Hyderabad: INCOIS unveils 3 novel products for seafarers

Hyderabad: The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) provides a number of free services for users in the marine realm. The institute is an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. INCOIS prioritises requests for specific services from its diverse user community that ranges right from fishermen to offshore oil exploration industries.

In this regard, INCOIS has now launched a trio of products to better cater to its diverse users.

One of these new products is the Small Vessel Advisory and Forecast Services System (SVAS), to improve operations on the numerous small marine vessels, particularly fishing vessels that ply the coastal waters of India. The Swell Surge Forecast System will provide forewarnings for the coastal population of India's vast shoreline, which experiences a slew of damages caused by the swell waves that actually originate from the distant southern Indian Ocean.

The final new product in this trio is the Algal Bloom Information Service (ABIS), providing timely information on harmful algal blooms, which are detrimental to coastal fisheries and also tend to induce respiratory problems within the coastal population from time to time. All three products focus on significantly reducing damage and losses for service/product users and the coastal population.

A study by INCOIS scientists has revealed that specific meteorological conditions in the Southern Indian Ocean support the generation of long period swells. These swells once generated, travel northward and reach the Indian coasts in 3-5 days time, creating havoc in the coastal areas. The system will now predict Kallakkadal and warnings will be given to concerned authorities at least 2-3 days in advance, which will help the local authorities for contingency plans and to reduce damage.