![Training Scheme of VTS staff in Germany (graphic adapted from [20]).](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael-Baldauf-2/publication/346042219/figure/fig3/AS:961104649924609@1606156613741/Training-Scheme-of-VTS-staff-in-Germany-graphic-adapted-from-20_Q320.jpg)
Content uploaded by Michael Baldauf
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Michael Baldauf on Nov 23, 2020
Content may be subject to copyright.
A preview of the PDF is not available
Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) and e-Navigation to safely and efficiently connect Regions
Abstract and Figures
Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) are shore-based systems to ensure safe and efficient flow of shipping along coast lines and from and to ports. They are standardized and regulated by United Nation’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) with major contributing work from International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA). VTSs serve as an additional safety barrier by contributing to the avoidance of maritime accidents and incidents. In the era of digitalization and automation shore-based services are becoming increasingly popular and an important tool to protect the marine environment. The Straits of Sunda divides the region of Western Java and Sumatra island. The straits serving national and international shipping and are characterized by high traffic density in its coastal waters, including crossing passage of the national heaviest ferry traffic. Consequently, it is one of the major safety concerns in Indonesia. Four accidents of ships’ collision, grounding, and fire on board have been recorded in the area from 2011-2019 as officially reported by the national safety committee (KNKT). At the same time, VTS provides valuable services to mariners. The implementation of operational standards that comply with international rules and regulations, such as IMO Resolution A.857(20), and IALA Guideline 1111ti should be further developed to benefit from the broader set of VTS function. A basic marine engineering study has been done to investigate the roles of Merak VTS implemented at Sunda Strait using German VTS operation as sample cases. In this respect, empirical studies were used to collect primary qualitative data and analysis of secondary data concerning the aspects of human element, the technical and administrative work. The research is to investigate how Merak VTS could potentially improve its contributions to traffic safety and in what way the new routeing and the mandatory ship reporting systems can be integrated to ensure positive effects. The outcome of first basic studies suggests that well adapted procedures, proper equipment, and especially well-trained VTS staff may provide a huge potential to further improve as well as optimize the operation of Merak VTS.
Figures - uploaded by Michael Baldauf
Author content
All figure content in this area was uploaded by Michael Baldauf
Content may be subject to copyright.
... Cause those having onboard experience would have been intuition regarding what they need in particularly congested or dangerous waters and how to manage a situation that will occur in their VTS area. In other words, VTSOs who have maritime services are better focused on their working environment to ensure maritime traffic safety and are also results-oriented (Claresta and Baldauf 2020). ...
... Maritime-backgrounded operators know well which information or advice assists the bridge team in safe navigation. At the same time, those are able to evaluate the effects of various conditions, such as the comparison of heavy weather and loading conditions on the ship structure, in addition to understanding the manoeuvring capabilities and limitations of ships in the fairway (Claresta and Baldauf 2020). Similarly, according to Kum and Furusho (2008), maritime experience provides an advantage in faster detection (SA), rapid action, and alternative solutions, i.e. the use of initiative in emergencies and routine situations. ...
Vessel Traffic Service Operators (VTSOs) provide quality services in a certain standard and systematic way worldwide. Moreover, authorities should design all VTSO training by international standards and existing training techniques/trends to achieve this at the international level. Therefore, this research is focused on the training of the operators, which is the most crucial element for safer, timely, and effective services. However, the research results reveal that the job application criteria and selection techniques directly or indirectly affect the training program and syllabus. Hereof, this study aims to identify factors affecting the selection and recruitment process of VTSOs. In addition, face-to-face interviews were conducted through VTSOs, trainers, and observations in training centres for further thought. Likewise, novel approaches, methods and recommendations bring forward a proposal for selecting and recruiting VTSOs and training models, curricula, and techniques. The findings and outputs also indicate the need for new and detailed studies.
... A few major players [5] are Kongsbeg (Norway), Terma (Denmark), Transas (Ireland), Saab AB (Sweden), Thales Group (France), etc. The research community mainly contributes to marine engineering study, investigating the roles of VTS systems [6], qualifying their contributions to traffic safety [7], improving safety services [8], [9], performing hardware component evaluation [10], utilizing the collected data to generate valuable domain insights [11], [12], and so on. ...
... However, when a vessel starts maneuvering (such as changing its course or speed), the CVM approach lacks the required accuracy, and for better accuracy, nonlinear forecasting models should be considered. Recently, nonlinear prediction approaches, such as neural networks [13], extended Kalman filters [14], [15], and knowledgeassisted approaches [7], [16], have attracted growing attention in the research community. These studies have revealed that at a vessel's maneuvering state, nonlinear approaches exert better performance and outperform due to their superior accuracy, and allow earlier (up to several minutes depending on the specific situation) alerts in collision-risk detection. ...
Vessel traffic services (VTS) systems are critical to safeguard maritime traffic safety in which sensing and information technologies are implemented to assist in gathering, storing, processing, and visualizing maritime traffic data and are inclusively produced as a system solution. Mariners all over the world recognize VTS systems as aids to navigation. For instance, they use the services provided by the system to request traffic data and availability of pilots when vessels are arriving at a port or while transiting in waterways closer to the shoreline of a country. However, current VTS systems still work in a “passive” mode, which requires tedious human labor, and especially relies on a VTS officer’s professional experience and skills. Today, industrial customers (like port authorities, maritime traffic management agencies, and so forth) have higher expectations for “proactive” decision support features that enhance VTS intelligence and help reduce manual workloads and human errors. In this article, we focus on an overall framework including software technologies and functional features that may transform VTS systems from passive to proactive, which is highlighted in line with the technologies and toolkits we developed in several industrial projects for maritime traffic safety management.
This article considers the prospects of building highly automated ferry lines on the internal waterways of Russia. To do this, the authors used the engineering-cybernetical approach to determine the basic provisions of the concept for the construction of unmanned ferry lines. The key provisions of the concept account for the integration of unmanned ferry lines in the river information and communications triad based on the hierarchical principle: the corporate river information and communications service - the river information service - the automated ship-traffic control system. The authors consider the prospects of using unmanned ferry lines on rivers where the navigation and information support for the unmanned ferry can be provided using radio technical facilities covering both the points of departure and destination. The authors also reviewed the arrangement of unmanned ferry lines for situations where the departure point and the destination are far from each other. This type of unmanned ferry line is suitable for reservoirs or large lakes.
Finally, the research work also provides a rationalization of the selection of the automation level for unmanned ferry lines following the terminology used by the work team for inland water transport of the Committee for the Inland Water Transport of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
The Sea Traffic Management (STM) Validation Project is a European-based initiative
with ambitions to improve maritime safety and efficiency through information sharing
in real-time. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the “STM services,” which can be
categorized as low-level automated functions designed to improve information exchange
between ship and shore. Full-scale simulated scenarios were developed and
tested on 16 professional vessel traffic service (VTS) operators comparing VTS
operations as they are today with the added STM functionality. Data collection
involved observations that assessed the frequency and type of interactions between
ships and VTS, followed by questionnaires to provide an overall assessment of the user
experience. The results indicate that the frequency and method of communication
patterns between VTS operators and ships will be affected by the integration of the
STM services. Additional access to navigational information could change the role of
VTS operators in traffic situations compared with traditional operations. This paper
discusses the findings from a socio-technical systems perspective while also addressing
the individual STM services and their potential impact on VTS operations. This
research provides valuable information for European VTS centers that could be affected
by the implementation of e-Navigation and, specifically, the STM services.
Current maritime transportation and shipping is characterized by rapid technological developments effecting the basic concepts of operating ships and even changing traditional paradigms of controlling ships. The e-Navigation concept of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) specifically aims at more comprehensive and reliable support of the human operators on-board and ashore. However, autonomous unmanned ships remote controlled or even autonomously navigating are expected to come soon. In this paper, selected operational aspects of maritime traffic merging conventional and unmanned remote controlled ships in coastal areas are discussed. Furthermore, some preliminary results of experimental simulation studies into a future scenario of maritime traffic are presented and preliminary conclusions in respect to job profiling and training requirements are discussed.
The majority of accidents in the maritime domain is caused to by human errors. One of the measures to reduce human-related marine accidents is proposed to implement the e-Navigation concept according to the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) strategy implementation plan. E-Navigation is harmonized collection, integration, exchange and presentation of information that facilitate berth to berth operations. To achieve this, the introduction of electronic means, including state-of-the-art information and communication technologies, is the key to support ship operators on-board as well as ashore. Considering the fact that around 50% of accidents occurring at sea are attributed to navigational challenges, a systematic maritime traffic management seems to be necessary. On the other hand, modern ship operations rely on a small number of crew whose responsibilities for safe and efficient navigation are increasingly high. Without operational support from the shore, using a reliable technology-based system, it would be challenging to reduce marine accidents. E-Navigation, provides a great potential to help mitigate incidents such as collisions, grounding problems, oil spills and piracy. It also allows a certain in utilizing both new and existing technologies which are acceptable within the operating standards.
In this paper, the authors study the modus operandi of the proposed e-Navigation concept in terms of its requirements and implementation plans as well as the potential limitations and benefits around the concept. An empirical study was conducted through online questionnaires and structured interviews. The study provides insights into attitudes on the role and predicted efficacy of the implementation of e-Navigation towards the materialization of its concept by 2020. Finally, the paper proposes recommendations with regard to implementing this ambitious and challenging concept.
The present situation in international shipping is characterized by rapid technological developments effecting the basic concepts of operating ships and even changing traditional paradigms of controlling ships. The e-Navigation concept developed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) and commonly defined as the "harmonized collection, integration, exchange, presentation and analysis of marine information on board and ashore by electronic means to enhance berth to berth navigation and related services for safety and security at sea and protection of the marine environment" [1] focuses on better and more comprehensive support of the human operators. However, modern Information and Communication technologies (ICT) are not only core to the implementation of the e-Navigation strategy but provide good foundation for automation of systems. The progressing digitalization further press ahead application of integrated and automated systems to steer even large seagoing ships. The manifold abilities of those technologies and companies looking for more cost-effective solutions are presenting autonomous navigation and unmanned shipping as soon to come. Taking this for granted, it will not happen that all ships will operate unmanned and autonomously. It is assumed that there will be periods when unmanned ships will operate together with unmanned either autonomous or remote controlled ships. Mixed traffic scenarios seem to be especially challenging in terms of the safety and efficiency of the vessel traffic flow. In this paper we present investigations and some first preliminary results of a simulation study which researched for the very first time traffic scenarios including conventional manned and future unmanned ships. Simulation trials have been planned, designed and implemented in order to study different equipment options for monitoring and remote controlling unmanned ships navigating in a coastal area covered by Vessel Traffic Services (VTS). In this pilot study first trials have been conducted with experienced seafarers and non-experienced personnel from the maritime domain. Indicators have been developed for purposes of analysis and comparison of different groups and equipment options. The outcome of these trials will be discussed in the light of evolutionary needs of operators working in control centres and requirements from human operators when remotely operating unmanned ships in areas with conventional traffic. Basic data for contributing to job profiles and training needs to be included in maritime training schemes will be introduced.
The study is aimed to propose a solution to prevent ship accident, ship collision in
particular on the Indonesia’s busiest ferry crossing lane between Merak in Java island and
Bakauheni in Sumatera island on Sunda Strait that intersects with the Indonesian
Archipelagic Sea Lane which is provided by the Government of Indonesia as an
archipelagic country as international passageway for ships sailing through Indonesian
waters from Indian Ocean to South China Sea and Pacific Ocean by implementing Traffic
Separation Scheme that regulates traffic proceeding in opposite or nearly opposite
directions by means of a separation zone or line, traffic lane, etc. Background that
motivated the study is presented including some records of vatal accidents occured on the
strait, and portrait of the congested crossing lane. Concept of traffic separation scheme and
how to implement it on Sunda Strait is simulated, and its concluded that the scheme could
minimises potential collision between ships that on the strait, and therefore it is urgent for
the Government to implement the scheme.
Keywords: Archipelagic Sea Lane; ferry crossing lane; ship accident; Sunda Strait; Traffic
separation scheme
Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) is a shore-side maritime assistance service that supports bridge teams in their safe navigation of port approaches and other areas that present navigational difficulties. The VTS is implemented in national waters and provides vessels with information through transmissions and broadcasts on Very High Frequency (VHF) radio. With a continued growth in the number, size and cargo volumes of merchant vessels, the role of the VTS has recently become a matter of discussion, and it has been argued that changes, such as implementing an aviation-like control system, would be of an enormous benefit for stakeholders and guarantee safe and efficient traffic movements in the future. The complexity of processes in safety-critical domains, such as maritime traffic management, is increasing due to continuing technical, organisational and environmental developments. The VTS is currently undergoing drastic changes, primarily driven by strategies and projects focusing on increasing the overall efficiency of the maritime transportation system through advanced technology. To reduce the risk of unforeseen consequences, it is important to study and understand the service and its contribution to traffic management before changes are implemented. The purpose of this thesis has been to increase the overall understanding of everyday performance of the VTS system and identify ways of modelling the performance of the service, as a contribution to the ongoing debate on the future needs of maritime traffic management. The VTS is described as socio-technical system that controls and manages maritime traffic in port approaches and other areas that pose navigational difficulties for bridge teams. Field data collected through semi-structured interviews, observations and focus groups have been analysed with the aid of concepts derived from Cognitive Systems Engineering (CSE) and Resilience Engineering (RE) to understand how the VTS actively contributes to safety through monitoring, responding to and anticipating changes in traffic patterns in the VTS area. The data have also been used to model performance variability in everyday operation with the aid of the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM). Performance variability is necessary for a system to be adaptive, and is therefore essential for the system’s functioning. By using the FRAM, a new angle of the VTS system has been explored to understand how variability in its functional units affects the overall system performance. The thesis demonstrates the importance of understanding how performance in a socio-technical system can vary and the consequences this may have. The FRAM can be used to analyse the functional design of a socio-technical system, and therefore help to identify and assess ways in which performance variability can be monitored and managed. By understanding the functional design of the VTS system and the complexity of everyday operation, stakeholders will be able to identify advantages and disadvantages of current system design and use this to consider how future demands can best be met.
Recent discussions on digitalization, and autonomous ships provide a disruptive picture of how the maritime industry may be transformed in this process. The magnitude of this digitalization trend is very different from the one of implementing e-Navigation initiated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in 2006 to harmonize, integrate, exchange, present and analyze marine information on board and ashore by electronic means. A rapid speed of digitalization of ship operation is causing controversy. For example, the maritime industry has not yet come to a consensus about agreed definitions of “autonomous ship”, “unmanned ship” and a “remote-controlled vessel”. Some pioneering industry developers, invest in the digitalization of ship operation to make the maritime transport more reliable, safe and efficient. Whilst such technological developments promise safe and efficient business models to a greater extent, it has not been much discussed how people on board will be affected by digitalization with a particular attention to the notion of leadership. Command of vessels has been traditionally considered as a human domain. The ways in which leadership is displayed on board and how each task is dedicated to the members of a shipboard organization will be radically different in the era of digitalization. Based on the qualitative data obtained from semi-structured interviews, group interviews and participant observation with maritime experts in Norway, the paper discusses the impact of digitalization on organized work in ship operation, implications of digitalization for leadership, and leadership required in the era of digitalization. It concludes that human-automation coordination as well as human-human coordination are the key to support the future operation of ships.
Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate
- R George
George R., Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside
Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes
on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your
Plate, Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt and Co.,
USA, 2013.
Seminar on the Revision of IMO Resolution A.857(20) Guidelines for Vessel Traffic Services
- T Southall
Southall T.,,Seminar on the Revision of IMO
Resolution A.857(20) Guidelines for Vessel Traffic
Services",International Association of Marine Aids
to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities, 2019.
Vessel traffic service as a maritime security tool: vessel traffic management information systems (VTMIS) in Ghana
- J A Kuma
Kuma J.A., "Vessel traffic service as a maritime
security tool: vessel traffic management
information systems (VTMIS) in Ghana",
Dissertation,
World
Maritime University,