The Swedish Maritime Administration is investing SEK50m to improve and modernise the Swedish coastal radio network, the cornerstone of search and rescue activities in Swedish waters.
“The coastal radio network is a fundamental part of our maritime infrastructure. The planned investment will improve its stability and increase maritime safety even further”, says Jon Granstedt, the Administration’s President of Construction and Engineering.
The Swedish coastal radio network is owned and operated by the Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) and shipping has benefited from this vital communication “safety line” for many years. The system is mainly designed for search and rescue activities at sea, but is also used for piloting and navigation.
In emergency situations, both commercial and recreational shipping use the radio network to alert the SMA’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Gothenburg, which in turn uses the same system to lead rescue efforts. The SMA decided on a modernisation programme because the current technology has become outdated and expensive to maintain.
The improvements will be carried out in cooperation with Frequentis, an Austrian company specialising in communication and information solutions for safety-critical applications. The new Sweden-wide communications solution will draw on the Frequentis MCS 3020 IP system. This fully IP-based, open-architecture system complies in full with the EUROCAE ED-137B VoIP standard developed for the European aviation community. Frequentis will supply 55 operator working positions for 12 control rooms across Sweden, as well as over 300 IP-based VHF radios from JOTRON.
Special attention will be given to the development of the graphical user interface (GUI) for control room operators. The aim in Frequentis GUI development is to let these operators concentrate on their tasks (e.g. coordinating search and rescue activities), rather than on the technology: “The usability focus helps operators make the right decisions, faster. The new operator consoles will adapt to existing processes and workflows, so operators can do their jobs easily and intuitively without having to deal with tech-related complications”, says Khashayar Saravandi-Rad, Director Business Unit Maritime, Frequentis AG.
“The investment is about SEK50m. However, the IP technology will reduce transmission costs, so the annual costs of the system will remain the same as today”, says Mr Granstedt.
