Nearly 3,000 Vietnamese fishing vessels will now have terminals linked by Iridium satellites to maritime surveillance centers for typhoon warnings. These equipments will be provided by CLS of France under a contract valued at 14 million euros ($19.9 million). Toulouse-based CLS announced this saying under the contract, CLS, a commercial subsidiary of the French space agency specializing in collection of space-based data, will provide its Leo ship-based terminal for installation on Vietnam’s entire offshore fishing fleet.
CLS will also build three fishing surveillance centers and train Vietnamese nationals to operate them under the contract. CLS informed that the ship-based terminals will send and receive data through the 66-satellite Iridium constellation in low Earth orbit and be connected to a main center in Hanoi. From Hanoi, regional centers in Haiphong and Vung Tau will receive data on ship whereabouts and other information required to manage the fishing industry.
According to the information CLS will provide the three centers with weather and oceanographic data, including sea-surface height, deemed valuable in predicting heavy weather. The centers then will notify ships in the relevant region to head for the nearest port.
