AI solution measures ship drafts in North Sea Canal
Before seagoing vessels are cleared to pass the IJmuiden sea lock to continue their journey to Amsterdam through the North Sea Canal, their draft must be measured. Only vessels with a maximum draft of 13.75 meters in salt water are granted passage. This check is currently done manually: boatmen sail around the vessel in a boat to determine the draft. It is a time-consuming and labor-intensive task. Technolution is building a solution for the Port of Amsterdam involving automatic draft measurement using Visual AI.
AI and mobility: a good match
AI specialist Michael Dubbeldam developed and trained the Vision AI for the draft measuring system. He was also one of the designers of the FlowCube, our versatile, AI-based traffic sensor. He says, “Use of Vision AI has been around for a while, but it has only become mature enough to be deployed recently. There are a lot of tasks within the field of mobility that can now be done just as well (or better) using Vision AI. It’s creating more efficient and effective processes. AI and mobility are a good match.”
Measure while the ship is sailing
“We were looking for a quicker, more efficient, and more accurate way of measuring,” says Wouter Coosemans, Port Office Manager at the Port of Amsterdam. “If ships have to brake all the time, this costs energy and time.” The ship has to be stationary to allow manual measurement. The draft is measured by an official of the Port of Amsterdam who sails with the boatmen. This often takes time, depending also on weather conditions. Halting and then restarting a ship requires a lot of motor power and that generates CO2 emissions. Automatic measurement, by contrast, will normally take place while the ship is sailing at low speed. Seagoing vessels will know whether they can continue within a few minutes. This saves time and energy and is better for the environment.
Auto-aim camera
The island fortress of IJmuiden, which was once part of the Stelling van Amsterdam defense line, is located on the sea side of the lock. We have installed a camera with a powerful zoom on this island. As soon as a marine vessel passes, the harbormaster starts recording. The Vision AI system will capture the vessel smartly, looking for draft marks at bow and stern and amidships, and then in a number of steps determines the draft of the ship.
Draft marks and the waterline
Draft marks are often worn or have rusted away and can be difficult to decipher. The AI software is able to read the draft on the basis even of rudimentary figures. The waterline is another challenge: it is always in motion due to wind and swell. The measurement system can identify the waterline in the video images and observes it for a few seconds to calculate the average waterline. An accurate draft measurement can be made by reading the draft marks on the waterline multiple times (up to a hundred times).
The Vessel Traffic Coordinator at the Port Operation Center then issues a go or no-go to the captain of the ship and the measurement report is added to the vessel’s electronic file.
Quickly, safe, and sustainable
Wouter Coosemans is happy with the AI solution: “What we want is to guide vessels through the port of Amsterdam as quickly, safely, and sustainably as possible. This method helps us do that.”
Michael Dubbeldam sees a great future for AI: “We expect to be able to develop many more AI applications in the field of mobility in the near future.”
