Almost a quarter of a century ago, the IMO adopted Resolution A.857(20) on Guidelines for Vessel Traffi c Services (VTS). It would, of course, be an understatement to note that the world of ports and shipping has moved on since then \u2013 and that\u2019s quite apart from the technology.<\/p>\n
As Kevin Gregory, Education and Development Manager, International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA), says: \u201cThe current Guidelines were approved in 1997. The progression of the industry since then has overtaken them. In terms of IALA and operational procedures, the capabilities of VTS grown in the operational sense, technology sense and people sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new Guidelines about to be finalised represent a major change in VTS policy, according to Gregory. \u201cThe old Guidelines were written before IALA really got involved in VTS, and now there is a new body of VTS documentation available. We have worked, through the IMO and its member states, to make the new Guidelines lighter and more flexible, to provide a good new governance framework for VTS in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
THREE TYPES OF SERVICE<\/strong><\/p>\n What does VTS even mean? Historically there were three types of service \u2013 information service, traffic organisation service and navigational assistance service. Essentially, it was up to the VTS authority to determine what to offer based on the volume of traffic and degree of risk, Gregory says; large and complex ports would likely offer all three, while others perhaps only one.<\/p>\n Gregory explains further. \u201cThat was not good for the mariner, because the service was different wherever they went. We tried to turn it around and think about what pilots, captains and other users wanted. They want good quality information on what is going on \u2013 traffic, weather, berthing. They expect their movement to be managed so they do not meet another ship on a bend or get into a jam or have to slow down unnecessarily.<\/p>\n “They expect that if they are in a dangerous position \u2013 in danger of running aground, for example \u2013 they will be helped out. We also said it was a strange thing that any authority would invest hundreds of thousands into a VTS system and not expect it to do those things.\u201d<\/p>\n The new Guidelines will do away with the idea of three types of service because all should be covered, says Gregory. \u201cThe Guidelines state that these are the functions of a VTS and they should be implemented in a way that is appropriate to volumes and degree of risk.\u201d<\/p>\n ESTABLISHING THE NEED FOR CHANGE<\/strong><\/p>\n The process of revision has taken several years \u2013 from establishing the need for change and gaining member state support, to writing the Guidelines and taking these through subcommittee stage to approval by the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) last year. Assuming approval by IMO Assembly later this year, the revised Guidelines will come into force early in 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cPorts need to be aware of this and know what they need to do,\u201d says Gregory. \u201cOf course, we cannot prejudge the decision of member states but we need to reach out on what will be the most important changes. the major change is going to be the types of service everyone has to be prepared for and has to implement.\u201d This could require investment to ensure that procedures are in compliance, and in necessary training.<\/p>\n IMPROVING HARMONISATION, SAFETY AND EFFICIENCY<\/strong><\/p>\n Overall, says Gregory, the new Guidelines are designed to improve harmonisation, safety and efficiency. \u201cVTS has traditionally been seen as a safety tool; now, while safety is still first and foremost, efficiency of navigation and commercial benefits come from VTS.\u201d<\/p>\n The main driver is to achieve harmonisation and to encourage the implementation of the IALA standards \u2013 and within this, communication standards are key. \u201cA running thread through incidents has been miscommunication,\u201d he says. \u201cHow do we communicate to the vessel what we need them to do? VTS must be able to communicate with mariners in a clear way.\u201d<\/p>\n The Guidelines cover the use of standardised message markers \u2013 the prefixes such as \u2018advice\u2019 \u2018or \u2018warning\u2019, for clarity as to the type of communication to follow. \u201cThe issue is the human element of being able to communicate with the mariners in a clear way, resolving any problem of unclear or ambiguous messages.\u201d<\/p>\n VTS AND DIGITALISATION<\/strong><\/p>\n While VTS systems have become increasingly sophisticated over recent years, VTS development must also take into account the rapid advances in digitalisation and technology across the sector. At IALA\u2019s April symposium, being held online, key topics for discussion include digitalisation, e-navigation and MASS (Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships), and how VTS may need to prepare and adapt.<\/p>\n \u201cMASS are very much up and coming \u2013 still at the early stages but we believe IALA will be key in that. Whether fully or semi-autonomous ships, there is the important issue of how they interact with non-MASS ships and how they interact with shoreside infrastructure including aids to navigation and VTS,\u201d explains Gregory.<\/p>\n \u201cIALA has formed a working group to look at this across all of the various technical domains. However, for the bigger deepsea elements I can\u2019t see fully autonomous ships for some time; I think we are more likely to see degrees of automation coming in. Perhaps more decision support for the bridge team to help with decision making to increase safety. For a truly unmanned ship, it would be interesting to consider how VTS would work \u2013 and we are looking to set the scene a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n E-navigation also involves small steps towards a bigger vision, he says. Technology and digital solutions to support functions such as passage planning, weather routing and speed optimisation are all gaining ground \u2013 but, as Gregory points out, there will be the \u2018haves\u2019 and the \u2018have nots\u2019 in the fleet.<\/p>\n \u201cNew, large ships will have the latest technology but there will also be the old ships at the end of the spectrum which will probably never invest in such systems unless it is mandatory. So berth optimisation and just-in-time arrival solutions are all fine \u2013 but there will still be ships that aren\u2019t doing that and turn up 12 hours late to mess it all up.\u201d<\/p>\n Could there be a clash between onboard systems around intelligent tech\u2019 and decision support, and what Vessel Traffic Services? While the tech\u2019 in the background could pick up something that the VTS operator cannot see, it will be important that decision support systems are harmonised, he says.<\/p>\n A UNIFYING BRIDGE<\/strong><\/p>\n The new IMO Guidelines will create a \u2018bridge\u2019 between SOLAS and the IALA standards, Gregory concludes. \u201cThe Guidelines provide the overarching governance and harmonisation which is the IALA goal. The rationale is that if you comply with the IALA standard, you comply with the SOLAS requirements for VTS.\u201d<\/p>\n Overall, VTS services and systems are emerging and growing quickly, including in developing states. \u201cWe are seeing VTS and aids to navigation grow around the world. That is down to the requirement to manage ships in a safe and efficient way. Shipowners are aware of it, and they look at the ports they are going to visit to find out what kind of VTS is in operation there. A big driver for the growth is the commercial benefit of having safe, efficient navigation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The IMO\u2019s revised Guidelines for Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) are expected to enter into force in 2022. Felicity Landon explains why ports should be aware of the changes ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":618,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[],"sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-equipment"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617"},{"taxonomy":"sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portstrategy.com\/greenport-congress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sponsor?post=617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}