Read the history of radars and how they were implemented in the Merchant Navy. Radar service in the UAE is provided by Maritronics.
Origins of Marine Radar
Radars were developed during the Second World War. In 1942, British and US ships came under a regulation to have compulsory radar for ships, both for safe navigation as well as to detect enemy ships. It took time for the industry to equip every merchant ship with radars.
Early Challenges with Radar Use
At the time, radars were complicated devices used by navigating officers on the ship. The presentation was given in relative terms with the position of the other ship, and this was sometimes difficult for the navigators to interpret. The officers on watch had to plot other ships with a pen on the PPI or on an accessory plotting screen.
The navigating officer needed certain skills to know the position of two ships and what they were doing. Thus, the term “radar assisted collision” was coined.
Radar Technology in the Mid-20th Century
The sweep picked up and indicated targets that could be a foreign ship, a lighthouse, a buoy, a mark, or just sea clutter. These radars were equipped with electronic tubes, and their logic capacity was limited.
Years later, True Motion was introduced into the marine radar department. The ship in the plot would be shown as sailing its own course, which was accomplished using computational intelligence. Sea Sovereign was the first ship with computational intelligence.
Introduction of True Motion and Anti-Collision Radars
These radars were equipped with an interesting analog computer that had several servo motors and receivers. Once navigators had been trained and got used to the capabilities of “True Motion,” it turned out to be a big success.
With fixed coils and some computer intelligence, the True Motion radars became the platform for the development of the first “Anti-Collision Radars.” With fixed coils, vectors could be attached to the targets indicating their course and speed in true motion.
Advances in Radar Technology
This way, the navigator got much better input for decision-making. The antenna rotated 25 times per minute with a 2-second display of the target ship. Also, the antenna beam angle was the same as in other Raytheon 10 cm radars, so the targets appeared rather big.
Before digital computer intelligence was available, it was hard to achieve early and accurate detection of foreign targets' course changes.
1970s Developments: Ship Handling Project
To achieve better results, during the 1970s, a project was started to incorporate Air Traffic Control mechanisms into marine radars. The project was named “Ship Handling,” and it covered the layout of the navigation bridge recognizing radar as an essential navigation instrument.
With this, a ground-stabilized picture with lighthouses, buoys, marks, and land-based restrictions was incorporated as a video of the radar picture recorded on a ship sailing through the selected area.
Modern Marine Radar Systems
Currently, the marine industry uses GPS, Electronic Sea Charts, ECDIS, and finally, ECDIS integrated with the radar picture. The layout of the present-day navigation bridge is more advanced than imagined in the project 40 years ago.
Maritronics’ Role in Radar Service
Maritronics is a leading marine service provider that has been in collaboration with JRC, Japan, in servicing and repair of marine radar in the UAE.
If you are in UAE waters, owning or operating a ship, you may contact Maritronics for complete servicing of the ship. Maritronics, a supplier of radar marine equipment in Dubai, also provides marine contracts for maintenance.
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