Local advanced autopilot system to be installed on Hibernia shuttle tanker

A local high tech company is installing an autopilot system on the Hibernia shuttle tanker MT Kometik for sea trials. St. John�s-based CORETEC Incorporated is installing its Advanced Ship Autopilot System (ASAS) with $75,000 assistance from the Department of Development and Rural Renewal as part of a $1 million project. The new system is capable of maintaining a ship within a few metres of a pre-determined track.

"This exciting cold ocean technology is a good example of how an applied research and development company can take an idea and turn it into a product for sale to the world�s mercantile and military fleets," said Ernie McLean, Minister of Development and Rural Renewal.

CORETEC president Mona Shahwan El-Tahan said her product steers a ship so precisely that it makes travel safer and reduces fuel consumption. "Depending on the size of the vessel, that could be a saving of up to 10 per cent," she says.

The company was formed in 1988 and offers computerized ice-management tracking services to the oil industry. During the fiscal years1997 to 2000, the company�s Integrated Ice Information and Forecasting System (IIFS) was used in support of the Hibernia GBS. This system originated from Ms. El-Tahan�s Master�s thesis on iceberg drift modeling and can provide a picture of the projected track of icebergs for up to 48 hours into the future.

The company has also developed a computerized Ship Predictor System (SPS) designed to reduce collisions at sea. It allows ships' masters to determine the course of their vessel for up to five minutes ahead for any combination of power, rudder and environmental conditions. The Advanced Ship Autopilot System is based on this technology.

The Ship Predictor System has been used successfully in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Bay of Fundy. Installation of the Advanced Ship Autopilot System on the MT Kometik for sea trials will be the last step before full commercialization of the product.

Media contact: Clifford Grinling, Communications, (709) 729-7066.

2000 11 03 2:00 p.m.