Transas VTS Chosen for Offshore Wind Farm Project

The German aids-to-navigation-service, WSD Nord-West/WSA Emden, has decided to install Transas shore-based Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) technology on board the first research platform for planned Offshore Wind Farms. The VTS technology will enable the authorities to survey and assess the navigational traffic density in the German North Sea. The contract has been awarded to Transas Europe GmbH, the Transas Group representative in Western Europe. Financed by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Protection and Nuclear Safety (BMU), the so called FINO platform will investigate the effect of large wind farms on the environmental and navigational safety of the German waters of the North and Baltic Seas, as well as to evaluate the use of the offshore wind farms in the area in general. The pilot FINO platform, operated by Germanischer Lloyd WindEnergy GmbH, has been located 25 nm northeast of the island of Borkum between two German Bight traffic separation zones. The installed Transas Navi-Harbour system includes one X-Band radar and an AIS transponder, and provides data output on tracked targets, which are stored and processed on the platform and are also available for the shore operator in the real-time mode or as a record. The WSA Emden have chosen the Transas Navi-Harbour VTS system for a one year observational and statistical assessment of ships coming close to the planned area where the first commercial wind farm will be established later. Transas Vessel Traffic Service systems provide advanced solutions for vessel traffic management and planning, traffic monitoring and environmental protection, off-shore security and coastal surveillance, collision avoidance, shore-based pilotage, coordination of search and rescue operations and VTS operator training.