Vessel Traffic Management News

U.K.-based shipping, navigation, and maritime risk consultancy NASH Maritime announced it has appointed James Clark as governance lead, responsible for the development of the company’s port and maritime compliance business.Clark brings to the role two decades of both maritime risk and mariner experience. He started his career at sea, before joining Bristol Port Company as Assistant Harbor Master and later becoming responsible for VTS and shipping operations. Other roles have included Vessel Traffic Management and Ports Liaison with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Following the Worldwide Ferry Safety Association’s (WFSA) Professional Program (held virtually on May 18, 2022), Awards were presented to finalist teams in the WFSA’s Ferry Design Competition, now in its ninth year.Dr. Roberta Weisbrod, WFSA’s Executive Director, said the specifications for the design ferry were crafted to be ever more challenging from year to year, but that this year’s objective creating a safe and affordable ferry for transiting India’s Brahmaputra River, “that…

Abu Dhabi's AD Ports Group and the Red Sea Ports Authority have signed a Term Sheet and a Head of Terms agreement for what they say are major port projects along Egypt’s coastline, including multi-purpose terminals, and cruise ship berths.The first agreement will see AD Ports Group develop, operate, and manage a multi-purpose terminal in Safaga Port in a consortium with the Red Sea Ports Authority and the Egyptian Group for Multipurpose Terminals Company, the commercial arm of…

A software problem that blocked all ship traffic in the main channel between the Baltic and the North Sea on Sunday was not a hacker attack and has been fixed, a spokesperson for Germany's Kiel Canal Waterways and Shipping Authority said on Monday.The incident was caused by the installation of a new vessel traffic management software system, the spokesperson said.Fixing a small error in the code allowed the channel to go back into full operation after more than 12 hours of outage, the spokesperson added."The traffic controller went down at 8 o'clock yesterday morning.

In research prompted by the incident in the Dutch North Sea in January when a drifting bulk carrier hit offshore wind facilities, Dutch maritime research institute MARIN this week, with industry partners, tested three innovative barriers aimed at averting collisions between ships and wind turbines.The drifting bulk carrier Julietta D initially collided with a tanker before hitting a transformer platform and a turbine foundation for the Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm currently under…

The speed of a container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March was controlled by the Egyptian waterway’s operator before it ran aground, the vessel’s insurer said on Thursday.The statement from UK Club came after the head of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said the ship was sailing too fast when it became grounded, but that the canal bore no responsibility.The Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships, is still being held in the canal while both sides continue compensation talks.

A Panama-flagged bulk carrier and Philippine-flagged motor tanker collided off Luzon Point, Mariveles, Bataan at around 12:15 a.m.

The technology group Wärtsilä will upgrade its Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS) installed in the Indian port of Cochin, bringing additional benefits such as improved traffic monitoring and control.The system was originally delivered in 2008, and the order with Wärtsilä to upgrade the system was placed in February 2020 by the Cochin Port Trust (CoPT). The upgrading project is scheduled for completion by the end of July 2020.According to Wärtsilä, the upgraded VTMS will enable…

The technology group Wärtsilä has successfully completed the installation and operational staff training for its Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) solution in the ports of Lisbon and Setúbal / Sesimbra in Portugal.The systems will increase the efficiency of these ports by reducing waiting time for vessels and allowing just-in-time pilotage. The state-of-the-art solution has been developed and supplied by Transas, a Wärtsilä company. The project was booked in July 2018 and completed in January 2019.The complex project comprised…

Saab has received an order from the China Maritime Safety Administration to renew and extend the Vessel Traffic Management Information System (VTMIS) in Shanghai, improving the safety and efficiency of shipping in the world's largest container portThe project will take 18 months to complete, and includes the replacement of most of the existing radar and communications systems, two traffic centres and the delivery of a new supervisory centre."Saab's expertise in upgrading complex existing systems with minimal operational disturbance was a key consideration for the China Maritime Safety Adminstration. With a daily import and export of 3 billion dollars' worth of goods…

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Port of Rotterdam Authority (PoR) renewed their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in Information Exchange and Research and Development (R&D).Since the commencement of the MoU in 2015, MPA and PoR have been working together in key areas such as maritime cybersecurity, LNG bunkering and Next Generation Vessel Traffic Management Systems.The renewal of the MoU, signed by Andrew Tan, Chief Executive of MPA and Allard Castelein, Chief Executive Officer of PoR, seeks to further the collaboration between the two counterparts in port digitalisation, port services, port safety and operations and handling of autonomous vessels in port.Tan said…

The fifth run of the MPA Academy Port Management Programme (PMP), aimed at port masters, harbour masters and middle managers from maritime and port authorities, kicked off today with a record 20 maritime officials from across Africa, Asia, Latin America, Middle East and Oceania. Developed and organised by MPA Academy, the five-day programme will be delivered by practitioners from the industry as well as senior officers from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). Some of the key subjects that will be covered during the programme include safety, port planning and security. This year, the programme will include a new topic on digitalisation to address the increasing adoption of automation and technologies in the maritime industry.

Singapore is set to get new technology to help in preventing ship collisions.The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said it has engaged the services of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research's Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC), Singapore Management University (SMU) and Fujitsu to develop new predictive technologies for maritime vessel traffic management. These predictive technologies will tap the power of artificial intelligence and big data analytics, to enhance navigational safety within the Port of Singapore. The initiative is in line with the Maritime Transformation Program unveiled during this year’s MPA budget…

As one of the wonders of the natural world, many consider the Great Barrier Reef one of the Earth’s most beautiful places. The marine environment in the area is extremely sensitive and with around 4000 commercial vessels passing every year, it is important for the vessel services operators working onshore to keep track of the traffic at all times. That’s where Saab comes in. Comprising nearly 3000 individual reefs and almost 100 islands, the Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system. Located off the coast of Queensland, Australia it can be seen from space and is the world’s biggest single structure made by living organisms. It also requires protection. To help, Saab will contribute through a Vessel Traffic Management Information System, or VTMIS for short.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and IBM today announced at the opening of the International Safety@Sea Conference that they have jointly completed the pilot trial of three modules under the MPA-IBM SAFER project, which will be rolled out progressively beginning September 2017. Project SAFER, derived from “Sense-making Analytics For maritime Event Recognition,” is a collaboration between MPA and IBM to develop and test new analytics-based technologies, aimed at improving maritime and port operations to support increasing Singapore’s growth in vessel traffic. Altogether, there are seven modules under Project SAFER which offer a host of new capabilities for automating and increasing the accuracy of critical tasks that previously relied on human observation…

An algorithm has been developed to schedule transit vessel traffic in two-way waterways where safe distances between transiting vessels must be maintained and passage restrictions may hold. It limits the negative effects of the safety constrains on cargo volume throughput by finding schedules which increase the utilization of these waterways. The potential of this algorithm has been demonstrated on a plausible model of the Strait of Istanbul, and also the Suez Canal has been identified as a waterway where the algorithm could increase the volume of goods transported.

Port of Hamburg project to redesign the Vorhafen harbor basin entrance completed, meaning more maneuvering space for big ships, faster berth assignment and improved safety of navigation. The Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) said it has officially completed the project “Redesigning the Entrance to the Vorhafen Harbor Basin”, within the schedule, both in terms of time and money. The widened Vorhafen basin access benefits both container shipping and cruise shipping. For one, the tidal…

Kelvin Hughes has been awarded the contract for the second phase of a radar system installation by the Port of Marseille Fos in Southern France. The Enfield-based company supplied five SBS-700 radar systems earlier this year that were integrated with the port's Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS). The second phase has seen two more, identical models installed and commissioned at the port in July. Kelvin Hughes' SBS-700 radar system is specifically designed to meet the requirements of a Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) system as defined in IALA recommendation V-128.

A world leader in the design and supply of navigation and security surveillance systems, Kelvin Hughes has been contracted by French company AVON Communications to supply five of its SBS-700 radar systems for integration with the Marseille Fos Port Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS). The port is made up of two harbours, the ‘Eastern harbour’ with 1,000 hectares, located in the city of Marseille itself, and the ‘Western harbour’ with 12,000 hectares which is located in Fos, 70 km from the town.

BAE Systems has been awarded a £5.5 million contract to install a new Vessel Traffic Management System to assist in the controlling and monitoring of all ship movements within Portsmouth Harbor and the Eastern Solent. The contract is the latest development in the partnering agreement between BAE Systems, the Royal Navy and the Ministry of Defense to modernize HM Naval Base Portsmouth and prepare for the arrival of HMS Queen Elizabeth, the first of the four acre, 65,000 metric ton aircraft carriers to be based in Portsmouth.

Navigation and security surveillance systems company Kelvin Hughes announced it has been contracted to supply two of its SBS-900-2 SharpEye radar systems for the Porto de Vitória in Brazil. The equipment will be provided through Spain’s Indra. The SBS-900-2 is from the ‘advanced’ radar family of the Kelvin Hughes Shore Based Sensor radar range. The radar system consists of a single X-Band SharpEye radar transceiver mounted in an environmentally sealed enclosure on a mast close to the antenna.

Philippines Coast Guard search and rescue teams are searching for nine missing crewmembers from the cargo vessel M/V Sea Merchant which sunk approximately five nautical miles southeast of Malabrigo Point in Lobo, Batangas at around 6:45 a.m. January 1. The missing crewmembers reportedly boarded a life raft, while 11 other crewmembers were rescued by the passing M/T Mactan Island after it has received the distress signal from the sinking vessel. M/V Sea Merchant was carrying 20,040 bags of cement to Antique from Bauan Port where it loaded 16,000 liters of diesel oil. Inquiry from Celso Rey Baiza, Chief Officer of M/V Sea Merchant revealed that while the vessel was navigating towards Dumali Point…

Classification society Bureau Veritas has issued its first certificate under the ISPO (International Standard for Maritime Pilot Organizations) standard of best practice for pilots and pilot organizations to the Pilotage Authority, Port of Cork, Ireland. The ISPO certification covers the Pilotage services and Vessel Traffic Management System. The ISPO is an accessible industry specific standard, managed by a group of users, that improves safety and quality and provides transparency to shipowners and stakeholders on pilotage standards.