Coastguard’s Emergency Power Supply Rescued by Kordia
The Royal New Zealand Canterbury Coastguard Unit based at the Port of Lyttleton has upgraded its emergency DC power system; a long-time sought-after upgrade to assist in the unit’s role of saving lives at sea.
Canterbury Coastguard approached Kordia in 2007 to discuss options for an upgrade of its DC power systems. Kordia went on to develop a customised solution for Canterbury Coastguard as part of its internal One Awards innovation programme, aligning it at the same time with Kordia’s new Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives.
“We were delighted to be able to assist Canterbury Coastguard in this way, and give something back to the community,” says Mike Mullis, senior project manager from Kordia.
Mullis explains that a normal DC power system is generally supplied by banks of batteries, able to operate for several hours if there is a mains failure.
It is particularly important for the Search and Rescue side of the organisation, which carries out the often hazardous coastal and blue water rescues that can occur on a daily basis and typically in adverse conditions.
“It is absolutely imperative that the Royal New Zealand Coastguard has a communication system that will not let them down at any time,” says Mullis.
“When we reviewed the Coastguard’s existing DC or back-up power system, we found, among other things, that the system would not provide control centre lighting if the mains power went down during the night.
"Nor would it allow for supply to any mains powered equipment like critical vessel tracking computers, used to maintain a positional link with the unit’s rescue vessels at all times to enhance the safety of the rescue crews.
“The condition of the single standby battery was unknown, but we estimated the battery reserve time to be around four hours.”
The risk to Coastguard, according to Mullis, was that the existing system probably wouldn’t provide sufficient battery reserve time in the event of a mains outage, leaving rescue crews unable to communicate with their control centre.
“As a result, if the single rectifier or battery failed while in service, the entire communications system would be out of action for a number of hours,” he said. “This could put people’s lives in danger.”
Kordia recommended that the existing system be replaced with a high availability DC system, incorporating low power DC lighting and inverters to power the tracking computer, and selected equipment that ran off the main power supply.
With the implementation of the new Kordia Power System, Royal New Zealand Coastguard volunteers and seafarers in the Canterbury region now have the added peace of mind that help is at hand at all times—with or without mains power.
Don Aves, President of Canterbury Coastguard said he was extremely grateful to Kordia and their design team for taking on board the operational needs of the Canterbury Coastguard Unit and finding a solution.
“The newly installed system gives us peace of mind, knowing we can be fully operational in cases of extreme emergency, where maintaining essential power supplies would always be a problem,” says Aves. “The Canterbury Coastguard look forward to working with Kordia on future projects,” he says.
Don Aves recommends all Coastguard Units review their current back-up systems, and if they have any doubts, to investigate the installation of a system similar to that now in use by the Canterbury Coastguard.
Media Release dated: Monday 16 February 2009
More Information
For more information, please email mike.mullis@kordia.co.nz or contact:
Emma Morrison
Group Communications and Brand Manager – Kordia
M: +64 21 916 647
E:
emma.morrison@kordia.co.nz
About Kordia
Kordia is an experienced business poised to become one of the region's leading providers of customised broadcast and telecommunications solutions, and specialised networks.
Kordia owns one of the largest telecommunications networks in New Zealand and is the major provider of television and radio broadcast facilities. In Australia, Kordia provides design, build and maintenance services to the broadcast and mobile telecommunications sectors as well as engineering services throughout the region.
Kordia’s business is built on creating harmonisation – the ability to meld customers’ ideas into an operating reality, managing technology convergence in today’s fast moving world.
The name Kordia comes from the Latin ‘accordia’ meaning harmony – bringing people and technology together as one.