Tianjin Maritime Surveying and Mapping Center has built the first hydrological station on an offshore oil and gas platform in the Northern Sea Area.

Recently, the Tianjin Maritime Surveying and Mapping Center of the Beihai Navigation Support Center successfully completed all tasks related to the construction, equipment debugging, data verification, and system integration of the first offshore oil and gas platform hydrological station in the northern sea area. The station has officially been incorporated into the northern sea area hydrological observation network and has entered the stage of regular operation. The implementation of this new station construction model is an effective measure by the Tianjin Maritime Surveying and Mapping Center to accelerate the establishment of a modern navigation support system, build the "Four Networks and One Platform" framework, extend navigation support capabilities from coastal to deep-sea areas, and upgrade from traditional support to intelligent empowerment. It effectively addresses the shortcomings in hydrological monitoring of deep-sea and key water areas, providing a new practical approach to optimizing observation layouts and enhancing hydrological support capabilities across the region.

For a long time, hydrological observation stations in the northern sea area have mostly relied on shore-based facilities such as ports, docks, islands, and lighthouses, with observation ranges concentrated in nearshore channels and port waters. Due to constraints such as construction conditions, transportation and maintenance, and the maritime environment, the Bohai Sea's mid-to-far offshore areas have long lacked fixed observation points, making it difficult to obtain continuous and stable measured tidal data. This has hindered the improvement of hydrological monitoring, tidal analysis, and navigation support work in the sea area.

To overcome the limitations of nearshore observations and extend the coverage of hydrological monitoring, the Tianjin Maritime Surveying and Mapping Center, relying on the "Northern Sea Area Hydrological Station Supplementary Construction Project," has innovatively broken through traditional station construction models by establishing hydrological observation stations on offshore oil and gas platforms. Addressing challenges such as limited offshore operational space, complex sea conditions, and high safety control standards, the technical team repeatedly optimized construction plans based on the platform's structure, power supply, communication, and maintenance needs. They refined key technical measures for equipment installation, cable laying, waterproofing and corrosion prevention, and communication transmission, seizing effective offshore construction windows to efficiently complete the project construction and system integration tasks.

This hydrological station is equipped with fully automated tidal observation equipment, capable of continuous 24/7 data collection, automatic storage, and remote transmission. After testing and data comparison verification, the station's equipment has demonstrated stable operational status and reliable continuous data transmission. The observation data has been successfully integrated into the sea area's hydrological information monitoring service system, achieving unified management with coastal port observation stations.

This innovative station construction model, which relies on existing offshore oil and gas platforms, has fully utilized existing resources such as offshore facilities, power supply, and communication, significantly reducing the difficulty of independently constructing stations in mid-to-far offshore areas. It provides a new pathway for obtaining long-term continuous hydrological measured data in the Bohai Sea area. The related hydrological data will strongly support core tasks such as port and channel surveying, tidal analysis, and depth datum research, while also accumulating valuable foundational data for studying tidal patterns and providing accurate tidal forecasts in the sea area.

Next, the Tianjin Maritime Surveying and Mapping Center will comprehensively summarize the construction and maintenance experience of the first oil and gas platform hydrological station, steadily advance the construction of the remaining three similar hydrological stations, and continuously strengthen equipment inspections, operational monitoring, and data quality control. By building a multidimensional hydrological observation system that integrates nearshore, island, lighthouse, and offshore platform stations, the center aims to further enhance the northern sea area's hydrological data acquisition capabilities and navigation support service levels, contributing to the comprehensive establishment of a modern navigation support system centered on the "Four Networks and One Platform."