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Operations Manual
Issue No: 6
COPYRIGHT
Copyright in this document is vested in Satamatics Ltd. This document is issued in confidence for the
purpose only for which it is supplied. It must not be reproduced in whole or in part except with the
consent in writing of Satamatics Ltd and then only on the condition that this notice is included in any
such reproduction.
Revision History
IMPORTANT: The contents and functionality shown in this document may vary from
that presented on the Ocean Alert website due to our policy of continuing
improvement. All users should therefore refer to the Help pages on the website
(http://ssas.satamatics.com) for the latest changes and/or current limitations in use.
All Ocean Alert manuals are available for viewing and downloading on the Ocean Alert
website Help page.
TABLE OF FIGURES
1.1 Introduction
The OCEAN ALERT is a compact, low data rate, satellite terminal designed to operate over the
INMARSAT satellites using the INMARSAT D+ protocol. With an integral GPS receiver, the OCEAN
ALERT provides low cost satellite communications for various applications such as asset tracking,
alerting and telematics. OCEAN ALERT is fully compliant with the SOLAS XI 2/6 mandatory
regulations and performance standards for Ship Security Alert Systems (SSAS).
The OCEAN ALERT comprises of an antenna and a Main Module (containing a SAT101 transceiver
and battery pack) with a 3 position key switch (Off/Test/On) and two remote Alert Switches with
integral covers.
The OCEAN ALERT will continuously monitor the ship’s location, it’s external power supply and the
alert activation points, and automatically transmit SSAS Position Report messages (optional)
according to a pre-programmed tracking interval (this is determined by the air-time package) allowing
the vessel to be tracked remotely by its fleet operators.
All alert conditions detected on board the vessel through either manual activation of alert activation
points or warning conditions detected through automatic monitoring of operating parameters (i.e.
power cable removed), will trigger the automatic transmission of specific alert messages. Once an
“abnormal” condition has been detected and reported, the ensuing reporting intervals will increase until
the alert condition is cancelled.
Using the OCEAN ALERT web interface, fleet managers can also optionally interrogate the terminal
on-board ship for a current position report. The reports may be viewed in tabular form and saved to a
CSV file or viewed on a map of the world (optional) with the choice of viewing the vessel’s tracking
history or all vessels within a named fleet. This makes OCEAN ALERT an ideal asset management
tool in addition to a fully compliant SSAS.
The user-friendly web interface allows fleet managers to set up nominated contact names, mobile
phone numbers and email addresses for automatic SMS (optional) and email alert notifications in the
event of a number of conditions arising, including emergency alert activation and power interruptions.
During such ongoing alert conditions, OCEAN ALERT will automatically increase the frequency of its
position report transmissions to every 30 minutes until the emergency has been resolved.
Ongoing alert messages will continue to allow the ship’s precise location to be tracked, identifying
which alert activation point has been triggered (depending upon the type of switch), and reporting any
tampering with the external power supply.
Alerts may only be cancelled once all conditions revert to normal (i.e. onboard Alert Switch in the off
position (switch dependent), power restored) and the terminal receives a specific cancellation
message from the Control Centre via the website.
Warnings:
o Power Cable removed or cut.
o Non-receipt of two consecutive position reports.
Alerts:
o Activation of any of the Alert Switches.
Email/Fax
SMS
Internet
Ocean Alert Serial Number (on the Main Module – refer to the Ocean Alert Installation
Manual).
SAT 101 Serial Number (on the SAT101 transceiver within the Main Module – refer to the
Ocean Alert Installation Manual).
2 INITIAL LOG IN
IMPORTANT: Before attempting to log in to the OCEAN ALERT website, you must
ensure that both your browser and firewall are set up to allow session cookies.
Once you have followed the instructions in the email and completed the registration process on the
website, a confirmation with your username will be shown (Figure 5).
You should save the file to an appropriate folder on your local PC. When the file has been saved, you
should close your browser, navigate to the folder in which it was saved and open the file.
When you log in to the Ocean Alert website in future you will not receive the warning described in the
Section 2.2.2, Figure 10.
If there are no vessels currently at Alert Status, the main area will only contain a message stating this.
The exact time (UTC) and date at which the contents of the page were last refreshed.
The message “NO TERMINALS” in green if there are no terminals associated with the user
account.
The message “STATUS: OK” in green if there are no current alerts or warnings.
The message “ATTENTION” in black if there ARE any current alerts or warnings.
The message “(number) ALERTS” in red indicating the number of currently active alerts.
The message “(number) WARNINGS” in amber, indicating the number of currently active
warnings.
The Head Up display is shown on all pages in the system, allowing visibility of any change in alert or
warning status whenever a page is changed or refreshed.
The user should immediately investigate any alerts or warnings flagged in the Head Up display by
clicking on the appropriate Main Menu button (“alerts” or “warnings” as appropriate). Vessels currently
displaying both alerts and warnings will appear on both pages.
Logout
Options:
o Change User Password
Help
The top down menu is structured in order of importance with the Alerts page always being displayed
first after logging in. The currently active page is denoted by the tracking symbol and is displayed in a
highlighted colour (e.g. Figure 17 indicates that the Alerts page is being displayed). All pages are
accessible directly from this menu. Highlight and click on the appropriate link to open the associated
page.
IMPORTANT: The Course will be blank if the speed of the vessel is less than 5kts.
4 TERMINALS
(terminals without a valid airtime package will be indicated as such – see Figure 30). You
should therefore ensure that your Dealer has activated the airtime package prior to website
registration.
NOTE: Any user may add new terminals to a new fleet at which time his privilege for
the new fleet will be User Manager. His privilege for all other fleets will remain the
same. For example a Viewer may add a terminal and create a new fleet (he cannot
assign the terminal to a fleet that he does not have User Manager privileges to). He
will then be the User Manager for that fleet whilst retaining Viewer privileges for his
original fleets (see Section 5 for more information).
Ocean Alert Terminal Serial Number (found on the Main Module). You must enter the full
number, including any leading zeros (i.e. 000100).
SAT101 Serial Number (found within the Main Module – see Section 7.1 of the Ocean Alert
Installation Manual for details).
SAT101 ISN (found within the Main Module – see Section 7.1 of the Ocean Alert Installation
Manual for details). This is a 12 digit hexadecimal number and care should be taken in
recording it correctly.
The Fleet Name field contains a drop down menu with a list of all available Fleets associated with your
account. If there are no Fleets then this field will only contain NEW FLEET. If the Vessel Name is left
blank then a name will not be assigned. These fields may be re-named or entered later (see Section
6).
You may press the button if a mistake has been made. This will clear all fields. Once you
are satisfied that the information is correct, press the button to continue. The
information entered will be validated and, if correct, a confirmation message will be displayed. If the
information is incorrect, you will be asked to check the data and re-submit. You should press the
button to abort the entry.
IMPORTANT: If you wish to suspend a monthly billing package, you must advise your
Dealer otherwise you will continue to be liable for all airtime usage. All prepaid
packages will remain unaffected.
IMPORTANT: When a terminal is removed from a Fleet, its associated tracking history
will be lost. You should save the history before removing a terminal (see Section 8.1
for details on how to do this).
5 USER SET-UP
A further table contains the details of each user and their status. There are four levels of access that
may be assigned to users according to the following table:
FLEET USER
VIEWER OPERATOR
MANAGER MANAGER
Track vessel √ √ √ √
Poll vessels X √ √ √
Reset Alerts X √ √ √
View Fleet Setup X √ √ √
Edit Fleet Setup X X √ √
View Alert Setup X √ √ √
Edit Alert Setup X X √ √
View own users Setup √ √ √ √
View/edit User Setup for other X X X √
users.
Add Terminal to New Fleet √ √ √ √
Add Terminal to existing Fleet X X X √
Move Terminal between Fleets X X X √
Remove Terminal X X X √
The User Manager may use this page to invite other users to join specific fleets. You may also delete
empty fleets and administer the status of current users (modify or delete) in addition to invited and
declined users (delete).
IMPORTANT: YOU MUST NEVER ALLOW SHIP’S CREW ACCESS TO THE WEBSITE
ACCOUNTS AS THIS COULD PROVIDE VALUABLE INFORMATION TO POTENTIAL
ATTACKERS.
IMPORTANT: The User Manager access level should be used with care as the User
Manager will have the ability to delete any user, including the original account creator.
The initial privilege assigned to new users will be Viewer. Once the new user has accepted the
invitation, you may then assign any valid access level by clicking on the modify button against a
particular entry in the Fleet User Details table. Only User Managers will have the ability to modify and
delete user accounts. The button will discard any information entered and return you to the
User Set-up page.
You may monitor the status of all invited and declined users on the User Setup page.
If you decide to decline the invitation, an email will be sent to the User Manager who invited you
advising that the invitation has been declined.
If you already have an account then you should log in via the link on the email with your existing user
name and password. You will then be presented with a similar display to that shown in Figure 27.
Alternatively, you may log in directly on the website and view the User Setup page.
6 FLEET SET-UP
The DPR column in the Fleet Vessel Table will indicate how many Daily Position Reports have been
set up for each vessel (optional). Similarly, the Poll Credit column will indicate how many polls remain
for each vessel (optional). The SMS, FAX and MAP columns will indicate whether these options have
been activated for each vessel. The warning triangle shown in Figure 30 will be displayed if a vessel
does not have a valid airtime package. If this is displayed, you must contact your Dealer
immediately.
IMPORTANT: Should you wish to delete a Fleet then you must access the User Setup
Page and follow the instructions in Section 5.1.
A user with the necessary privileges may rename any Fleet currently displayed in the Fleet Table.
Depressing the button will display the information shown in Figure 31.
Once the change has been made to the Fleet name, the user should depress the
button to confirm. The button may be depressed if the changes made
are incorrect or made in error. Pressing the button will return the user to the main Fleet Set-up
page without saving the changes. The user will be presented with confirmation of all changes made.
The button may be depressed if the changes made are incorrect or made in error. All changes
will be discarded and the original information displayed. Pressing the button will return the
user to the main Fleet Set-up page without saving the changes.
7 ALERT SET-UP
The Summary Table indicates whether all or some of the vessels within a fleet have the SMS and/or
Fax contact option. The and buttons will only be displayed if at least one vessel in
the fleet has this option enabled. The SMS, Fax and Email contacts columns indicate the total amount
of SMS, Fax and email contacts that have been allocated to a particular Fleet.
IMPORTANT: If individual vessels within a fleet do not have the optional SMS or Fax
package associated with them, they will not receive any SMS and/or Fax messages
even though this functionality may be indicated at the fleet level (mixed).
The new contact may be assigned one of the following notification levels:
Normal – all reports sent, including position reports, warning messages and Alerts.
Exception – all Exception reports (i.e. powercut), Alert reports, Cancel reports and Urgent
reports will be sent.
Alert – all Alert messages will be sent, including 30-minute position reports, Cancel reports
and Urgent reports.
Cancel – all Alert cancellation reports and Urgent reports will be sent.
Urgent – initial Alert activation report only.
IMPORTANT: All incoming Test Messages are notified at Normal and Exception
levels only. Contacts set at all other levels will not receive Test Messages (SMS, Fax
or email). See the Ocean Alert website Help pages for more information.
The notification levels are structured hierarchically. Therefore if a contact is given the level of “Alert”,
he/she will receive all Alert, Cancel and Urgent messages. If a user is set to “Normal” then all
messages will be sent.
Once all information has been entered and the report level selected, the User may depress to
enter the data. A confirmation message will be displayed if both email or telephone numbers fields
match. Should there be a discrepancy between the fields, a warning message will be displayed.
Depressing the button will clear all fields. The User may return to the main page by depressing
the button. Any information entered will be lost.
IMPORTANT: All SMS telephone numbers must be for GSM phones – no check will be
made to validate if the number is capable of receiving SMS messages. SMS contacts
may only be set to either Cancel or Urgent (Test messages will not be sent to SMS).
IMPORTANT: the SMS and Fax telephone number must include the international dial
code for the country of residence preceded by the + character (i.e. +441684123456
where +44 is the UK, 1684 is the area code and 123456 is the telephone number).
If a message already exists, you may either change this or delete all of the contents. Once you have
made all changes necessary, you should depress the button. Pressing the
button will discard any changes made. Pressing the button will return you to the main Alert
Setup page.
You may return to the Fleet Contact Summary Page at any time by highlighting and clicking on the
View All Fleets link.
The email address or the SMS/Fax telephone number will be shown on the Fleet Contact list. The
contacts will receive all messages relevant to their status for all vessels associated with the Fleet,
unless the Fleet contains vessels with varying airtime packages.
IMPORTANT: If an individual vessel within a Fleet does not have an SMS or Fax
package, the contact will not receive any messages associated with that particular
vessel. It is advisable, therefore, to ensure that all vessels within a Fleet are activated
with the same airtime package to avoid confusion.
The User Manager or Fleet Manager may modify or delete a contact by clicking on the appropriate
button in the Action field. If the button is pressed, the page shown in Figure 37 will be
displayed allowing the user to confirm deletion. The button should be depressed if you do not
wish to delete the entry.
7.4.1 Alert
Subject: TEST (only present if in Test Mode) SHIP SECURITY ALERT (only present if vessel at Alert
State): MV Test (vessel name)
Information from vessel operator: (only present if the Message Field has been set – see Section 7.2)
Additional Information Goes Here
End of message
Information from vessel operator: (only present if the Message Field has been set – see Section 7.2)
Additional Information Goes Here
End of message
LAST MESSAGE RECEIVED 2004-12-10 14:52:36 UTC (date & time of last message received)
Information from vessel operator: (only present if the Message Field has been set – see Section 7.2)
Additional Information Goes Here
End of message
7.5.1 Alert
From: 20170001 (number may vary)
(Vessel Name)
ALERT
BUTTON X – where X is the button number (only present if Latching Switches are used and
depressed)
Location: 51°59'13"N 2°9'51"W
Fix (present if a valid GPS position has been acquired)
utc: 2004-01-27 13:49:25
8 TRACKING
All vessel information tables use contrasting row and cell colours to visually indicate the vessel’s
status:
• Normal – pale blue
• Warning – pale orange
• Alert – pale red
• Reset – pale green
In addition, a pale green colour is used to highlight the “Test” cell entry. Rows that show both “alerts”
and “warnings” are displayed at the higher precedence colour (pale red) with the warning itself shown
by highlighting the “warning” cell in pale orange.
The Tracking page provides the ability to poll an individual vessel (optional package). If a user with
Operator or higher privileges depresses the button, a message will be sent to the vessel
requesting a status report. This would normally be employed when a User wishes to immediately
update the status and position information of the vessel. The User will be advised of the number of
polls remaining and asked to confirm transmission.
If a vessel is at Alert State, the button will be shown (user must be logged in as Operator or
above). See Section 10.1 for more information.
If a vessel includes the MapView option, the button will be displayed against the individual entry.
See Section 11 for more information.
The Report Table may be sorted by clicking on the symbol within the Vessel, Fleet or Date & Time
columns. The column indicated with a symbol is the currently sorted column.
If the individual vessel has subscribed to the MapView option, a button will be displayed next to the
button. The user may then view the vessel and tracking history on a map of the world.
See Section 11for more information.
IMPORTANT: A vessel’s history will only show the last 90 days activity. All
information later than this will be overwritten. It is therefore essential to save the
vessel’s log on a regular basis.
9 WARNINGS
The Warnings page displays all vessels currently indicating a warning. By highlighting and clicking on
an individual vessel, the user may view a complete history of the vessel (see Figure 41). If a vessel
has subscribed to the MapView option, a button will be displayed to the left of the table for that
entry. The user may then click on this to view the latest reported position of the vessel on a map of
the world. See Section 11for further details.
The Report Table may be sorted by clicking on the symbol within the Vessel, Fleet or Date & Time
columns. The column indicated with a symbol is the currently sorted column.
POWERCUT – the terminal has lost power and is now running on batteries. For more
information on the consequences of this and battery backup capacity, refer to the Ocean Alert
Installation Manual.
OVERDUE – A vessel has missed 2 consecutive report schedules (either scheduled or alerts).
10 ALERTS
IMPORTANT: All Alerts shown must be treated as real unless the TEST Column
contains the word TEST and it is known that a test is scheduled.
current alert and immediately send Alert Cancel messages to all users set to receive “Cancel”
messages (SMS, Fax and/or email). See Section 7 for further details.
When the button is depressed, the user will be presented with a warning dialog advising of
the consequences of continuing. He/she may either cancel the operation or accept the warning and
continue.
The Test column will indicate when the vessel is set to Test (see Section 7.7 of the Ocean Alert
Installation Manual for further details). If this column is clear then the Alert indicated is real and should
be responded to accordingly.
When a vessel is equipped with latching switches, it will continue to report an alert until such times as
the switch has been de-activated. If the vessel is equipped with non-latching switches and the switch
is malfunctioning, it is possible that it will also continue to report an alert if the switch state indicates
permanently closed. Figure 45 indicates the history of a vessel that was at Alert with Button 1
depressed then released and subsequently reset by an operator with the necessary privileges.
IMPORTANT: The reset command will not be transmitted to the vessel if the switches
are in an active state. Once the user has sent a reset command to the vessel, the
reports must continue to be monitored until such times as the vessel has transmitted
a “normal” report. It is the responsibility of the Competent Authority to ensure that
the switches are reset correctly and a “normal” message received otherwise future alerts will
not be actioned.
IMPORTANT: If the vessel reports a powercut condition, the reset command will not
be sent UNTIL the power is restored. It is therefore essential that external power be
restored as quickly as possible to the terminal.
11 MAPVIEW
The Ocean Alert website provides the operator with the ability to view Fleets or individual vessels on a
map of the world. This is ideal for either Security Officers to quickly identify the nearest country to the
vessel or for Operations Managers to utilise as an Asset Management aid.
MapView is an optional package and must be subscribed to on a per vessel basis. The button will
be displayed against all such vessels subscribed on all of the following pages:
Alerts
Warnings
Tracking (both by Fleet and individual vessel history)
If you wish to see details of each vessel’s subscriptions, you should select the Fleet Setup Page.
By clicking on the button, the MapView page will be shown with the individual vessel centred as
shown in Figure 46.
You may exit MapView at any time by clicking on any of the Page links at the top of the MapView
Page.
MapView help may be invoked by clicking on the Help link at the top of the page.
The Vessel details at the left of the map will always default to the latest position and indicate the Fleet
Name that the vessel is associated with. You may also “hover” over the vessel icon to view these
details, as shown in Figure 48.
IMPORTANT: All Map scales are approximate and must not be used for navigation
purposes or precise distance calculation.
You may “hover” over each individual reporting point on the map to determine the time, position,
speed and course as shown in Figure 49. If you wish to view the Tracking History table for the
individual vessel, you may click on the “Tracking History” link below the Vessel Details table.
IMPORTANT: The Map Scale option is not available when in Vessel Tracking History
If you wish to view a particular vessel, you may either select it from the Vessel pulldown menu or
highlight it on the map and double-click with the mouse.
Should there be many vessels within a small geographical area, it is possible that the individual vessel
names will not be visible. To view the individual vessel, it will be necessary to select its name from the
Vessel pulldown menu.
IMPORTANT: The Map Scale option is not available when in Fleet View
Ensure that the terminal has been activated correctly (refer to your Dealer if the terminal
indicates that there is no airtime package – see Section 6).
Request the vessel to check the following in accordance with Section 8 of the Ocean Alert Installation
Manual:
Ensure that the antenna is not blocked and has a clear line of sight to the satellites.
Check the power connection and supply.
Check the antenna cables and connections for signs of damage or water ingress.
If, after confirming that all of the above items are correct, you should immediately contact your Dealer
for help in resolving the problem.
Authorised dealers and general information about Satamatics products and services can be found at:
http://www.satamatics.com