Vessel Traffic Systems

3D Vessel Tracking: A New Course in Port Traffic Control

Marine operators and entities have long struggled with the most efficient, effective means to monitor and manage traffic in increasingly busy ports around the world. The marine industry, unlike the airline industry, is unique in that mixed with high levels of commercial traffic is a broad and ever changing mix of personal watercraft of varying sizes, with equal variables in terms of operator experience. Thus the ability to rapidly collect, compute, disseminate and act on information is central to safe port operations. A U.K. company, GeoVS, believes that it has the answer in the form of its new 3D Vessel Tracking System. “For the past 12 years colleagues and I have been grappling with the complex realities of enhancing situational awareness for maritime safety,” said Dr. Rafal Goralski, Director of Technology at GeoVS. “Only now do technological advances allow the integration of data from many sensors around a port to produce a real time, three dimensional traffic management and visualization tool. This research has resulted in the development of the world’s first commercial three dimensional real time vessel tracking system.” The System Managing large ship’s progress, usually in and out of ports and in other restricted channels, has understandably assumed a critical role in ensuring their safety

Lockheed Martin Awarded Contract

Lockheed Martin will provide the Arab Republic of Egypt with a fully integrated maritime search and rescue (SAR) system for the Gulf of Suez (GOS) under a $50 million contract signed today in Cairo. The SAR system will complement the Gulf of Suez Vessel Traffic Information Management System (VTIMS) provided by Lockheed Martin under a 1998 contract and provide the Egyptian Ministry of Transport with all the necessary capabilities to manage and respond to any maritime distress in the Gulf of Suez

IMO: Proposing Mandatory Traffic Control Compliance

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) last week proposed mandatory compliance by ship masters with orders from shore traffic controllers. The suggestion by IMO Secretary General William O'Neil launched a spirited debate at a conference on navigational safety in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, hosted by the IMO and Singapore's Institute of Policy Studies. "Under existing regulations, the VTIS (Vessel Traffic Information Systems) has the right to contact the ship concerned and

Kongsberg Norcontrol IT to Deliver VTMIS

Kongsberg Norcontrol IT will deliver a new VTMIS (Vessel Traffic Management and Information System) with Traffic Separation Schemes for the Canary Islands to Sociedad de Salvamento y Seguridad Marítima (SASEMAR) in Spain. TECOSA, Spain has contracted Kongsberg Norcontrol IT to supply its VTMIS5060 system to provide increased maritime safety for the Canary Islands' coastal waters and surrounding seas. The existing Norcontrol system in Las Palmas and the present VTS system in Tenerife

Canada Proposed to Regulate Arctic Traffic Zone

Canada’s Transport Minister John Baird announced that as part of Canada’s Northern Strategy, the federal government is proposing a regulated Arctic traffic zone, requiring certain vessels to report information to authorities as they pass through Canada’s northern waters. The new measures will help to ensure efficient navigation, enhance the safety of vessels, crew and passengers, and protect the unique and fragile Arctic marine environment

C-Vu 3D VTS: New 3D Vessel Tracking System

The new course to follow in controlling port traffic. A step change to enhance safety and improve operational efficiency.   Large ships navigating narrow waterways are always vulnerable to accidents – one only has to think of the Sea Empress tanker disaster at Milford Haven, or more recently the wrecking of the Costa Concordia. Managing their progress, usually in and out of ports and in other restricted channels, has understandably assumed a critical role in ensuring their safety

Zeebrugge Traffic Up 6.6%

Total traffic through Zeebrugge port rose by 6.6 percent to 26.67 million tons in the first nine months of 1999. At the end of the year it expected total traffic to rise to 35 million tons versus 33.4 million tons in 1998. "On the basis of these interim figures we can see that 1999 will be an absolute record year," port management said in a statement, noting that traffic rose by more than 20 percent over the past three years.

MarAd: Cruise Passenger Traffic Shows Continued Growth

For the first nine months of 2005, cruise passenger traffic in North America was 4.5 percent above the same period in 2004, despite the impact of hurricanes on Gulf port cruises, according to third quarter statistics released by the U.S. Maritime Administration. The data, part of the MarAd’s regularly-issued cruise passenger series, also show that cruise passenger traffic is up 18.5 percent over the same period in 2003, the year that MarAd first began publishing these statistics

Boater Causes Ships to Evade

An unidentified vessel operator forced five large commercial vessels to take evasive action in Puget Sound near Port Townsend, Wash., Thursday morning. At approximately 4:30 a.m., an intermittent radar contact was reported to the Coast Guard Puget Sound Vessel Traffic Service (Seattle Traffic) by a tug operator and several Puget Sound Pilots transiting the area near Marrowstone Point, Wash. The unknown vessel operator impeded a procession of north and southbound commercial traffic in low

Though The Rhine Level Drops, Barges Still Stopped

The Rhine river remained closed to barge traffic on Wednesday, but Cologne city officals said movements around the Cologne hub may be resumed in the evening. City officials in Cologne said the water level there currently stood near 849 cm, but was dropping by about one cm an hour. "It may be open (to barge traffic) tonight," a municipal official in charge of water issues said. The level must drop to 830 cm for slow or tug-assisted traffic to pass and to 620 cm for normal flows to resume.