Control system (BIMAC) plays a central role in managing the alarm, monitoring and control of vessels, but with the increasing importance of data acquisition and data-usage, BIMAC is anticipated to act as a main data broker in the future.

The communication protocols combined with the capability to store vast amounts of data in a redundant configuration places the BIMAC software in a central position in Bakker Sliedrecht’s Condition Based Monitoring solution. Acquisition, storage, access, visualisation and sharing of vast amounts of data has been a recent focus point. BIMAC can act as collector, making all data available on a single interface for the operator. Trending and analysis can also be undertaken directly.

Another development is the harmonisation of the (visual) front-end of the various automation solutions supplied by Bakker Sliedrecht, reducing the number of dependencies. One example is the combination of Drive Systems, where the visualisation of both the remote operation and the local control will be unified, while maintaining autonomous operation of both systems. Besides the central position on data processing onboard the vessel, work is being carried out to enable access to all connected equipment via one secure remote access point.

BIMAC is also the platform on which several of Bakker Sliedrecht’s specialised automation solutions are hosted. One of them being the Common Diesel Generator protection system (CDG-protection). CDG-protection enables DP approved closed ring operation of the power plant and is the first to receive DNV approval for dual fuel (diesel and LNG) application.

Another in-house developed application is the Dredge Profile Computer (DPC), which brings the cutter dredger to a higher level of automation by translating a desired cut profile to all the required operations of the dredger.

By Rebecca Jeffrey