New tech helps ships enter canal locks

Finnish technology group Wärtsilä has partnered up with Canada’s CSL Group to develop a system to help facilitate a vessel’s approach and entrance into locks along the St. Lawrence Seaway system.

Initial deployment of the lock entry assist system technology will be on board the CSL St-Laurent, a 22,600 gross tonnage Trillium class bulk carrier owned by Montreal-based CSL. The ship operates on the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes.

The company said the system comes in response to the increasing size of vessels operating on the seaway and lakes.

“When entering the locks along the seaway, the clearance for larger vessels is minimal, and the lock entry itself has become increasingly difficult. Damage to both the ship and the lock walls can be avoided by facilitating the ship’s approach path to the locks, thereby making the operation safer, faster, and altogether more efficient,” a company release said.

Joonas Makkonen, Wärtsilä’s vice-president of voyage solutions, said the project shows Wärtsilä’s leadership capabilities in creating greater efficiencies for marine operators through its Smart Marine approach.

The system uses high performance global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) to measure the ship’s position to centimetre accuracy as it enters a lock.

“Speed adaptive controls, together with allocation of the thruster and rudder, ensures that the vessel enters the lock in a consistent manner every time, while minimizing the influence of external forces from wind and current. During the entry, the system automatically controls the vessel’s lateral position and heading, allowing the operator to focus on controlling the speed of the vessel, the release said.

A customized touch screen interface is also being developed to simplify the operation and improve situational awareness.

The two companies has worked closely for years and CSL’s fleet includes a number of Wärtsilä solutions.