Communications system

Abstract

A communication system for use in a monitoring a bearing system in a vessel, the communication system having a communication module comprising at least one data input mechanism, a data management mechanism, a wireless communication mechanism, and a power supply, such that, in use, data is input by way of the data input mechanism is provided to the data management mechanism which is operable to output representative data to the wireless communication mechanism for onward transmission.

Description

[0001] COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

[0002] The present invention relates to a communication system for use in monitoring status criteria of a vessel and, in particular, though not exclusively, to a wireless communication system for use in monitoring a vessel bearing system.

[0003] Cargo and engineering vessels have become ever more essential vehicles as the oceans of the world become increasingly busy through offering efficient transport routes and being the source of increasing numbers of offshore energy installations. As a result, the technological development of ocean-going vehicles has taken huge strides forward, in recent years, as more efficient, durable and cost-effective vessels have been sought. Improved propellers, drive shafts and bearing systems are one particular area in which many improvements have been made enabling larger vessels to be developed.

[0004] Traditionally, the propeller bearing system in vessels has been an oil lubricated system. More recently, companies have developed water lubricated systems such as those detailed in US2004195275 (Thordon Bearings, Inc.). To aid in further reduction of the cost on ongoing vessel maintenance, Thordon Bearings have developed a bearing condition monitoring systems, such as the BCMv2, a diagram of which is shown in Figures 1A and IB (Prior Art). The bearing condition monitoring system 10, deployed on a vessel 19. The bearing condition monitoring system 10 comprises monitoring sensors 12, mounted at the prop shaft bearing 14, which provides data output indicative of the bearing clearance. The sensors 12 have a cable connection 16 installed between the bearing condition monitor sensor 12, mounted next to the bearing 14 and a readout panel 18 installed in the engine room 15 of the vessel 19. The cable connection 16 is advantageous as it enables the bearing conditioning measurement to be taken in situ, in a position otherwise only accessible by divers, and for this data to be transferred to somewhere, above the water, in this case the engine room 15 is easily which accessible by Engineers. The bearing condition monitoring system 10 is, for regulatory purposes, designed to provide a measure of bearing sleeve thickness every 1000 operational hours thus delivers sensed data information upon demand and, as a result, provides vessel engineering staff with a remotely measured indication of bearing clearances. The accumulation of this data enables the progressive wear of the bearing sleeve to be monitored. Access to data representing the status of the vessel bearing clearance, and instant and accurate information on the propeller shaft bearings’ performance means vessels can avoid unnecessary downtime and improve the ability of the engineering staff on the vessel to operate the ship efficiently as a sleeve can be deployed for decades before wear indicates it needs replaced. This enables the company which owns the vessel to better manage fleet use and maintenance scheduling. Savings can be made as the monitoring system reduces the cost of ownership by eliminating the need to send divers to take potentially inaccurate poker gauge readings. Hiring a diver is costly, the vessel must be alongside a dock or idle and the weather conditions must be favourable in order to get a reading. In addition, the manual installation of the cable can be technically challenging or, in some cases, impossible and require multiple days of dry dock operations thus making it a vastly expensive procedure. By reducing, if not eliminating, the cost associated with diver surveying or installation, vessel ownership costs overall becomes less onerous. In addition, a timely understanding of performance improves vessel availability. Access to an easy to use, one touch remote reading of current bearing clearance helps eliminate downtime and keeps vessels at work rather than stopping use to perform status assessments and facilitates pro-active, planned, maintenance. In addition, wear monitoring ensures compliance with class society requirements for wear monitoring including DNV-GLTMON which requires readings every 1000 hours of operation,

[0005] However, whilst there are many advantages of having the bearing condition monitoring system integrated in the vessel, the cable connection required by the system involves an invasive installation process, particularly if installation is not planned for during vessel design. In addition, the cable connection becomes an expensive potential failure point which can be problematic to isolate as the issue and subsequently replace. For example, current bearing condition monitoring systems require a cable to be routed from the sensor head, on the outside of the hull, to a control panel inside the vessel’s engine room. The manual installation of this cable can be technically challenging and require multiple days of dry dock operations. This added installation expense, material cost and downtime make it economically unattractive for many vessel owners to have such a system installed. In addition, it is not possible to retrofit bearing condition monitoring systems on vessels smaller than 100 gross tons as they are unable to accommodate the size of the connector cable.

[0006] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a communication system for use in monitoring a bearing system which obviates or mitigates at least some of the disadvantages in the prior art. According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a communication system for use in a monitoring a bearing system in a vessel, the communication system having a communication module comprising: at least one data input mechanism a data management mechanism, a wireless communication mechanism, and a power supply, such that, in use, data is input by way of the data input mechanism is provided to the data management mechanism which is operable to output representative data to the wireless communication mechanism for onward transmission.

[0007] By providing a communication module operable to receive data as an input from sensors monitoring a bearing system and then wirelessly transmit data representative of the input data, bearing status upon demand or in real time to enable ongoing assessment of the bearing condition which allows remote monitoring of the bearing system. The use of a wireless communication mechanism means the communication module may be mounted on a vessel structure during construction or retrofitted without any invasive disruption of the vessel integrity to accommodate cabling.

[0008] The communication module may be a deployed communication module. A deployed communication module may be mounted on a vessel adjacent a sensor monitoring an aspect of the vessel such that data obtained from the sensor may be transmitted wirelessly from where the module is mounted.

[0009] The wireless communication mechanism may comprise at least one wireless transmission mechanism, operable to transmit data using at least one of electromagnetic, optical or acoustic signals. By providing a wireless transmission mechanism for transmitting data from the communication module, the module can be fitted to a structure, such as a bearing system, to be monitored without the need for installation of cabled connections yet still without requiring data to be collected by divers.

[0010] Each wireless communication mechanism may comprise a transceiver for transmitting electromagnetic and / or magnetic data carrying signals. By incorporating a transceiver, the wireless communication system may be operable to enable bi-directional communication. In this way, command and control signals may be provided to the communications module. The communications unit may be operable to output command and control signals to at least one connected to an ancillary device such as a sensor

[0011] The wireless communication mechanism may include an electromagnetic transceiver, operable to transmit and receive electromagnetic and / or magnetic data carrying signals. The transceiver may comprise an electrically insulated magnetic coupled antenna. The transceiver may comprise an electric field coupled antenna. The antenna may be a wire loop, coil or similar. Such antenna may create both magnetic and electric fields. The wireless communication mechanism may comprise an acoustic transceiver. The wireless communication system may comprise an optical transceiver.

[0012] The wireless communication system may comprise one or more of an electromagnetic, optical and acoustic transceiver. Each at least one of the electromagnetic, optical and acoustic transceiver may be provided with an associated transducer. Each transducer may comprise an antenna. The wireless communication mechanism may comprise a multimode wireless communications system that uses electromagnetic, optical and acoustic carrier signals either in combination or through selection of a single carrier signal.

[0013] The wireless communication mechanism may comprise a selection mechanism to enable selection of the transceiver most suitable for optimal transmission of data in the operating environment on a real time basis. Optimal transmission may be determined by data integrity or by transmission range or by a combination of both.

[0014] By selectively optimizing transmission of data carrying signals, the system may be operatied in a consistent, reliable and user friendly manner.

[0015] The data to be transmitted may be compressed prior to transmission. In this way, the occupied transmission bandwidth can be reduced.

[0016] According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a communication module for providing ouput data representative of the status of a bearing system in a vessel, the communication module comprising: a wireless communication mechanism; a data management mechanism; at least one data output mechanism, and a power supply such that, in use, data received by the wireless communication mechanism and provided to the data management mechanism which is operable to provide data to the data output mechanism indicative of the status of a bearing system.

[0017] The communication module may be a remote communication module.

[0018] The remote communication module may further comprise at least one data input. The data input may be a cabled connection input. The data input may be a user interface input mechanism.

[0019] The remote communication module may comprise a data interface mechanism. A data interface mechanism will enable the communication module to integrate into the wider vessel communications system or other general infrastructure.

[0020] The data output mechanism may be a graphic user interface. The data output mechanism may be operable to create an alarm output such as a sound. The data output mechanism may be operable to actuate an alarm output such as a visual alert including, but not limited to lights.

[0021] According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a communication system for use in monitoring a bearing system in a vessel, the communication system comprising at least two communications modules, at least one deployed communication module and at least one remote communication module wherein, in use, the deployed communication module is operable to transmit data carrying signals to the remote communication module.

[0022] The provision of at least one remote communication module and at least one deployed communication module enables the communication system to have a dedicated pair of spaced apart transceivers to enable optimization of communication between the remote communication module and the deployed communication module such that data is wirelessly transmitted and / or received and subsequently processed between the two in the most efficient and reliable manner possible given the operating conditions.

[0023] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Figure 1A (Prior art) is a schematic illustration of a component of known bearing monitoring system installed on a propeller shaft of a vessel;

[0024] Figure IB (Prior art) is a schematic illustration of a known bearing monitoring system installed on a vessel;

[0025] Figure 2A is a schematic illustration of a side view of a communication module of a communication system mounted on a vessel bearing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 2B is a cross section of a front view of an embodiment of a communication module of a communication system of Figure 2A;

[0027] Figure 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a communication module of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 4 is a schematic illustration of another embodiment of a communication system of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 5 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a communication system of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 6A is a schematic illustration of a side view of a communication module of a communication system mounted on a vessel bearing system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 6B is a cross section of a front view of an embodiment of a communication module of a communication system of Figure 6A;

[0032] Figure 6C is a block diagram of an embodiment of a communication system of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 7 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of a communication system of the present invention, and

[0034] Figure 8 is another schematic illustration of an embodiment of a communication system of the present invention.

[0035] Reference is initially made to Figures 2A and 2B of the drawings which illustrate a communication system generally indicated by reference numeral 22 having a deployed communication module of the present invention 20 which is shown mounted on a vessel bearing system 24. The communication module 20 in this embodiment is mounted on an end face 30A of bearing 30 which is mounted on propeller shaft 32. The propeller shaft 32 is located in the strut structure 34 which supports the bearing system 24 such that in use, the propeller shaft 32 can freely rotate causing propeller 36 to rotate and drive the vessel 19 through water (not shown).

[0036] The communication module 20 is located on face 30A of the bearing 30 which is disposed between the body of bearing 30 and the propeller 36. The communication module 20 is connected to a bearing sleeve thickness sensor 40 such as a Thordon Bearings Inc. BCMv2 by way of connector 42. As is shown in this embodiment, communication module 20 is mounted external to the hull of the vessel 38 thus does not require any breach, or physical penetration, of the vessel to perform the task of obtaining, or communication onwards, data received from sensor 40 thus simplifying installment, replacement or servicing of the communication module 20. To secure the communication module, or modem, 20 to the bearing 30, mounting hardware is used, such as, for example, the modem may be bolted to the bearing flange (not shown).

[0037] Figure 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the communication module 20 which includes a data input mechanism 50 operable to interface with connector 42 to facilitate connection to sensor 40; a data management mechanism 52 and a wireless communications mechanism 54. The components of module 20 are provided power by power supply 56. The power supply 56 can also power the sensor 40 via connection cable 42. In this embodiment, housing 48 contains the operating components of module 20. The housing 48 can be formed on any suitable non-reactive material, such as, for example acetal, but it will be understood that any suitable plastic, metal or other suitable material may be used. The data input mechanism 50 is, in this case, a standard connection interface connected to sensor 40, via a standard subsea waterproof connector (not shown) and cable system 42.

[0038] The data management system 52 is, in this embodiment, a modem which receives data from the data input mechanism 50 and acts upon it in this case by digitising analogue data carrying signals from spacing dimension sensor 40. It will be understood that the data management mechanism 52 may incorporate additional processing and / or alternative functionality such as compression, modulation, data storage, aggregation of data, specific processing and analysis and can be provided with intelligent capabilities to determine and provide command and control output signals as well as determine the need for action by a third party such as a vessel engineer. It will similarly be understood that the data input mechanism 50 may be operable to receive digital signals via cable 42 from a sensor 40 to which it is connected in use.

[0039] Additional functionality may be incorporated within the communication module 20. For example, in use the data management system 52 can include a control mechanism (not shown) the activation of which is either implemented by an operator following a procedure or on an automated basis.

[0040] The data output from the data management mechanism 52 is provided to wireless communication module 54. The wireless communication module 54 in this embodiment includes a transducer which transmits, via a suitable antenna (not shown) electromagnetic data carrying signals. However, it will be appreciated that the wireless communication module 54 may incorporate at least one of an optical, radio or acoustic transmitter able to generate a drive signal appropriate for the optimal transducer given the location and circumstances in which transmission is occurring. In a radio, or electromagnetic, transmitter subsystem the transducer may be a loop antenna; solenoid; solenoid formed around a high relative permeability material or two contacts in direct conductive contact with the water. In an optical system the transducer may be a laser diode. In an acoustic system the transducer may, for example, be a piezoelectric transducer.

[0041] The components, in this case components 50, 52 and 54 of the communication module 20 are powered by power supply 56, in this case a battery but it will be appreciated any suitable power supply could be used. In addition whilst the sensor 40 and deployed module 20 are shown disposed on the outer bearing 30 of the ship they may also be applied to other locations such as the internal bearing (not shown) which is closer to the engine room of the vessel.

[0042] In use, data signals from the sensor 40 will be input into the communication module by way of input mechanism 50. These signals will be analogue signals representative of a measurement from a spacing dimension sensor and provided to an analogue to digital convertor in the data management mechanism 52 where they will be digitized. The digital data signals will be output to wireless communication module 54 for onward transmission. The transmitted signals will be operable to be received by any suitable transceiver.

[0043] In an optimized embodiment of communication system 22 the deployed communication module 20 will be in communication with a remote communication module 120. An embodiment of such a communication system 22 having a suitable transceiver arrangement is illustrated in Figure 4 which shows a deployed communication module 20 and a corresponding remote communication module 120. In this embodiment the deployed communication module 20 is arranged on the bearing of propeller 36 with the corresponding remote communication module 120 located in the control room 60 of a vessel 19. Wireless transmission enables the deployed module 20 to communicate with corresponding module 120 whilst it is situated in a more accessible location than locally to the sensor 40 where the underwater direct measurement is obtained thus simplifying installment, replacement or servicing of the communication system 22.

[0044] The remote communication module 120 is shown in more detail in Figure 5 with components corresponding to deployed communication module 20 given the same reference numbers. The remote communication module 120 thus includes a wireless communication module 54 operable to transmit and receive signals from communication module 20 at least. The communication module 120 further includes a data management mechanism 52 and a data interface mechanism 58 is provided and can provide data input and allow for data input which enables interaction between an end user (not shown) and the system 22. The components of module 120 are provided power by power supply 56.

[0045] In this embodiment, also includes user interface 58 includes a display, or graphic user interface, 57 which can provide data from the data output mechanism 58 in a format able to be interpreted by an end user. It will be appreciated that the user interface 58 may also incorporate input mechanism 57 which can include features such as a keyboard, touch screen or input button pad allowing two way communication with a user. Furthermore, although the data output mechanism 58 may be linked to a user interface 57, it may also be linked to systems which provide an automatic input including light or sound systems (not shown). In use, transmission from the deployed communication module 20 to the remote communication module 120 may occur on demand, for example upon request at the user input interface 59 by an engineer wishing to review the bearing status, or it may occur at predetermined intervals; as a result, reading may be real time readings, saved readings of a combination of saved and real time data.

[0046] For example, in use, the data management mechanism 52 of module 20 may, upon demand from an external request received from module 120 via interface 59, actuate the process of obtaining and reporting sensor data. In the example of an operator implemented request input at interface input 59, the operator will, for example, know when 1,000 operating hours have elapsed and have an understanding of when the ship’s engine is, or is not, running. When the ship’s engine is not running, the operator will, upon elapse of 1,000 hours judge it a good time to take a measurement of the bearing status and so can initiate this, with, for example, a button press (not shown). The data management system 52 system will implement, via the control mechanism in data management system 52, acquisition of data from sensor 40 and will thus measure, and report, bearing status data upon demand.

[0047] Alternatively, the data management mechanism 52 may be arranged to receive data indicating the propeller shaft 32 is not turning. For example, if the measured gap dimension is temporally inconsistent or variable, an assessment may be made that the bearing is not stationary and therefore not suitable for a reading to be made. However, if the gap dimension is consistent it can be determined that the shaft is stationary and the reading may be made. Thus, data management mechanism 52 will be able to detect, through the received bearing shaft rotation data when 1,000 operational hours have elapsed. The control mechanism of the data management mechanism 52 will then be able to instigate a bearing sensor measurement to be taken at the next opportunity when the propeller shaft 32 is not rotating. The sensed data will then be provided to the data management mechanism 52 and into the wireless communication mechanism 54 for onward transmission to the engineering team of the vessel 19 allowing them to process and act upon this data as necessary. Such system capability thus provides an effectively automated system. It will be appreciated whilst sensor which determines a variable gap dimensions may be used to identify if the propeller is rotating an eddy current sensor may alternatively be used.

[0048] It will be appreciated that in this and all other embodiments, the deployed communication module 120 can have the ability to perform an over-ride transmission of data signals to module 20 if the data received from a sensor 40 is determined to be of a level requiring attention. For example, boundary criteria for vibration levels or temperature levels could be set such that a sensor reading outwith that criteria, when received by the data management mechanism 52 of module 20, could instigate an automatic transmission of an alert signal to module 120.

[0049] In Figures 6A, 6B and 6C there is a further embodiment of a communications module 220 with like components of the module given the equivalent reference numbers as module 20. In this embodiment the communication module 220 has a modular structure with power supply 26 housed externally to processing unit 45. Within the housing 46 of processing unit 45 there is contained data management mechanism 52 which provides and receives data from wireless communication mechanism 54 as well as any associated sensors 40. In this embodiments, wireless communication mechanism 45 is provided with an external antenna, or transducer, 28. This modular arrangement of communication module 220 allows for deployment of the module in very small or awkward locations. Whilst the modular communications module does require local interconnecting wires 42, 43 and 44 the communications system 22 does not required cabled connections to take the output data from the module 220 to the remote communication mechanism 120 thus still having the advantages of a wireless communication system. It will be appreciated that to assist in the longevity of the local interconnecting wires 42 and / or 43 and / or 44 and also the remote antenna 28 may be disposed in a pre-existing component of the vessel, for example, the rope guard (not shown) to assist in protecting the interconnecting wires and antenna from unnecessary wear and tear.

[0050] With reference to Figure 7 another embodiment shows the remote module 120 may be mounted on a harbour side 62, this may be a permanent fixture so that any vessel 19 with a deployed communication module 20, 220 can be interrogated whilst in dock, or it may be a transportable unit that is brought to the harbour side for readings to be taken when a ship with a deployed module 20, 220 is to be assessed.

[0051] In Figure 8 it can be seen that in an alternative embodiment, the remote communication module 120 may be mounted on the distal end of a pulley 64 of a crane 64 and so maneuvered in and out of water 63 to bring the remote module 120 within communicable range of module 20, 220 should transmission distance be an issue. A remote communication module 120 may also be secured to, or in, harbour wall 66 to provide a remote communication module 120 which is located permanent underwater for communication with deployed modules 20,220 whenever a vessel is docked. Communication from the underwater module 20 can be transmitted to a user interface 70 on the surface using either wireless transmission or cabled transmission via cable 67. Whilst these embodiments show the remote communication module on a crane or arranged in, or on, the harbourside, it will be appreciated that other methods or means, such as deployment on an AUV, a diver, submarine or other vessel may be used in the same manner, for example, an AUV brough close to the vessel will enable interrogation of the deployed communication module 20 to occur. In an optimal arrangement for the point of view of user implementation, remote communication modules may be disposed both in the harbour and topside concurrently to provide optimal opportunity to receive transmitted data.

[0052] It will be appreciated that in each of the above embodiments the deployed module 20, 120, 220 may be provided with a mechanism to actuate an automatic timed wake up of the module 20, 120, 220 the wake up mechanism will be low powered and optimally the module will operate on a limited wake window of time, for example less than 10 second period, during which on demand measurements can be conducted, so that battery usage for this function is limited. The module may operate on a pre-determined sleep schedule for this function. The module 20, 120, 220 may also operate on a low power standby mode.

[0053] To assist in co-ordination between both the deployed and remote modules, clock synchronisation could be undertaken during data communication between the two modules, for example, synchronisation data at every communication event could be implemented.

[0054] It will further be appreciated that the power supply of module 20, 120, 220 may, instead of being a battery, be a renewable or recyclable energy generating system such as, but not limited to, an energy harvester, thermos-electric generator or water turbine, this would be of assistance in removing the requirement for occasional battery replacement thus reducing maintenance required by the deployed module.

[0055] It will be appreciated that as well as the bearing wear and any eddy current or motion sensors, the deployed modules may include, or be connected to, one or more other sensors, for example, a temperature sensor and other sensor which could be integrated in the system to aid in identification of other valuable operational criteria. This criteria could, for example, be to detect if a temperature threshold had been exceeded through overheating, or vibration monitors, accelerometers or a low power MEMS accelerometer integrated circuit have detected an increase in vibrations caused, for example, as a result of poor lubrication, for example if the water lubrication pumping system has stopped or is faulty and needs serviced, or if calcification grown on the shaft exists which needs to be addressed. Similarly, such measures and detected data could assist in identifying potential wear and tear that could be avoided thus helping maintain the vessel in an optimal manner by avoided unnecessary wear and tear as opposed reporting wear retrospectively when it is detected to have occurred. For such pre-emptive detection an alert mechanism could be implemented to bring any potential readings which could lead to damage to the attention of vessel engineers, in essence, if detected criteria exceeded a pre-set threshold, rather than simply report data, an alarm mechanism may be actuated to bring attention to the above threshold readings.

[0056] The interface of deployed modules may be a customised interface and be part of a stand alone interfacing device as opposed an integrated plug in which operates with a vessel based PC.

[0057] An advantage of the present invention is that the communication module and communication system are simple and non-invasive to install thus reducing the installation time of the entire bearing monitoring system and enabling it to be installed either during construction or on a retrofit basis.

[0058] Another advantage of the present invention is that by removing the requirement from cabled connections from the bearing condition sensor to the vessel control room, a potential point of failure is removed from the system and, as the communication system is non-invasive in implementation as it does not require the hull of the vessel to be breached in order to allow cables to pass through thus replacement or removal is a simple process which does not impinge on the integrity of the vessel.

[0059] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the invention herein described without departing from the scope thereof. For example, it will be appreciated that although the bearing monitor sensor 40 is detailed as being a Thordon Bearings Inc. BCMv2, any suitable, or necessary, sensor may be deployed to sense data relating to one or more aspects of the bearing arrangement, including but not limited to temperature sensor, vibration monitors and water quality sensors. Similarly, although a data input mechanism 50 and connector 42 is detailed, it will be appreciated that any other suitable connector and interface may be used. It will further be appreciated that whilst the remote communication mechanism is detailed as being mounted in one embodiment in the engineering room of a vessel, it may be mounted on any suitable point on the vessel including on the deck, in the hull or indeed multiple remote communication systems may be mounted throughout the vessel each operable to received data from the deployed communication module. The remote communication module may comprise a data interface mechanism having multiple interface options enabling a multitude of input sources to connect with the module, this enables the communication module to integrate into the wider vessel communications system or other general infrastructure. Whilst only an external sensor 40 specifically monitoring bearing tolerances is detailed in the current arrangements, multiple sensors may be connected to the communication module. Also, it will be appreciated that sensors may be integrated within the communication module unit housing and not externally to module 20. In addition, the sensor may be directed specifically for use with the bearing other criteria, such as but not limited to temperature and vibration, may also be used with the system. The communication module 20 may be installed during construction of a vessel 19, however, the wireless communication techniques used by the communication module mean that the system may be retrofitted to a vessel by a diver or underwater vehicle once the vessel is launched and in operation. The mounting mechanism (not shown) may, for example, be a magnetic fixing system, suction cups, or a mechanical bracket or any other suitable security unit or system. In addition, a real time clock mechanism may be incorporated within the modules 20, 120, 220.

Claims

Claims1 . A communication system for use in a monitoring a bearing system in a vessel, the communication system having a communication module comprising: at least one data input mechanism; a data management mechanism; a wireless communication mechanism, and a power supply, such that, in use, data is input byway of the data input mechanism is provided to the data management mechanism which is operable to output representative data to the wireless communication mechanism for onward transmission.

2. A communication system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the communication module is a deployed communication module.

3. A communication system as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the wireless communication mechanism comprises at least one wireless transmission mechanism, operable to transmit data using at least one of electromagnetic, optical or acoustic signals.

4. A communication system as detailed in any preceding claim wherein each wireless communication mechanism comprises a transceiverfortransmitting electromagnetic and / or magnetic data carrying signals.

5. A communication system as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the communications unit are operable to output command and control signals to at least one connected to an ancillary device such as a sensor.

6. A communication system as claimed in any of claims 3 to 5 wherein the wireless communication mechanism may include an electromagnetic transceiver,operable to transmit and receive electromagnetic and / or magnetic data carrying signals.

7. A communication system as claimed in claim 6 wherein transceiver optimal transmission is determined by at least one of data integrity and transmission range.

8. A communication module for providing ouput data representative of the status of a bearing system in a vessel, the communication module comprising: a wireless communication mechanism; a data management mechanism; at least one data output mechanism, and a power supply such that, in use, data received bythe wireless communication mechanism and provided to the data management mechanism which is operable to provide data to the data output mechanism indicative of the status of a bearing system.

9. A communication module as claimed in claim 8 wherein the module is a remote communication module.

10. A communication module as claimed in claim 9 wherein the remote communication module may further comprise at least one data input.11 .A communication module as claimed in claim 10 further comprises a data interface mechanism.

12. A communication modules as claimed in claim 11 wherein the data interface mechanism enable the communication module to integrate into the wider vessel communications system or other general infrastructure.

13. A communication system for use in monitoring a bearing system in a vessel, the communication system comprising at least two communications modules, at least one deployed communication module and at least one remote communication module wherein, in use, the deployed communication module is operable to transmit data carrying signals to the remote communication module.

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