Field observation in the German Bight
Dbservations on a field trial with the SEA.A/ Sentry situational awareness and surveillance system
(“Sentry,” n.d.) in the German Bight in 2023 indicated the benefits of equipment with built-in object
detection for the bridge crew. Especially during night, this causes fatigue and requires a high level of
constant concentration. At the current stage, the system under review can highlight possible objects
and allows cross-checking with Radar and AIS for situational awareness. Figure 5 demonstrates a test
performed according to ISO 16273 5.5.4.2 sea trial in which a buoy must be detected. The buoy is
difficult to distinguish even when the observer is continuously concentrating on the screen. Figure 6
demonstrates the advantage for the bridge personnel of obtaining a quick overview of the traffic situ-
ation. Figure 7 shows the advantage for the bridge personnel of obtaining a quick overview of the
traffic situation even during the day with two vessels in more than 1,000 m distance. The examples
shown in Figure 5 to 7 and the observations on board during the field trip support the thesis that object
detection in night vision systems is beneficial on commercial vessels.
Wave and hidden signal
One challenge observed in the field test conducted in 2023 and 2024 for electro-optical (EO) detection
isthe hidden or weakened lamp of a Position Indication Light (PIL) on a man overboard signalling device
Decause of waves, rain, and spray. Under these circumstances, low numbers of FLOPs and the resulting
low latency of the object detection system used will be vital in order to detect a PIL that might be
hardly visible, visible only non-periodically, or visible for only a split second. The difficulties of object
detection in the marine environment have already been highlighted in Prasad et al. (2016), and hidden
signals are just one additional aspect for small objects requested by the IMO resolution
MSC.94(74)(IMO, 2000). Hidden signals are a major issue for Search And Rescue (SAR) applications
{IMO, 2023). This issue also applies to any small object without a constant signal such as a half afloat
container or a whale (AWI, 2024).
