MARITIME INNOVATION SPOTLIGHT
Innovation at a Glance:
In the ever-evolving landscape of coastal management, Liverpool-based Marlan Maritime Technologies Ltd stands beside CoastSense Ltd and at the forefront of pioneering world-leading innovation. Locally rooted, their mission is to redefine how we understand and interact with our shorelines. Their flagship service, CoastSense, exemplifies this commitment, offering unparalleled insight into the changing and dynamic environment of nearshore.
Harnessing Technology: for Coastal Insight
CoastSense is a cutting-edge data subscription service that employs shore-based sensor platforms to continuously monitor and analyse the physical marine environment. By integrating smart radar technology, video, and other sensor technologies, CoastSense delivers real-time data on topography, bathymetry, wave fields, and surface currents. This comprehensive approach provides users with a four-dimensional view of coastal dynamics, enabling proactive and informed decision-making.
Unlike traditional manual surveys, which are logistically demanding and less frequent, CoastSense can be rapidly deployed for high –temporal resolution surveys, even in complex and dynamic nearshore areas. This continuous monitoring is crucial for understanding sediment migration, erosion, and accretion patterns, all of which are vital for effective coastal management.
Collaborative Innovation in Action:
The development of CoastSense is in no small part thanks to the fantastic thriving maritime ecosystem of the Liverpool city region and the result of collaboration between Marlan Maritime Technologies, the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), and the University of Liverpool. This partnership has been instrumental in advancing remote sensing techniques for coastal monitoring. Through initiatives like the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP), the trio has successfully transitioned research innovations into practical applications, transforming the toolbox of coastal and maritime managers.
Dr. Paul Bell of the NOC highlighted the significance of this collaboration, stating:
“The ability to conduct inter-tidal beach surveys every couple of weeks using a robust and automated remote sensing system is providing an unprecedented window on the way key areas of coastline respond to storms, recover in calmer weather, and evolve following any coastal engineering works.”
Real-World Impact:
CoastSense’s practical applications have already made a tangible impact. For instance, its deployment at Crosby Beach provided Sefton Council with critical data on beach vulnerability during the 2016/2017 winter storm season, informing targeted coastal protection strategies.
Since then, the CoastSense service has been adopted in Ports and by coastal management authorities across the country to help solve poorly-understood dynamic maritime/nearshore environments.
Marlan’s innovative and effective solutions have earned widespread recognition. The company has been honoured with awards including the Merseyside Innovation Award, as well as the Mersey Maritime Innovation Award in 2018 and the Rising Star Award in 2020—both presented at the Mersey Maritime Industry Awards—highlighting its position as a leader in maritime technology and innovation. =
Shaping the Future of Maritime:
The success of the CoastSense service led to the formation of CoastSense Ltd, whose sole focus is to provide innovative coastal monitoring solutions, ensuring that coastal authorities, research institutions, and engineering consultants have direct access to vital data. By providing insights into sediment dynamics, wave behaviour, and current patterns, stakeholders can make evidence-based decisions regarding dredging operations, coastal defence construction, and habitat preservation—critical for both safety and ecological impact reduction.
Paul Wisse, Development Manager at Green Sefton, attested to the value of CoastSense, noting: “The information provided by CoastSense allows us to improve our management decisions on the coast, as we have a much better understanding of the natural systems. This means we can assess options for coastal protection with much more confidence and implement better, more sustainable solutions.”
About Navigating Maritime Innovation:
As Liverpool City Region-based enterprises, Marlan Maritime Technologies Ltd and CoastSense Ltd represent a critical asset within the region’s growing innovation ecosystem. CoastSense is a fantastic example of world class capability that Mersey Maritime’s Navigating Maritime Innovation programme, is actively seeking to promote to the sector and wider afield. Through this programme, industry leading innovations like Marlan Maritime and CoastSense will continue to be spotlighted as part of a coordinated effort to connect local technological excellence with the broader ecosystem to maximise potential future opportunity.
For more information on CoastSense and Marlan Maritime Technologies, visit www.coastsense.com and www.marlan-tech.co.uk
If you would like to be featured as part of the next spotlight, please contact Paul Tallon, Maritime Innovation Manager: innovation@merseymaritime.co.uk
For more information on Mersey Maritime’s Navigating Maritime Innovation project and how to get involved, visit: https://merseymaritime.co.uk/innovation/
