Release date: Wednesday 31 May 2007
Enhancing safety and protection of the marine environment:
The General Lighthouse Authorities award a 15-year eLoran contract to VT Communications
The General
Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) today (30th May 2007) announces the
award of a prestigious fifteen-year contract to VT Communications (part of VT
Group plc) for the provision of a state-of-the-art enhanced Loran (eLoran)
radionavigation service to improve the safety of mariners in the UK and Ireland.
The first
development phase of this contract, until 2010, will build on existing
successes and provide a focus for a European agreement on eLoran service
provision. This would then trigger the
start of the operational phase from 2010 onwards.
The Department for
Transport is sharing the costs during the development phase having recognised
the broader potential of Loran to improve the resilience of critical transport
infrastructure.
eLoran is intended
to assist mariners navigating the complex and crowded waters around our shores
and those of our northern European neighbours.
It complements Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) such as GPS
and is entirely independent, allowing users to retain the benefits of electronic
positioning, navigation and timing when satellite signals are disrupted.
This contract will
see VT Communications develop a new Loran station at its radio communications
facility in Cumbria, UK. The first
signals from the Cumbrian eLoran station will be transmitted on 1st
October 2007 with a full service launched in November 2007. The existing trial service will be suspended
by the end of July 2007.
VT Communications’ Managing Director, Doug Umbers says: “VT
Communications is proud to be working with the GLAs to deliver this critical
service to their user community. This
contract demonstrates VT Communications’ unrivalled expertise in delivery of
the LF infrastructure and service provision projects, providing the GLAs with a
radically improved service.”
“We chose VT
Communications because of its commitment to service provision and its flexible
approach to partnership”, comments Dr Sally Basker, the GLAs’ Director of
Research and Radionavigation.
“Over the last
decade we have worked hard to reduce the overall cost of service provision by
50% in real terms. e-Navigation is the
maritime sector’s future: berth-to-berth navigation in the digital world with
its associated safety, security, environmental and economic benefits. As we press ahead with e-Navigation, eLoran
provides the only way of maintaining our service levels until 2020 without
undue increases in cost or risk. eLoran
will help us to deliver a reliable, efficient and cost-effective Aids to
Navigation service for the benefit and safety of all mariners.”
Ends
eLoran
Enhanced Loran
(eLoran) is an internationally standardised positioning, navigation, and timing
(PNT) service for use by many modes of transport and in other applications. It
is the latest in the long-standing and proven series of low-frequency,
LOng-RAnge Navigation (LORAN) systems, one that takes full advantage of 21st
century technology.
eLoran meets the accuracy, availability, integrity, and continuity performance
requirements for aviation non-precision instrument approaches, maritime harbor
entrance and approach manoeuvres, land-mobile vehicle navigation, and
location-based services, and is a precise source of time and frequency for
applications such as telecommunications.
eLoran is an independent, dissimilar, complement to Global Navigation Satellite
Systems (GNSS). It allows GNSS users to retain the safety, security, and
economic benefits of GNSS, even when their satellite services are disrupted.