Marine vessel measuring system and method

Abstract

A marine vessel (14) measuring system (10) may include a combination of one or more vessel based electronic systems (12), an offboard electronic base station (18), a beacon (22) and a computer system (24). The vessel based electronic systems (12) are located on the vessel and capable of providing data at a plurality of times relating to the vertical height of each system (12) with reference to a datum. Each vessel based electronic systems (12) includes a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver for receiving 3D positioning data from a global navigation satellite system. The beacon (22) collates the information into a data stream and wirelessly transmits this to the computing system (24). The offboard electronic base station (18) measures the vertical level or height of the datum and transmits corresponding datum data to the computing system (24). The datum may be the level of the water in which the marine vessel is floating. The computing system uses the data stream and datum data to calculate a change in draft or displacement of the vessel between a first time and a second time with reference to the datum.

Description

[0001] MARINE VESSEL MEASURING SYSTEM AND METHOD

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates to a marine vessel measuring system and method. The disclosed system and method have offshore and onshore applications. These applications include but are not limited to draft measurement of a vessel when moored at a land based dock or at in the ocean during transshipment, and vertical level measurement during vessel construction at dry dock.

[0004] BACKGROUND ART

[0005] Many different types of goods and commodities are transported by marine vessel. For example, many goods are transported in standardised marine vessels and cargo ships. Bulk commodities such as mined ore, building materials and agricultural produce are often transported by marine, navy and merchant vessels such as bulk carriers, naval and container ship. A bulk carrier, navy and container ship normally has several separate cargos holds. Material can be loaded onto cargo ships or into the cargo of bulk carriers holds by various forms of transfer methods, including gantry cranes and via a travelling conveyor mounted on rails on an adjacent dock.

[0006] Determining the monetary value of the commodities loaded onto a cargo and / or bulk carrier is surprisingly archaic. This often involves a surveyor visually observing and noting the carrier waterline with reference to draft lines or Plimsoll lines marked on the hull of the carrier. The draft of a vessel is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the vessel hull (i.e., the keel). These lines are typically 20 cm apart between the midline of the numeral values located near the bow, the stern and amidships on both the port and starboard sides of the hull. Thus, in total the surveyor visualises and records the measurements at six different locations about the carrier. If the carrier is docked, three of the locations may be visualised by a surveyor on the dock. For the remaining three measurements the surveyor must get on the boat and sail around to an opposite side of the carrier. Alternately, all six measurements are made prior to the carrier loading or unloading by a surveyor sailing around the carrier.

[0007] The recording of the waterline against the draft lines must be taken before and after loading and unloading of the bulk carrier. These measurements are then used together with vessel volume displacement data to calculate the weight of the loaded cargo. There is inherent inaccuracy in these measurements as they rely solely on eyesight of the surveyor and the ability to guess where the water line lies within a 10 cm range. In addition, wave motion may introduce further errors. In more cases than not an intermediate measure of the draft-lines is carried out to assist with the display of averages with the total volume calculation of the cargo’s dead weight tonnage.

[0008] Once the surveyor has calculated the volume displacement attributed to the loading of the bulk material, the actual value of the material is settled by negotiation between the surveyor, vessels master and / or crew, port authority and seller of the material which is negotiated between the cargo shipper and receiver.

[0009] Some have proposed the use of optical devices such as cameras installed at a seaport and image processing systems to automatically acquire draft or Plimsoll line and water level readings. However, such readings can only be taken from one side of the vessel. Also, because they use optical devices and optical character recognition, they are subject to environmental interference such as for example, glare, rain, snow, dust, mist, and fog, with draft or Plimsoll line indicia at times not being visible due to marking and damage to the vessel hull.

[0010] The above references to the background art do not constitute an admission that the art forms a part of the common general knowledge of a person of ordinary skill in the art. The above references are also not intended to limit the application of the disclosed system and method to the particular types of marine vessels or the loading of bulk materials and naval defence force goods and services. Specifically, the disclosed system and method can be applied to the unloading of bulk materials as well as loading or unloading of other cargo such as, oil, LNG, containers, livestock, gains, personnel, and other goods including carrier provisions such as fuel and potable water. The loading can be while a vessel is berthed at a land-based port or at sea during a transhipment operation. As explained hereinafter embodiments of the disclosed system and method may also be used to acquire vertical leveling measurements to assist in marine vessel construction.

[0011] SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0012] In one aspect there is disclosed a marine measuring system comprising: one or more vessel based electronic systems located on the vessel and capable of providing data at a plurality of times relating to the vertical height of each system with reference to a datum, each vessel based electronic systems including a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver for receiving 3D positioning data from a global navigation satellite system; an offboard electronic base station located offboard the vessel arranged to measure vertical level or height of the datum and produce associated datum data; an electronic beacon in radio frequency communication with each of the vessel based electronic systems; and a computing system in radio frequency communication with the beacon and the offboard system; wherein the beacon receives position information from each of the vessel based electronic systems and collates the information into a data stream, and wherein the computing system is arranged to receive the data stream and the datum data and form this calculate a change in draft or vertical height of the vessel between a first time and a second time with reference to the datum.

[0013] In one embodiment the at least one vessel based electronic system, comprises at least three vessel based electronic systems wherein the at least three vessel based electronic systems are located non-colinearly with each other to define a vertical height and attitude plane of the vessel.

[0014] In one embodiment the GNSS receiver includes at least one of: a real time kinematic (RTK) GNSS receiver; a precise point positioning (PPP) receiver; and a combined RTK-PPP receiver.

[0015] In one embodiment the marine vessel is floating in a body of water, the computer system is arranged to determine an orientation of the attitude plane, and to further use the determined orientation to calculate the draft and displacement of the marine vessel in real time.

[0016] In one embodiment when the vessel is floating in a or the body of water the off-board electronic system includes a tide measurement system arranged to facilitate the provision of real time water level, wherein the real time water level forms the datum, and wherein the offboard electronic system communicates the datum to the computing system and wherein the computing system uses the datum to calculate the change in vessel displacement.

[0017] In one embodiment the off-board system includes one or both of a water temperature sensor, a water salinity sensor for measuring temperature or salinity of the body of water and wherein the offboard system is arranged to communicate water temperature and water salinity measurements to the computing system and wherein the computing system uses the water temperature and water salinity measurements to calculate the change in vessel displacement. In one embodiment the offboard base station comprises (a) a fixed offboard base station fixed to structure at or near a seaport; (b) a floating offboard base station, or (c) at least one fixed offboard base station fixed to structure at or near a seaport and at least one floating offboard base station.

[0018] In one embodiment the fixed offboard system the includes an RTK correction signal device and the fixed offboard base station is arranged to communicate the RTK correction data to each of the GNSS receivers.

[0019] In one embodiment the offboard base station includes, a precise point positioning (PPP) receiver, and / or a combined RTK-PPP receiver.

[0020] In one embodiment the computer system is provided with volume displacement data for the marine vessel and further arranged to calculate a change in vessel displacement between the first and second times using the measured change in draft or vertical height of the vessel.

[0021] In one embodiment the electronic beacon is arranged to provide unique identification data to the computing system enabling the computing system to uniquely identify a vessel from a plurality of vessels each of which is provided with corresponding associated one or more vessel based electronic systems and the computing system is arranged to receive the data stream from each beacon and calculate a change in draft or vertical height of each vessel associated with each beacon vessel between respective first time and second times with reference to the datum.

[0022] In one embodiment the beacon includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) which arranged to generate altitude and attitude data of the vessel, and wherein the altitude and attitude data is communicated in the data stream to the computer determine the attitude and attitude plane of the vessel.

[0023] In one embodiment when the vessel is in dry dock or otherwise support on or above the ground the datum is the level of the ground.

[0024] In a second aspect there is disclosed a marine measuring system for measuring real time draft of a plurality of vessels floating in water the marine measuring system comprising: for each vessel (a) one or more vessel based electronic systems located on the vessel and capable of providing data at a plurality of times relating to the vertical height of each system with reference to a datum, each vessel based electronic systems including global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver for receiving positioning information from a global navigation satellite system; and (b) an onboard electronic beacon in wireless communication with each of the vessel based electronic system for that vessel wherein the beacon receives positioning information from each of the vessel based electronic systems and collates the positioning information into a data stream, the beacon provided with unique and transmittable identification data; an offboard electronic base station located offboard of all of the plurality of vessels arranged to measure the vertical level or height of the datum and provide associated datum information; at least one computer system arranged to receive the data stream and unique identification data from each beacon and the datum information and calculate one of both of a change in draft or vertical level of each vessel and a change in a characteristic of each vessel related to the change in draft or vertical level.

[0025] In one embodiment the at least one vessel based electronic system, comprises at least three vessel based electronic systems wherein the at least three vessel based electronic systems are located non-colinearly with each other to define a vertical height and attitude plane of the vessel.

[0026] In a third aspect there is disclosed a non-optical marine vessel displacement measuring system for measuring a change in vessel displacement comprising: one or more vessel based electronic systems located on the vessel and capable of providing data at a plurality of times relating to the vertical height of each system with reference to a datum, each vessel based electronic systems including a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver for receiving 3D positioning data from a global navigation satellite system; an offboard electronic base station located offboard the vessel arranged to measure the vertical level or height of the datum; and a computing system in communication with the vessel based electronic system, the computing system being arranged to receive and use the data sourced from the one or more vessel based electronic systems and the vertical level or height of the datum, to calculate a change in vessel draft and displacement between the first time and the second time without input of information derived from optical detection of markings on the vessel. In one embodiment the one or more vessel based electronic system, comprises at least three electronic vessel based electronic systems, wherein the at least three electronic vessel based electronic systems are located non-colinearly with each other to define an attitude plane of the vessel.

[0027] In one embodiment the computer system is arranged to determine an orientation of the attitude plane, and to further use the determined orientation to calculate the draft and displacement of the marine vessel in real time.

[0028] In one embodiment the GNSS receiver includes at least one of a real-time kinematic global positioning system (RTK GNSS / GPS) receiver, a precise point positioning (PPP) receiver, and a combined RTK-PPP receiver.

[0029] In one embodiment the off-board base station is disposed at a precisely known location in 3D space which is offboard of the vessel, the offboard base station being capable of communicating its location and geospatial reference information to one or more of the vessel based electronic systems and the computer system.

[0030] In one embodiment the off-board system includes a tide measurement system arranged to facilitate the provision of real time water level information, and wherein the offboard base station is arranged to communicate the real time water level information to the computing system and wherein the computing system uses the water level information as the datum to calculate the change in vessel displacement.

[0031] In one embodiment the wherein the off-board base station includes one or both of a water temperature sensor, a water salinity sensor for measuring temperature or salinity of body of water and wherein the offboard base station is arranged to communicate water temperature and water salinity measurements to the computer system and wherein the computer system uses the water temperature and water salinity measurements to calculate the change in vessel displacement.

[0032] In one embodiment the offboard base station is disposed at a precisely known location in 3D space which is offboard of the vessel, the offboard system base station being capable of communicating its location and geospatial reference information to one or both of the vessel based electronic systems and the computer system. In one embodiment the offboard base station includes one or more of a real-time kinematic global positioning system (RTK GPS) receiver, a precise point positioning (PPP) receiver, a combined RTK-PPP receiver.

[0033] In one embodiment the offboard system comprises (a) a fixed offboard system fixed to structure at or near a seaport; (b) a floating offboard system, or (c) at least one fixed offboard system fixed to structure at or near a seaport and at least one floating offboard system.

[0034] In one embodiment including an electronic beacon in wireless communication with the one or more vessel based electronic systems and wherein the beacon is arranged to collate vertical height from each of the one or more vessel based electronic systems and communicate the collated data to the computer system.

[0035] In one embodiment the electronic beacon is arranged to provide unique identification data to the computer system enabling the computer system to uniquely identify a vessel from a plurality of vessels each of which is provided with a corresponding one or more vessel based electronic system capable of providing data relating the vertical height of each system with reference to the datum of the associated vessel.

[0036] In one embodiment the computer system is provided with or van access draft-and volume displacement data for the marine vessel and further arranged to calculate a change in vessel draft and displacement between the first and second times.

[0037] In a fourth aspect there is disclosed a non-optical marine vessel draft and displacement measuring system for measuring a change in vessel displacement comprising: at least one vessel based electronic system located on the vessel and capable of providing data relating to the draft and displacement of the vessel in a body of water at a plurality of times including a first time and a second time, wherein the vessel based electronic system includes a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver for receiving 3D positioning data from a global navigation satellite system; a beacon arranged to collate the positioning data from each vessel based electronic system; an off-board system at a precisely known location in 3D space which is offboard of the vessel, the offboard system being capable of communicating its location and geospatial reference information to each vessel based electronic system; and a computing system in communication with the vessel based electronic system, the computing system being arranged to receive the collated positioning data and calculate a change in vessel draft and displacement between the first time and the second time without input of information derived from optical detection of markings on the vessel.

[0038] In a fifth aspect there is disclosed a non-optical marine vessel draft and displacement measuring system for simultaneous measurement of a change in displacement of a plurality of vessels floating in a body of water comprising: for each vessel: (a) at least one vessel based electronic system located on the vessel and including a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver for receiving positioning data from a global navigation satellite system capable of providing data relating to the draft and displacement of the vessel at a plurality of times including a first time and a second time; and (b) a beacon arranged to collate the positioning data each from each vessel based electronic system, each beacon having a unique address or identification data; a common off-board system at a precisely known location which is offboard of all the vessels, the offboard system including a sensor or an apparatus for measuring water level of the body of water and generating water level data; and at least one computer system in communication with each beacon and the offboard system, each computing system being arranged to receive the collated data from each beacon and the water level data and determine, for each vessel, a change draft and displacement between the first time and the second time.

[0039] In a sixth aspect there is disclosed a method of determining a monetary value of cargo loaded into or off loaded from a marine vessel floating in a body of water comprising: transmitting vertical height levelling and altitude data from at least one global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver located on a marine vessel to a computer system; transmitting vertical height levelling and altitude data from at least one offboard system being offboard of the marine vessel to the computer system; providing the computer system with draft and volume displacement data for the marine vessel; and arranging the computer system to process the data from the at least one GNSS receiver to determine a change in draft and displacement of the marine vessel between two or more points in time and attribute a monetary value to the cargo based on the change in draft and displacement.

[0040] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] Notwithstanding any other forms which may fall within the scope of the system and method as set forth in the Summary, a specific embodiment will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to becoming drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a first embodiment of the disclosed marine vessel draft-line and displacement measuring system and method.

[0042] Figure 2 is a schematic representation of a second embodiment of the disclosed marine vessel measuring system and method applied to a plurality of vessels.

[0043] Figure 3 is representation of a third embodiment of the disclosed marine vessel measuring system and method in a dry dock application.

[0044] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENT

[0045] Specific embodiments of the disclosed method and system will now be described by way of example only. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the disclosed method and system. Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art pertaining to the disclosed method and system. In the drawings, it should be understood that like reference numbers refer to like parts.

[0046] Broadly speaking, the general idea of the present disclosure is to provide a vessel measuring system and method (hereinafter also referred to as “measuring system and method”) with increased accuracy and that can provide measurements in real time and that are repeatable. Embodiments of the measuring system and method determine vertical height or vessel draft by use of radio frequency devices and radio frequency transmitted data and information. Thus, embodiments of the disclosed measuring system and method do not require optical devices or optical detection and recognition of markings, such as draft lines / markings or a Plimsoll line, on the vessel. The measurement system and method rely on the use of at a least one onboard or vessel based electronic systems in conjunction with an offboard electronic base station to measure and provide data relating to characteristics of the marine vessel such as the draft or displacement of a vessel floating in a body of water or draft-line / vertical height of a vessel free standing in and on a drydock. The onboard or vessel based electronic systems may be mobile. This enables the or vessel based electronic systems to be repositioned if needed from time to time.

[0047] The measuring system and method can be arranged to continuously measure and provide the data. Alternately the measuring systems may be arranged to provide data at regular intervals, for example every: 10 seconds, or minute, or 5 minutes or hour etc. When at least three vessel based electronic systems are provided they may be arranged in non-colinear manner to define an attitude plane. The vessel based electronic systems may also provide positioning, and / or vertical height levelling and / or draft-line data or information of the vessel.

[0048] As explained in greater detail below, embodiments of the disclosed measuring system and method may utilise a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The GNSS may include but is not limited to GPS (the Global Positioning System (GPS) operated by the United States) and Galileo (a GNSS operated by European satellites). Real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning and / or precise point positioning (PPP) may also be used to enhance the accuracy of GNSS acquired positioning data.

[0049] Embodiment of the disclosed measuring system and method may comprise various combinations of the following components or subsystems: (a) one or more onboard or vessel based electronic systems; (b) a beacon which may be onboard or offboard; (c) an offboard base station, which may be fixed or floating and (d) at least one computer system. Each of these components or subsystems will be described in a board and general sense hereinafter.

[0050] The onboard or vessel based electronic systems may in the form of one or more of: a mobile real-time kinematic Global Navigation Satellite System (RTK GNSS) receiver; a precise point positioning (PPP) receiver; a mobile combined or integrated RTK-PPP GNSS receiver. As understood by those skilled in the art, RTK positioning systems use a fixed base station which transmits correction data to a mobile RTK receiver. (In embodiment of the disclosed measuring system and method, the base station may be incorporated into the offboard base station referred to as item (c) in the preceding paragraph.) For a single band RTK receiver, the base station should be within about 10 km of the receiver, while for a multiband RTK receiver this distance may be extended to or about 60 km. The RTK positioning system may provide highly accurate altitude data to the computer system (within a 10mm tolerance). The accuracy of the calculated altitude derived from the base corrected signals is in the order of 1 to 10 mm. In comparison PPP uses a single GNSS receiver without the need for local reference station and provides an accuracy of up to 30mm.

[0051] The onboard or vessel based electronic systems may also include Wi-Fi and radio frequency (RF) communications systems. Further the onboard or vessel based electronic systems may be in the form of loT (internet of things) devices. The beacon is an electronic device which is capable of communicating with the onboard or vessel based electronic systems. The beacon collects data from the onboard or vessel based electronic systems and communicates the data to the computing system. The beacon may have a unique address or identifier. This enables the computing device to distinguished data relating to different vessels when the measurement system and method is being used to measurement characteristics of multiple vessels simultaneously. This situation may occur for example when two of more vessels are being loaded or unloaded at the same port facility. The beacon may also incorporate an inertial measurement unit (IMU) which operates to provide 6 or 9 degrees of freedom and level data of the beacon which, when the beacon is on a vessel, provides data that may also be used by the computer system to determine the attitude and attitude plane of the vessel.

[0052] The offboard base station may include:

[0053] • GNSS receivers or systems including one or more of the following: o a RTK base station to provide correction data to the RTK receiver in each vessel based system, o a PPP receiver o combined RTK-PPP receiver to determine its own position and altitude in 3D

[0054] • various electronic sensors for measuring physical or environmental characteristics including o water pressure o water salinity o water temperature o barometric pressure o water level sensor or measurement systems.

[0055] • communications systems including Wi-Fi and a RF transceiver which enable communication with other parts of the disclosed measurement system and method as well as receipt of signals and data from various global navigation satellite systems.

[0056] The offboard base station may be a fixed offboard base station fixed to structure at or near a seaport; (b) a floating offboard base station. Further the disclosed system and method may include, at least one fixed offboard base station fixed to structure at or near a seaport and at least one floating offboard base station. One function of the offshore base station is to provide vertical level or height / position information of a datum against which the height / position of the vessel based systems are compared to enable calculation of vessel draft and other characteristics. The datum may be sea or water level when the vessel is floating in a body of water, or ground level when the vessel is in dry dock or otherwise supported on or above the ground.

[0057] The computer system receives the data from the vessel based electronic system(s) via the beacon, as well as data form the offboard base station and from this is programmed or otherwise arranged to calculate desired vessel characteristic such as draft and vessel displacement at designated points in time. As such, the computer system can determine the vessel displacement and / or draft for example before and after loading or unloading cargo or supplies. A comparison performed by the computer between the before and after values provides the change in draft-line and displacement. This is then referenced against draft-line and volume displacement data of the vessel, which is a known characteristic of a vessel typically recorded on lookup tables or charts accessible by or stored in the computer system enabling the computer system to calculate the weight of the cargo / supplies loaded onto or unloaded from the vessel. This in turn enables a determination of the monetary value, of the dead-weight cargo or supplies loaded onto, or unloaded from, the carrier. The computing system may be associated with a visual display to provide continuous or regularly updated representation of the various values and data including but not limited to vessel draft, vessel attitude, vessels altitude, displacement of the vessel, values of cargo loaded onto or unloaded from the vessel. The representation may be by way of one or more of tables of text and numbers, graphs, charts, and animated depictions of the vessel.

[0058] The effects of tidal variation on the draft-line and displacement of the vessel can be accounted for by virtue of the GNSS systems and receivers and other sensors in the offboard base stations (whether fixed or floating). The floating offboard base stations may for example include RTK and / or PPP GNSS receivers. By measuring the water level / height at the same points in time as the altitude and vertical height levelling of the vessel, the effects of any change in water level in the draft-line and displacement of the marine vessel can be accounted for. It is further envisaged that embodiments of the floating offboard base stations may incorporate sensors such an IMU to detect the peak or troughs of waves. This will then enable the waterborne offboard base station to for example report water level at say each trough.

[0059] Alternate embodiments of the disclosed measurement system and method may incorporate for example electronic systems which are or can be attached to the vessel at known locations on the hull of the vessel that are referenced to a datum on the vessel, and can measure at least water pressure. In such embodiments the water pressure experienced by the electronic systems is dependent on the draft-line and displacement of the vessel. For example, as the displacement increases the water pressure increases. The computer system can be arranged to reference the water pressure with displacement to enable the measurement or calculation of the weight and monetary value of cargo loaded into or off of the vessel. By having at least three of the pressure sensing electronic systems at mutually non-collinear locations, altitude and attitude plane of the vessel can also be determined which, in conjunction with draft-line and volume displacement data can provide enhanced measurements.

[0060] In some embodiment of disclosed marine vessel measurement system and method the onboard or vessel based electronic systems may be attached to the vessel before and during loading, and removed after calculation of the desired vessel characteristic including cargo value. In the same or variations of this embodiment the electronic systems may be movably attached to the vessel. In such a variation, the onboard or vessel based electronic systems may nonetheless be movable for example along a marine vessel deck or rail in a generally vertical direction so they can be positioned, for example, to be in contact with the water prior to the commencement of loading or unloading.

[0061] The use of sonar, LIDAR or laser systems for measuring distance, and more particularly changes in distance of a designated point or points on the vessel to a known reference is also contemplated in various embodiments of the disclosed marine vessel measurement system and method. The sonar, LIDAR or lasers systems may be incorporated in the offboard base station, or as standalone equipment that is in communication with at least the computer system.

[0062] LIDAR technologies can detect motion and velocity by detecting an objects’ Doppler effect and can achieve >100m range and to millimetre resolution. Ultrasonic sensors operate using sound waves in the frequency band 20kHz-120kHz. Sound waves travel slower than light waves and their response to changes in distance is therefore slower. However, they benefit over light wave detection systems since not affected by environmental conditions and the sound is reflected by a water surface. Also, response time in applications relating to the measurement of vessel displacement is not critical given the time taken to load or unload cargo. Some embodiments may rely solely on sonar or LIDAR for vessel displacement measurement. However, in other embodiments sonar and LIDAR may be incorporated to in addition to other measurement systems and devices to provide additional accuracy and / or redundancy. For example, an embodiment of the method and system may use a combination of RTK and / or PPP GNSS / GPS altitude measurement as described herein together with one or both of sonar and LIDAR sensors.

[0063] In all embodiments the onboard or vessel based electronic systems may be located at fixed and known positional relationship to draft markings on the hull of the vessel to facilitate the direct correlation between the sensed parameter (for example altitude or pressure) to the draft-line markings and displacement values.

[0064] Information from the onboard or vessel based electronic systems and the offboard base stations can be communicated wirelessly to the computer system via known communication networks and systems. In one arrangement, the onboard or vessel based electric systems may each communicate with a common base station that in turn communicates either directly or indirectly with the computer system. For example, the base station may communicate information via the Internet to the computer system. Also, the computer system may be one of several computer systems at different locations and / or on different devices such as a laptop, server, or mobile phone. The computer system is arranged to provide a user interface, for the presentation of data / information.

[0065] Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a first embodiment of the disclosed marine vessel measurement system 10 (herein after “system 10”). In this embodiment the system 10 is used for the purpose of measuring displacement of a marine vessel 14. In this embodiment, but not necessarily all embodiments of the disclosed system 10 and associated method the disclosed system 10 has six onboard or vessel based electronic systems 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d, 12e and 12f (hereinafter referred to in general as “onboard system 12” in the singular, and “onboard systems 12” in the plural). In one configuration there may be separate vessel based electronic systems 12 located near the forward or front, back or aft, and midships on both port and starboard sides. Conveniently the onboard system 12 may be distributed on a common deck of the vessel. As explained later in some embodiments the disclosed system 10 may have just one onboard system 12. In other embodiments of the disclosed system 10 where the marine vessel is floating in a body of water there is a benefit in having at least three onboard systems 12 which are located in a non colinear manner so as to define a plane. Each of the onboard system 10 will provide corresponding altitude or height data, while the three or more onboard systems 12 may together define or form an attitude plane of the vessel 14.

[0066] The onboard systems 12 are located at fixed locations on the marine vessel 14, floating on a body of water 16. With the six onboard systems 12 shown in Fig 1 at least three onboard systems 12 are arranged in a non-colinear manner, e.g., 12a, 12c and 12e; or 12b, 12e, 12f; or 12a, 12d, 12f; etc. When arranged in this manner, the onboard systems 12 are able to define vertical height level and attitude plane of the vessel 14.

[0067] Each onboard systems 12 have at least one GNSS receiver, and in this embodiment RTK and / or PPP GNSS / GPS receivers, to provide data pertaining to their 3D position from which the draft and displacement of the vessel 14 is derived by appropriate processing by the computer system 24. The draft and displacement data provided by or derived from the RTK and / or PPP GNSS / GPS data has a high degree of accuracy due to correction signals provided by an associated RTK GNSS offboard base station 18. The offboard base station 18 is located at a known and fixed location. When the RTK and / or PPP GNSS / GPS receivers are single brand receivers the base station 18 ideally should be within 10 km of the receivers. When the RTK and / or PPP GNSS / GPS receivers are multiband receivers, the base station should be within 60 km of the receivers.

[0068] When the system 10 is used to measure a characteristic of a floating vessel moored at a seaport / jetty 20 for example for loading or unloading cargo, ideally the offboard base station 18 is fixed to structure at or near a seaport and thus in close proximity to the vessel, for example within at most 1-2 km. In this way the other sensors of the offboard system can also measure or otherwise provide height level information of the water in which the vessel is floating.

[0069] The positioning data including vertical height levelling or altitude data from the onboard systems 12 is communicated to a beacon 22 located on the vessel 14. This may be via the internet or local WI-FI network using Wi-Fi capability built into the onboard systems 12 and the beacon 18. The beacon 22 communicates this data to one or more computer systems 24. This communication may be direct, via the Internet, a local network, or via an IOT cloud. For ease of description, reference will be made to a single computer system 24, with the understanding that, when there is more than one computer system 24, each is arranged to calculate the vessel displacement and other characteristics or parameters corresponding to the point in time at which altitude was measured by the onboard systems 12. Optionally a degree of redundancy or backup is provided by the onboard systems 12 being able to act as a relay for positioning data acquired by a neighbouring onboard station 12 where the communications system of that neighbouring system is not working. For example, if the Wi-Fi system in onboard system 12a is not working or otherwise disabled, the closest onboard system 12d may acquire the positioning data form the system 12a and relay that to the beacon 22. This redundancy may be provided by the inclusion of a second wi-fi or other comms system / devices in the onboard systems 12.

[0070] The onboard systems 12 are able to provide and communicate their positioning data which includes vertical height levelling and altitude data continuously through the beacon 22 to the computer system 24. Alternately if desired the onboard systems 12 can communicate the data at set intervals such as 10 seconds, or minute, or 5 minutes or hour etc. The data can also be time stamped.

[0071] Consider a scenario where the vessel 14 has five cargo holds ready to be loaded with a bulk material such as iron ore. Prior to the commencement of loading, the onboard systems 12, located on the vessel 14 provide positioning data which includes, or from which can be extracted vertical height levelling and altitude data which correlates to the draft-line and displacement of the vessel 14 at that time. The vertical height levelling and altitude of this vessel and this time is known as the “pre-loading zero position”. While the vessel 14 is loaded with iron ore the onboard systems 12 provide positioning data including altitude data to the computer system 24 via the beacon 22 and possibly other intervening communication networks. The base station 18 also communicated datum level data, e.g., water level data to the beaconl 8, or directly to the computer system 24.

[0072] At any desired point in time the computer system 24 is able to calculate from the vertical height levelling and altitude data, the instantaneous draft-line and displacement of the vessel 14. This involves at least comparing datum level with the vessel altitude / vertical height data to go from the displacement to the actual cargo weight and dead-weight tonnage, the computer system 24 must also have access to volume stability and displacement tables or charts for the vessel. The volume stability and displacement tables and charts reference the vessel water line and draft measures against the draft-line markings and displacement values on the hull with the actual volume of water displaced by the vessel 14. The weight of the volume of water displaced by the loading of cargo’s equivalent to the weight of loaded cargo. In the present embodiment there are several (in this particular instance at least three) onboard systems 12 in the form of RTK and / or PPP GNSS / GPS receivers at fixed locations on the vessel 14. These devices 12 may have a known relationship to the markings on the hull on the vessel 14. Therefore, the vertical height levelling and altitude changes at the onboard systems 12 arising due to the loading of the vessel 14 can be directly correlated to the draft-line markings and displacement on the vessel.

[0073] It should also be appreciated that when a vessel such as a bulk carrier is being loaded with cargo there is a possibility that the roll, pitch, and yaw angles and heave, hog and sagging of 6 & 9 degrees of freedom of the vessel will vary during the loading process. Moreover, the vertical height levelling and attitude of the vessel 14 before and after loading is likely to different. As previously mentioned by having three or more onboard systems 12 on the vessel 14, the computer system 24 can be arranged to determine a vertical height levelling and attitude plane of the vessel 14. This enables the draft-line and displacement measuring system 10 to take account of the change in vertical height levelling and attitude between two points in time (e.g., before and after loading) In addition to the change in altitude to when calculating the volume displacement and draft-lines of the vessel.

[0074] The computer system 24 may include or otherwise be associated with at least one a visual display to provide continuous or regularly updated representation of the various values and data including but not limited to vessel draft, vessel attitude, vessels altitude, displacement of the vessel, values of cargo loaded onto or unloaded from the vessel. The representation may be by way of one or more of tables of text and numbers, graphs, charts, animated depictions of the vessel.

[0075] Alternately the system 10 may have multiple computer systems 24 at different locations each with at least one display to enamel a plurality of different stakeholder at different locations visualise and keep undated with the measured / calculated characteristics.

[0076] In the present embodiment the draft-line and displacement measuring system 10 includes one or more (but in this embodiment only one) RKT and / or PPP GNSS / GPS offboard floating base station 18f arranged to provide water height data. The offboard floating base station 18f may include a RTK GNSS receiver and / or a PPP receiver. When the offboard floating base station 18f includes a RTK GNSS receiver it is arranged to receive RTK correction data from either an associated fixed offboard system 18, or if within range, from a third party RTK correction base station. If the offboard floating base station 18f does not include a RTK GNSS receiver it may rely on PPP to provide an average water level height over a period of time, e.g., 30 minutes. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art tidal variation over a third minute period is typically not substantial, and further when used to determine cargo value often the time period for cargo load or unload is many hours.

[0077] The offboard floating base station 18f may be located on or in a floating buoy or on a floating platform. In some embodiments the offboard floating base station 18f may be constrained to float with a single linear degree of freedom of motion in a vertical plane, such as by being on a plating platform mounted on a vertical rail fixed to a jetty of a seaport.

[0078] The offboard floating base station 18f may be fitted with at least one inertial measurement unit (IMU). The provision of an IMU allows the option for pre-filtering of tidal data based on position relative to any wave peak or trough. When mounted in the water, an IMU may enable optimal broadcast of data when at a wave peak for example which would improve line-of-sight-communications compared to a trough in rough seas. Tidal variation is a slow process and slow filtering will enable good resolution for tidal offset within the overall system.

[0079] As previously mentioned, the offboard floating base station 18f or indeed other devices incorporated in the marine vessel measurement system 10 may be provided with barometric pressure, temperature, and salinity sensors. Data form the floating offboard base station 18f is communicated to the computer system 24 by a wireless communications system which may include RF radio or Wi-Fi. This data may be used by the computer system 24 in the calculation of the volume displacement of the vessel 12 and subsequently the value of the tare weight of the vessel, goods / cargo loaded or unloaded between two points in time.

[0080] Figure 2 illustrates an embodiment of the disclosed marine vessel measuring system 10p applied to a plurality of vessels 14a, 14b and 14c. Each vessel 14a, 14b, 14c has a plurality of onboard or vessel based electronic systems 12 distributed on a common deck in the same configuration as shown in Figure 1. Also, each vessel 14a, 14b, 14c has a corresponding beacon 22a, 22b and 22c. But the system 10p in Fig 2 has only the one offboard base station 18 which is fixed to a structure at the seaport 20. The offboard base station is able to communicate data and information to all the vessel based electronic system 12 on each vessel 14a, 14b, 14c. For example, the base station 18 can provide RTK correction data and water level information to all the vessel based electronic systems 12.

[0081] Each beacon 22a, 22b, 22c logs information and data from only the vessel based electronic systems 12 on the same vessel at that beacon. Each beacon is capable of uniquely identifying itself, for example by embedding of a unique address or identifier data in communication with the computer system 24. The computer system 24 can use the unique identifying information to separately process data and information pertaining to each vessel 14a, 14b and 14c. If the vessels 14a, 14b, 14c are being simultaneously loaded or unloaded system 10p via its associated the computer system(s) 24 can calculate or otherwise determine desired characteristic such as change in displacement and value of cargo loaded or unloaded for each vessel 14a, 14b and 14c in real time.

[0082] Figure 3 illustrates an embodiment of the disclosed marine vessel measuring system 10c that may be used during the construction vessel 14. In the embodiment the system 10c a vessel 14 is being constructed at a dry dock 20d and supported on and above the ground 16c. The system 10c may has just a single vessel based electronic system 12 on a deck of the vessel under construction. The beacon 22 may be located offboard the vessel under construction but in radio / Wi-Fi communication with the single vessel based electronic system 12. The offboard base station 18 is located on a building 26 at or near the construction site. The computer system 24 may be located in the building. The base station 18 in addition to provide for example RTK correction data in the event that the vessel based system 12 includes a RTK or combined RTK - PPP GNSS receiver, may provide vertical leveling information of the ground 16c and or position and / or height of a support structure 28 of the vessel under construction to the beacon 22 for transmission to the computer system. The provides one or more datum levels against which position or level of, and acquired by, the vessel based electronic system 12 is referenced. This then enables the computer system 24 to determine the level of the vessel based electronic system 12 above the keel of the vessel.

[0083] The computer system 24 may also be just one of a plurality of computer systems 24 in the vessel measurement system 10c. One or more of the computer systems in this and indeed all embodiments may be in the form of a laptop computer.

[0084] When the vessel is being constructed in a plurality of sections that are to be attached together the system 10c may include at least one vessel based electronic system 12 on each section. This enable workers to check the height of construction of for example decks in each section to ensure they will be coplanar when the separate sections are joined together.

[0085] While several exemplary embodiments have been presented in the foregoing detailed description, it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that the exemplary embodiments of disclosed marine vessel measuring system 10 are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the present disclosure in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing an exemplary embodiment of the disclosed draft-line and displacement measuring system 10.

[0086] In the claims which follow, and in the preceding description, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word “comprise” and variations such as “comprises” or “comprising” are used in an inclusive sense, i.e., to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the system and method as disclosed herein.

Claims

CLAIMS1 . A marine vessel measuring system comprising: one or more vessel based electronic systems located on the vessel and capable of providing data at a plurality of times relating to the vertical height of each system with reference to a datum, each vessel based electronic systems including a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver for receiving 3D positioning data from a global navigation satellite system; an offboard electronic base station located offboard the vessel arranged to measure vertical level or height of the datum and produce associated datum data; an electronic beacon in radio frequency communication with each of the vessel based electronic systems; and a computing system in radio frequency communication with the beacon and the offboard system; wherein the beacon receives position information from each of the vessel based electronic systems and collates the information into a data stream, and wherein the computing system is arranged to receive the data stream and the datum data and form this calculate a change in draft or vertical height of the vessel between a first time and a second time with reference to the datum.

2. The marine vessel measuring system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one vessel based electronic system, comprises at least three vessel based electronic systems wherein the at least three vessel based electronic systems are located non- colinearly with each other to define a vertical height and attitude plane of the vessel.

3. The marine vessel measuring system according to claims 1 or 2 wherein the GNSS receiver includes at least one of: a real time kinematic (RTK) GNSS receiver; a precise point positioning (PPP) receiver; and a combined RTK-PPP receiver.

4. The marine vessel measuring system according to claims 2 or 3 wherein, when the marine vessel is floating in a body of water, the computer system is arranged to determine an orientation of the attitude plane, and to further use the determined orientation to calculate the draft and displacement of the marine vessel in real time.

5. The marine vessel measuring system according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein, when the vessel is floating in a or the body of water the off-board electronic system includes a tide measurement system arranged to facilitate the provision of real timewater level, wherein the real time water level forms the datum, and wherein the off- board electronic system communicates the datum to the computing system and wherein the computing system uses the datum to calculate the change in vessel displacement.

6. The marine vessel measuring system according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the off-board system includes one or both of a water temperature sensor, a water salinity sensor for measuring temperature or salinity of the body of water and wherein the offboard system is arranged to communicate water temperature and water salinity measurements to the computing system and wherein the computing system uses the water temperature and water salinity measurements to calculate the change in vessel displacement.

7. The marine vessel measuring system according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the offboard base station comprises (a) a fixed offboard base station fixed to structure at or near a seaport; (b) a floating offboard base station, or (c) at least one fixed offboard base station fixed to structure at or near a seaport and at least one floating offboard base station.

8. The marine vessel measuring system according to claim 7, wherein the fixed offboard system the includes an RTK correction signal device and the fixed offboard base station is arranged to communicate the RTK correction data to each of the GNSS receivers.

9. The marine vessel measuring system according to claim 7 or 8 wherein the offboard base station include, a precise point positioning (PPP) receiver, and / or a combined RTK-PPP receiver.

10. The marine vessel measuring system according to any one of claims 1 to 9 wherein the computer system is provided with volume displacement data for the marine vessel and further arranged to calculate a change in vessel displacement between the first and second times using the measured change in draft or vertical height of the vessel.11 . The marine vessel measuring system according to claim 8 wherein the electronic beacon is arranged to provide unique identification data to the computing system enabling the computing system to uniquely identify a vessel from a plurality of vessels each of which is provided with corresponding associated one or more vessel based electronic systems and the computing system is arranged to receive the data streamfrom each beacon and calculate a change in draft or vertical height of each vessel associated with each beacon vessel between respective first time and second times with reference to the datum.

12. The marine vessel measuring system according to any one of claims 1 to 11 wherein the beacon includes an inertial measurement unit (IMU) which arranged to generate altitude and attitude data of the vessel, and wherein the altitude and attitude data is communicated in the data stream to the computer determine the attitude and attitude plane of the vessel.

13. The marine vessel measuring system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein when the vessel is in dry dock or otherwise support on or above the ground the datum is the level of the ground.

14. A marine measuring system for measuring real time draft of a plurality of vessels floating in water the marine measuring system comprising: for each vessel (a) one or more vessel based electronic systems located on the vessel and capable of providing data at a plurality of times relating to the vertical height of each system with reference to a datum, each vessel based electronic systems including global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver for receiving positioning information from a global navigation satellite system; and (b) an onboard electronic beacon in wireless communication with each of the vessel based electronic system forthat vessel wherein the beacon receives positioning information from each of the vessel based electronic systems and collates the positioning information into a data stream, the beacon provided with unique and transmittable identification data; an offboard electronic base station located offboard of all of the plurality of vessels arranged to measure the vertical level or height of the datum and provide associated datum information; at least one computer system arranged to receive the data stream and unique identification data from each beacon and the datum information and calculate one of both of a change in draft or vertical level of each vessel and a change in a characteristic of each vessel related to the change in draft or vertical level.

15. The marine vessel measuring system according to claim 14 wherein the at least one vessel based electronic system, comprises at least three vessel based electronic systems wherein the at least three vessel based electronic systems are located non- colinearly with each other to define a vertical height and attitude plane of the vessel.

16. A non-optical marine vessel displacement measuring system for measuring a change in vessel displacement comprising: one or more vessel based electronic systems located on the vessel and capable of providing data at a plurality of times relating to the vertical height of each system with reference to a datum, each vessel based electronic systems including a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver for receiving 3D positioning data from a global navigation satellite system; an offboard electronic base station located offboard the vessel arranged to measure the vertical level or height of the datum; and a computing system in communication with the vessel based electronic system, the computing system being arranged to receive and use the data sourced from the one or more vessel based electronic systems and the vertical level or height of the datum, to calculate a change in vessel draft and displacement between the first time and the second time without input of information derived from optical detection of markings on the vessel.

17. The marine vessel displacement measuring system according to claim 16 wherein the one or more vessel based electronic system, comprises at least three electronic vessel based electronic systems, wherein the at least three electronic vessel based electronic systems are located non-colinearly with each other to define an attitude plane of the vessel.

18. The marine vessel displacement measuring system according to claim 17 wherein the computer system is arranged to determine an orientation of the attitude plane, and to further use the determined orientation to calculate the draft and displacement of the marine vessel in real time.

19. The marine vessel displacement measuring system according to any one of claims 16 to 18 wherein the GNSS receiver includes at least one of a real-time kinematic global positioning system (RTK GNSS / GPS) receiver, a precise point positioning (PPP) receiver, and a combined RTK-PPP receiver.

20. The marine vessel displacement measuring system according to any one of claims 16 to 19 wherein the off-board base station is disposed at a precisely known location in 3D space which is offboard of the vessel, the offboard base station being capableof communicating its location and geospatial reference information to one or more of the vessel based electronic systems and the computer system.

21. The marine vessel displacement measuring system according to claim 20 wherein the off-board system includes a tide measurement system arranged to facilitate the provision of real time water level information, and wherein the offboard base station is arranged to communicate the real time water level information to the computing system and wherein the computing system uses the water level information as the datum to calculate the change in vessel displacement.

22. The marine vessel displacement measuring system according to claim 20 or 21 wherein the wherein the off-board base station includes one or both of a water temperature sensor, a water salinity sensor for measuring temperature or salinity of body of water and wherein the offboard base station is arranged to communicate water temperature and water salinity measurements to the computer system and wherein the computer system uses the water temperature and water salinity measurements to calculate the change in vessel displacement.

23. The marine vessel displacement measuring system according to any one of claims 20 to 22 wherein the offboard base station is disposed at a precisely known location in 3D space which is offboard of the vessel, the offboard system base station being capable of communicating its location and geospatial reference information to one or both of the vessel based electronic systems and the computer system.

24. The marine vessel displacement measuring system according to claim 23 wherein the offboard base station includes one or more of a real-time kinematic global positioning system (RTK GPS) receiver, a precise point positioning (PPP) receiver, a combined RTK-PPP receiver.

25. The marine vessel displacement measuring system according to any one of claims 20 to 24 wherein the offboard system comprises (a) a fixed offboard system fixed to structure at or near a seaport; (b) a floating offboard system, or (c) at least one fixed offboard system fixed to structure at or near a seaport and at least one floating offboard system.

26. The marine vessel displacement measuring system according to any one of claims 16 to 25 wherein including an electronic beacon in wireless communication with the one or more vessel based electronic systems and wherein the beacon is arranged tocollate vertical height from each of the one or more vessel based electronic systems and communicate the collated data to the computer system.

27. The marine vessel displacement measuring system according to claim 26 wherein the electronic beacon is arranged to provide unique identification data to the computer system enabling the computer system to uniquely identify a vessel from a plurality of vessels each of which is provided with a corresponding one or more vessel based electronic system capable of providing data relating the vertical height of each system with reference to the datum of the associated vessel.

28. The marine vessel displacement measuring system according to any one of claims 16 to 27 wherein the computer system is provided with or van access draft-and volume displacement data for the marine vessel and further arranged to calculate a change in vessel draft and displacement between the first and second times.

29. A non-optical marine vessel draft and displacement measuring system for measuring a change in vessel displacement comprising: at least one vessel based electronic system located on the vessel and capable of providing data relating to the draft and displacement of the vessel in a body of water at a plurality of times including a first time and a second time, wherein the vessel based electronic system includes a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver for receiving 3D positioning data from a global navigation satellite system; a beacon arranged to collate the positioning data from each vessel based electronic system; an off-board system at a precisely known location in 3D space which is offboard of the vessel, the offboard system being capable of communicating its location and geospatial reference information to each vessel based electronic system; and a computing system in communication with the vessel based electronic system, the computing system being arranged to receive the collated positioning data and calculate a change in vessel draft and displacement between the first time and the second time without input of information derived from optical detection of markings on the vessel.

30. A non-optical marine vessel draft and displacement measuring system for simultaneous measurement of a change in displacement of a plurality of vessels floating in a body of water comprising:for each vessel: (a) at least one vessel based electronic system located on the vessel and including a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver for receiving positioning data from a global navigation satellite system capable of providing data relating to the draft and displacement of the vessel at a plurality of times including a first time and a second time; and (b) a beacon arranged to collate the positioning data each from each vessel based electronic system, each beacon having a unique address or identification data; a common off-board system at a precisely known location which is offboard of all the vessels, the offboard system including a sensor or an apparatus for measuring water level of the body of water and generating water level data; and at least one computer system in communication with each beacon and the offboard system, each computing system being arranged to receive the collated data from each beacon and the water level data and determine, for each vessel, a change draft and displacement between the first time and the second time.

31. A method of determining a monetary value of cargo loaded into or off loaded from a marine vessel floating in a body of water comprising: transmitting vertical height levelling and altitude data from at least one global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver located on a marine vessel to a computer system; transmitting vertical height levelling and altitude data from at least one offboard system being offboard of the marine vessel to the computer system; providing the computer system with draft and volume displacement data for the marine vessel; and arranging the computer system to process the data from the at least one GNSS receiver to determine a change in draft and displacement of the marine vessel between two or more points in time and attribute a monetary value to the cargo based on the change in draft and displacement.

Images