Oakland adds visibility sensor at Seaside terminal

   The Port of Oakland said Tuesday that a maritime visibility sensor has been placed at the Ben E. Nutter Terminal (Berth 38) operated by Seaside Transportation Services and home to Evergreen Marine Corp.
   The sensor is a continuously operating visibility data collection platform that helps mariners make informed decisions in foggy or low visibility situations.
Oakland is the first port on the West Coast to embrace the FS11 Vaisala visibility sensor technology.
   “One of the benefits of this new sensor technology is that it provides good data and consistent results without being dependent on human observation,” said Port of Oakland Acting Maritime Director Jean Banker. “The equipment is also designed to be operationally reliable even during the harshest weather.”
   Mobile Bay in Alabama is the only other major port in the nation to install visibility sensors.
   The installation is the culmination of a two-year project between the Port of Oakland, San Francisco Harbor Safety Committee, Coast Guard Sector San Francisco (SF), Marine Exchange of San Francisco Bay, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service Office Monterey, and NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS).
   The visibility system is a part of a wider NOAA system that provides real-time water level, currents and meteorological data for navigation aid in 20 major ports and harbors across the country. – Eric Johnson