SmartBay Ocean Observing System Secures Federal Government Funding

 

The SmartBay ocean observing system in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland has secured $224,000 in funding from the Government of Canada’s Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) to support two years of operations and the development of a sustainability plan.

 

“The success of this user-driven observation system involving fishers, the oil and gas industry, marine transportation, recreational boaters, and municipalities is being piloted in Placentia Bay for potential development and use in oceans around Canada and throughout the world,” said Senator Fabian Manning in St. John’s.

 

The federal government funding support supplements $451,000 in provincial government support for SmartBay announced in September, 2010.

 

These funding commitments bring total federal government support to $2.2 million and provincial government support to $1.1 million since 2006.

 

An initiative of the School of Ocean Technology at the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John’s, SmartBay provides near real-time wave, wind and water data from three buoys in the bay, utilizing the technology of the Marine Institute’s partners, AMEC Earth and Environmental, ICAN, and EIT Ltd. Hourly weather forecasts are accessible 24/7 through the web portal www.smartbay.ca. The site’s buoy page is accessed approximately 7,000 times per month, mostly by repeat users. “The buoy data and weather forecasts provide mariners and other users of the bay with accurate, up-to-date information which contributes to better decision making in marine operations,” explains Bill Carter, Manger of Ocean Observation at the Marine Institute’s School of Ocean Technology.

 

There are between 1,400 and 1,600 tankers movements in Placentia Bay each year related to the operations of Newfoundland Transshipment Ltd. and North Atlantic’s refinery. 

Based on results of an assessment prepared by ACOA (Newfoundland and Labrador), in 2008 SmartBay saved marine users an estimated $940,500 in tanker fuel costs, plitage costs, demurrage savings, and potential savings to fishers.

 

The Atlantic Pilotage Authority is a regular user of SmartBay. The Canadian Marine Pilot's Association is taking the lead on "SmartAtlantic", an initiative to adopt the SmartBay model of providing high-resolution marine forecasts and near real-time wind and wave information for the Atlantic Canadian ports of Halifax and Chedabucto Bay in Nova Scotia, and Saint John in New Brunswick. "We have the support of funding partners for the ongoing operational costs," says Rae."A request has been sent to the federal government to provide the initial capital funding."