DelNorte in conjunction with OceanWise has delivered a new on-line tidal level system to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) to assist its crews to safely launch its rescue craft from its new Lifeboat station at Portishead, Avon, UK.
With a tidal range in excess of 12 metres in this part of the Bristol Channel, the life-boat crews have to make quick decisions based on the prevailing conditions as to whether they are able to launch the life boat from the outer slipway, or from within Portishead harbour. Tidal elevations have been kindly provided by the Port of Bristol, via UHF link from their gauges at Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Dock from where the real-time tidal level data is posted to the OceanWise Port-Log subscription service and made available online to the RNLI crews and its operation control.
Due to the complexity of the tides in the area, special analyses are undertaken to detect rapid rates of change and ensure that the latest information is available immediately to the crews.
A RNLI spokesperson stated that he was “very happy with the system” and that the “smartphone access was a revelation!”
Try the Port-Log.net service out for yourself