Five years of testing, including aboard a few megayachts, has led to a new anchor-sensor technology about to become available in yachting. AnchorGuardian is a monitoring solution that intends to make your crew’s job easier and, more importantly, safer. That in turn means owners gain more peace of mind, and of course safety increases for everyone onboard.
Currently certified by the leading classification societies, AnchorGuardian intends to make anchoring more proactive, versus reactive. Many owners don’t give much thought to the process simply because it seems to work just fine. However, even with all the modern tech onboard, there’s still no way for captains and crew to know in real time how much, or how quickly, an anchor is dragging. Not only does that impact the yacht herself, but also it can damage the seabed. The superyacht Tatoosh, for example, damaged a Cayman Islands coral reef in 2016 when her anchor chain dragged.
Briefly, AnchorGuardian employs sensors, data, and alarms to monitor and alert captains to an anchor’s movement and position. The monitoring occurs throughout deployment, remaining at anchor, and anchor retrieval, too. Significantly it includes an analysis of the seabed composition as well as forces on the chain. The system can then predict if conditions are suitable or unsafe. The in-the-moment information for captains and crew displays on a screen in the wheelhouse.
As mentioned, a handful of captains have already collaborated with the company to test its reliability. One captain, in fact, tested it onboard for four months. Even with these results, the parent company for AnchorGuardian, Swiss Ocean Tech, wants more superyacht captains to perform real-world testing. These captains will be part of its Innovation Guardians program, also benefiting from a discount if they decide to purchase the equipment. “With their input, captains are actively contributing to the development of a safer and more reliable anchoring solution,” says Thomas Frizlen, managing director and founder of Swiss Ocean Tech. To join, contact info@swissoceantech.com.
AnchorGuardian anchorguardian.com
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