PRESS RELEASE
The innovative IT platform for managing antipollution operations in the port of Taranto presented at Interspill in Amsterdam: the interest of world players in the oil spill sector
Bari, 2 April March, 2015. At the Interspill fair of Amsterdam (24 – 26 March) ‘MLV® was presented to oil spill specialized operator. This is the innovative IT platform which is operative in the port of Taranto (Italy’s second largest port by area), and realized by the Italian company CLE Srl.
The final product, the fruit of over three years of research and development undertaken by CLE, is unique in its ability to gather, aggregate and process real time information from all the actors involved in services to prevent and manage emergencies arising from the spill of pollutants in water.
Because it is unique and means that users can minimize intervention times and maximize their effectiveness, the MLV platform has proved of interest to about 10 world players in the ‘oil spill’ sector (petrol companies, port authorities and the organizations which run marine antipollution services), particularly in Great Britain, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Brazil and the Persian Gulf.
The platform, which complies with National and International regulations for the management of antipollution issues – including those of International Marine Organization (IMO), European Maritime Security Agency (EMSA) and National Regulation – can be used to manage the complex activity of environmental control for the safekeeping of the marine environment along coasts, offshore and also in rivers and lakes.
The system can be used for the management of ordinary and emergency antipollution services, achieving optimization of the use of personnel, of antipollution fleets and their equipment, the coordination of the activities of the people involved in the services and those of the regional and national authorities for the prevention and management of pollution (Coast Guard/Port Authority/Ministry of the Environment/Fire Brigade, etc). It can also track how supplied services and environmental problems evolved over time, with a consequent reduction of the risks of pollution.
The profoundly innovative element of the MLV computerized platform is its ability to plan, control and coordinate in real time all the activities which are carried out (from prevention and emergency intervention to the confirmation of environmental accidents) from pollution prevention fleet (tow-boats, support boats, and land-based vehicles, etc.), to specialized operators, logistic support structures (warehousing) and materials of various kinds (chemical dispersion agents, barriers, skimmers to vacuum up the pollutants, etc.). This particular quality means that it can be used to optimize each operation so that it is carried out at the right moment, thus supplying an informative tool which is indispensable for checking activities and coordinating with other organizations which have been commissioned to supply services of intervention.
Now that it has been developed in Italy, CLE is facing promoting MLV in territories abroad. The sole administrator of the company from Bari, Mariarosaria Scherillo, confirms that ‘interest in MLV has gone well beyond our expectations; some multinationals in the Oil Spill sector have asked us to test the platform immediately, especially appreciating its ability to put into contact in real time all the actors involved in the activities of cleaning marine pollution and of complying with the stringent international regulations of the IMO and EMSA. For the company the MLV is our calling card to develop relations with the international market, with its enormous commercial potential simply because of the size of the companies involved in the running of ports and of Oil Spills.’
Francesco Argento uses MLV in the port of Taranto. He is AD of Ecotaras Spa – the company which plays a key role in the general services for running antipollution operations in the Maritime area of Taranto. Francesco states that ‘before, running the equipment and personnel was very complicated both for regular operations and in emergency cases; with MLV we have a achieved an efficient level of organization which can give us at any moment a picture of how the operations are proceeding, besides giving us a constant evaluation of the resources being used, granting us a marked advantage in terms of optimizing costs and time effectiveness.’
The technologies used
MLV aggregates data which comes from instruments which are installed both on antipollution fleets vessels and vehicles used on operations and on the control stations on land; specifically these are ordinary and infrared (or ultraviolet) cameras, weather stations, and marine traffic control services (including AIS and VTS). It integrates a GIS system to handle maps in support of the management of operations and can also be made available under a user license or as SAAS (Software As A Service).
MLV is ‘Web 2.0’ enabled, and can be used on PC’s and mobile apparatuses which means that operations using vessels, equipment and specialized personnel can be optimized and made time-effective. It thus supplies an informational tool which can be used to centralize, in the shortest possible time, all the data which have been gathered in the field and to share them with the various agents involved in the antipollution operations.
Furthermore, the MLV platform helps to evaluate direct and correlated risks, reducing the possibility of more accidents occurring during operations as the result of lack of coordination and/or information. In this context the instruments used for data collection and monitoring play a vital role to support those who have to move around in the area (whether it be naval vessels, land-based vehicles or people who walk, etc.), or instruments which are placed in fixed positions can supply data which comes from the analysis of visual information gathered by cameras or by sensors which have been specifically developed to monitor the area
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About Interspill fair in Amsterdam (24-26 March)
Interspill is the European leg of the cycle of international conferences on hydrocarbon marine pollution, organized and run by the principal European organizations in the Oil Spill industry in which scientific, technological and regulatory developments and innovations in this area are presented.
About CLE
CLE began in 1987, and now it is an emerging force in ICT at the national level, active in realizing specialized products and services in the area of Information Technology and training. Based in Bari with a branch in Milan, the company currently employs over 40 operative staff who serve numerous clients at a national level, divided between Central Public Administration, Local Public Administration, the Health Service and SME’s. Aware of the strategic importance of research, as a boost for growth and for the company’s success in the market, we carry out a continuous ‘R & D’ policy with the aim of marking out innovative products and services which we can propose as solutions for specific circumstances. The sole administrator of CLE is Mariarosaria Scherillo, president of the Innovative Services and Communication Sector of the Italian Federation of Employers (Bari-BAT section). The company is part of the Productive District of Apulian IT and of AICA (the national IT association) in Puglia.
ENDS
