Global water engineering company DHI, one of NCI's Commercial Partners, and the Port of Brisbane have been awarded the Smart Infrastructure Project award at Infrastructure Partnerships Australia's National Infrastructure Awards. The award is for the world-leading NCOS Online technology developed by DHI to help manage large-vessel traffic in the Port of Brisbane.

NCOS Online is a new type of cloud service, viewable online, for effectively managing depth-constricted vessel traffic for large commercial ports. Using NCI's Tenjin cloud computer, DHI runs a number of daily scheduled weather forecasts, automated data collection and on-demand vessel traffic calculations.

DHI Project Lead and Group Executive for Ports and Navigation, Simon Mortensen says, "NCI's infrastructure provided the perfect platform for hosting a demanding operational service such as NCOS Online. This would never ever have been possible if it was not for NCI and their infrastructure.

NCI's staff have been fantastic at working with us to make sure that the cloud service and hardware perform correctly. The staff are world class and it has been an unsurpassed pleasure to work with them."

This new cloud service has opened the door to more advanced and more accurate web services that will improve port operations worldwide. As the hubs for so much of our modern economies, ports around the world will benefit from more cost effective management of port traffic and less environmental impacts from unnecessary dredging in shipping channels. Already, the Port of Brisbane has experienced a significant uplift in larger cargo vessels calling in: since August 2017, the number of deep drafted bulk carriers above 14.0m calling at the Port has tripled.

The NCOS Online tool also won the Innovative Support Services award at the Dredging and Port Construction Innovation Awards in December 2017.