Jane's International Defence Digest and Jane's International Defence News reported on the recent sale of DSIT's Diver Detection Sonar (DDS) system.

Diver detection system gets commercial role at oil facility

By: Richard Scott

Israeli sonar and underwater acoustics house DSIT Solutions Ltd is to supply its Diver Detection Sonar (DDS) to oil terminal operator Naftoport to guard the facility in Gdansk, Poland, against diver incursions. The order is believed to mark the first commercial sale of a diver detection device to protect a critical coastal energy installation. DSIT was chosen by Naftoport following a competitive evaluation of a range of rival diver detection systems, the downselection being confirmed following a live system demonstration.

Developed as a private venture by DSIT, the DDS system comprises a PC-based commandand-control computer connected by a fibre-optic link to a number of sonar nodes positioned on the seabed or attached to a pierhead.
The company claims that its DDS solution is the only system currently available that is able to reliably achieve long-range detection (700 m) against closed-breather divers with a minimal false-alarm rate in conditions of high noise and reverberation. It adds that the system includes a fully automatic mode, eliminating the requirement for a full-time operator.

The long-range performance of DSIT's DDS is attributed to a relatively low operating frequency (60 kHz) and a commensurately larger array, and the implementation of advanced signal processing algorithms for automatic detection, tracking and classification. Antireverberation features include: a very narrow horizontal and vertical beamwidth; coherent processing; coded pulses; low sidelobes in the vertical transmit beam; and an embedded sonar performance prediction model support function to calculate expected detection range.

Naftoport operates the Gdansk oil terminal, playing a key role in transporting crude oil to Polish and German refineries and in exporting Russian crude oil worldwide. It is understood that DSIT's DDS, due for delivery in late 2007/early 2008, will form part of a larger integrated above-water and underwater security system.

2007 Jane's Information Group

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