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Safety: Port Fourchon

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CAMO and Port Fourchon Launch AIS Vessel Safety Initiative 

The Coastal and Marine Operators (CAMO) group in partnership with Port Fourchon has completed the first step in rolling out a major initiative to protect the safety of mariners, the environment and hydrocarbon pipelines. The CAMO group began transmitting Automatic Information System (AIS) safety messages directly to mariners in two charted pipeline corridors in Port Fourchon, significantly improving their situational awareness by providing immediate alerts for vessels in close proximity to submerged pipelines. These vessel safety messages use existing AIS technology that is already deployed on most commercially operated vessels.

The first phase of CAMO's AIS-based pipeline damage prevention and awareness program is being launched in partnership with the Greater Lafourche Port Commission (the governing body of Port Fourchon) and a global provider of engineered services and products to the offshore oil and gas industry. The AIS-based vessel-tracking service is being used to monitor vessel activities in the two charted pipeline corridors north and south of Port Fourchon that pass under its main navigable channel. When the service detects a vessel operating at a speed less than 0.5 knots for three minutes or more within one of these corridors, an addressed, one-time AIS Safety Related Message (also known as message 12) is immediately transmitted directly to the vessel's wheelhouse that says, "PIPELINE BELOW." 

Depending on the equipment installed on the receiving vessel and its equipment configuration, there may be visual and audible variations in how the AIS safety alert is received. Mariners capable of receiving and displaying the CAMO AIS messages are encouraged to provide feedback and report any anomalies. 
 

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