The traditional system for recording sailors entering or leaving a vessel may be a simple pegging in/out board. This records the amount of Souls on Board (SOB) in cases of an emergency whilst in port and therefore the basis for muster sheets for emergencies stumped . Separate processes for visitors and contractors increase the complexity.
Organised through a Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) competition, The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is supporting this project to seem at innovative Personnel Accounting and site (PAL) solutions to account for, muster and locate personnel aboard Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) carriers in real time.
Owing to the dimensions of the ship, the relatively low size of ship’s company and therefore the high number of compartments, it’s currently extremely difficult to accurately locate crew if they need not been seen for a few time.
A number of technologies were trialled on several vessels, leading to the choice of a system by Kinsetsu which delivers a frequency Identification (RFID)-based solution. this is often now being assessed through a Fleet Trial involving HMS Queen Elizabeth (QNLZ) and HMS Prince of Wales (PWLS).
A Fleet Trial of Kinsetsu’s ktrack system installed in both QNLZ and PWLS is being tested to explore the system’s effectiveness on a true Royal Navy vessel and explore the human factors issues related to SOBs wearing this RFID technology.
- Accounting via High Frequency (HF) readers (4 each at Starboard Forward, Starboard Aft, Port Forward and Port Aft gangway reception areas); the ingress and egress direction of these readers can be set dynamically to maximise SOB flow on or off the ship.
- SOB registration and querying via 2 client laptops (swapped between Starboard / Port Forward reception areas and Exec / RN Police office) plus 2 registration HF devices.
- Experimental Locating function provided by 6 Ultra High Frequency (UHF) readers plus antennae on 2 and 5 Decks (near laundry, NAAFI and Junior / Senior Rating Mess halls) that can detect when a UHF tag worn by a SOB is near the reader.
The scope of this trial has included investigating the merits of a combined HF (High Frequency) and UHF (Ultra High Frequency) card worn on a lanyard (around the SOB’s neck) versus tags on bootlaces or sewn into uniforms.
BAE Systems and Kinsetsu installed all of the PAL equipment, cabling and modifications to the INE (Internal Network Electronics) VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) in PWLS and QNLZ able to provide an interim PAL capability for operational testing through Op Fortis – the operational deployment of the Carrier Strike Group.
Over the approaching months, the trial is being conducted on both ships to create system functional data and capture operator and user feedback until June 2022. Information gathered are going to be wont to shape a full requirement specification to Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) for future procurement.
Lieutenant Commander Glen Kerrigan, Capital Ships Weapon Engineer within the Royal Navy and outgoing project sponsor, said:
The PAL project has exceeded expectations; this capability is now providing positive evidence that technology can reduce the danger to Life (RtL) of Souls on Board and is getting used because the primary accounting method on HMS Queen Elizabeth for her global deployment Op Fortis.
To achieve this success on a strategic defence platform during a highly demanding environment is remarkable for any project; to urge this faraway from a tech demo project is unprecedented and has been the results of solid collaboration across defence organisations and suppliers.
George Curtis, Dstl Project Manager, added:
“The trial and deployment will generate valuable operational feedback, while providing the Royal Navy with a practical interim personnel accounting solution. it’ll be a big enhancement to the security of navy personnel, with potential for adoption on other vessels.
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