Improving offshore operations

In the open waters where the waves are high and the weather conditions are constantly changing, asset tracking and monitoring becomes especially hard. Your tracking and monitoring equipment must be able to handle tough punishment, complete submersion, rough treatment – and still work at the end of it all.

This is where SatPos comes in; we design and manufacture products and solutions capable of working in such conditions year-after-year. Our products are in use all over the world and our customers include major international seismic, offshore oil and gas and environmental companies. SatPos products are used for tracking, monitoring and control of buoys, vessels and other flotation or fixed assets. We also have co-operation with offshore weather forecasting companies so that they can give you real-time weather predictions based on the position of your vessel or asset.

Asset tracking

In coastal areas, you have many standard options for asset tracking like GPRS or radio transmitters; however, if you lose your asset and it drifts out of coverage, then you have a problem. We solve this by using a combined Inmarsat and GPRS transceiver. Inmarsat has global coverage and it is a cheap and very stable system (which is critical for retrieving your assets). If you purchase a SatPos M-200 device and install it on your asset, you have a complete cost-effective solution. This device has a combined GPRS and Inmarsat transceiver that means that you can track and control your asset in any location.

For offshore areas, satellite is the only option. If your asset has power on board, you can use our SatPos TB or the SatPos M-series; you also have the option of purchasing devices with integrated warning lights (SatPos SSD) so that they are easier to spot and other vessels will see them from far away. For assets that do not have any power on board, you can use our SatPos DF-108, which comes with a 108Ah battery for up to one year of service; we also have custom devices that can utilize solar panels and water generators for charging the device.

Fleet management

For fleet management we use our SatPos M-100 Inmarsat device. With this small dome (21cm in diameter and 20cm high) you can track your vessels all around the globe at low costs. It sends the GPS position, course and speed at user-defined intervals. This interval can be modified via the SatPos.com web interface at any time. If you use our SatPos M-101 device, you also have the possibility to add external sensors like temperature, wind, water salinity, NOx, gases, fuel consumption, etc. This can be very useful for maximizing fuel efficiency and saving valuable fuel to help minimize the environmental impact from your vessels or assets.

Monitoring and control

HSE is a very important aspect in the offshore industry and that is why many companies see the value in choosing our products and solutions. If your assets drift off you can find them and prevent them from causing harm to people, environment or other equipment floating in the ocean.

All your assets can be tracked and monitored online at www.SatPos.com. Different from standard GPS tracking technology, SatPos allows two-way communication - enabling messages to be sent to the equipment. If you're monitoring position, direction, fuel consumption, gases, temperature or other parameters, you can tell the system to actively change or alter these parameters to what you want. All this can be accomplished through the internet.

John H. Edvardsen has been computer programming since the age of six. Self-taught at everything, he started working with GPS positioning in the 1990s and quickly found a passion for tracking assets and has gained wide experience in this field. He is currently CEO of SatPos AS. For more information, please visit www.SatPos.com.