U.S., Canada contract Saab for Great Lakes maritime traffic management

Defence and security company Saab has been awarded two separate contracts to upgrade the Great Lakes Pilot Management System to the latest version of Saab’s KleinPilot.

One contract was awarded by the Canadian Great Lakes Pilotage Authority and the other came from the Great Lakes Pilotage Division of United States Coast Guard.

Saab said the new KleinPilot system would replace the existing Saab supplied system installed in 2006.

It will be used by the two organizations and the three U.S. Great Lakes pilotage associations to manage and coordinate the dispatch of marine pilots on the Great Lakes and automatically generate billing in accordance with the applicable tariffs.

Saab will host and administer the shared system on behalf of the two organizations on a secure site to ensure the confidentiality of the parties and data.

The new system, based on the N-Tier management information system platform, is scheduled to commence use in live production for the start of the Great Lakes navigation season in March 2017.