Around 600 boats within the Kasimedu fishing harbour have been fitted with two-way communication transponders with know-how developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

These transponders will turn out to be useful in case of emergencies and can permit the boat homeowners, the Fisheries division management room and different businesses just like the Coast Guard to know the whereabouts of the vessel.

According to officers within the Fisheries division, within the first section, 1,400 deep-sea vessels and multi-day voyage vessels might be coated. “So far, around 900 transponders have been fixed on boats in Chennai, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Thoothukudi and Colachel. ISRO has provided the technology to three companies of which one has developed the product and will provide around 2,700 transponders. We will fix the transponders as we get them,” mentioned an official.  

The ₹18-crore mission to put in round 5,000 transponders on boats within the State has been funded by the Government of India. The gear permits two-way textual content communication by way of GSAT6 Satellite. Mobile purposes have been developed for android telephones/tablets to be used by the fishermen on board and for the homeowners. The system may be synced by means of the respective cellular purposes by way of Bluetooth.  

Weather alerts

Apart from such communication, the division can push info associated to climate and fish shoals. “If a cyclone warning has been issued and the information has to be sent to them, it can be done through this device. A buzzer has been fixed inside the boat and can be used to alert the fishermen in case of emergencies. When the fishing boat sends information, the satellite downlink lands at the ISRO’s satellite application centre in Ahmedabad, which pushes the feed to the Fisheries department server and other agencies like the Coast Guard,” mentioned one other official.  

The gear has a number of benefits over different communication gadgets like VHF which have restricted attain. It is cost-effective and may run for 28 hours even after electrical connection is severed.  Although the system was fastened in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu on a trial foundation in 2017, that model had restricted makes use of. The newest one gives extra options for fishermen and Tamil Nadu is the primary State within the nation to get it, mentioned the official.