EMBARC - European study for baseline and advanced regional and coastal traffic management
Overview
Background & policy context:
Vessel Traffic Management and Information Services (VTMIS) is a concept for the provision of maritime information services in response to public and private demand. It aims to minimise risks for safety and the environment while maximising the efficiency of waterborne transport. The primary objective of EMBARC was to identify and demonstrate how safety and efficiency in waterborne transport may be enhanced whilst recognising the value that certain derived information may present to other transport modes, thereby improving interconnectivity and interoperability between modes.
Recognising that Vessel Traffic Management and Information Services (VTMIS) may be seen as a component of Transport Management, the focus was placed primarily on the optimisation of VTMIS. Links to other transport systems were identified through the identification of the key stakeholders. In the context of this project VTMIS may be conducted on a 'local' scale (in ports, their approaches and adjacent coastal waters), or on a 'European' scale (all waters falling under the jurisdiction of a Member State, including SAR and MPRZ waters). This project focuses attention on the needs of both 'local' participants and national Maritime Administrations.
The following key goals were set for this project:
- To encapsulate the requirements/needs of VTMIS (Vessel Traffic Management and Information Services) stakeholders through the exploitation of current and emerging technologies within Vessel Traffic Management: the set of measures, provisions, services and related functions which intend to minimise risks for the safety and the environment, whilst maximising the efficiency of waterborne transport;
- To examine appropriate measures and to realise the benefits for waterborne transport, e.g. the mitigation of risk in specific maritime regions and the enhancement of transport efficiency;
- To explore the possibilities of enlarging the scope of VTMIS to hitherto unused or underused applications.
Objectives:
EMBARC had the following objectives:
- To formulate a common understanding through shared experiences of what constitutes best practise in the operation of Vessel Traffic Management and VTMIS;
- To develop a standardised methodology, based on current practises and experiences, for data entries in the formulation of traffic images;
- To ensure that accurate and useful reports may be extracted, such as incident reports that are necessary for statistical purposes and for safety assessments, as well as traffic reports that are required for traffic analysis and traffic management;
- To identify the information requirements of port VTSs (a service implemented by a competent authority to manage vessel traffic flows in a local area), VTMISs and transport communities to achieve optimal solutions for their own requirements;
- To examine and determine optimal solutions (technical and administrative) for the transfer of traffic data, based on its availability and integrity, between port VTSs, Maritime Administrations and transport communities;
- To determine the technical and administrative options based on the transfer of traffic data between different jurisdictions so that 'over the horizon' traffic images may be obtained by the different Maritime Administrations;
- To examine the options and provide a practical solution as to how VTMIS can contribute to tracking of cargo from consignor to consignee (down to pallet and package size) within its jurisdictional boundaries;
- In what way VTMIS can be effectively linked to shore-based data management systems. To determine how this process can be seamlessly interfaced with 'GALILEO';
- To determine the potential and practical application of AIS and other location devices for the identification of special category vessels. These categories include ferries, high speed craft, deep drafted vessels, hampered vessels, small craft (assuming that low-cost, reduced specification IMO-compatible transponders become available); also, vessels involved in incidents (broken down, safety breaches, drug interdiction, etc);
- To establish common standards for the presentation and monitoring of AIS derived data on traffic images;
- To develop a generalised methodology for the formulation of a Regional Traffic Image using AIS, Long Range AIS (LR-AIS), manual data entries (which will be necessary for the foreseeable future), data transfers to and from port VTSs as well as reco
Methodology:
The methodology adopted considers:
- Development of common references for present and future applications based upon or within VTMIS, including:
- operational procedures;
- technologies;
- education and training;
- legal, organisational and financial aspects;
- formal safety assessment;
- human factors;
- Consolidation of ideology concerning VTMIS applications that have been considered/developed for ports, port approaches and coastal use and, where appropriate, to demonstrate the validity of the techniques proposed. Subject areas include validation of VTMIS links; tracking and tracing; enhanced navigation assistance; vessel traffic prediction; search and rescue; and Regional Traffic Images (RTI);
- Expansion of VTMIS into the more far-reaching work of Maritime Administrations; a key stakeholder. Namely, the area of responsibility concerning the safety of traffic and the protection of the environment in all waters where a Member State holds jurisdiction. In this respect the Maritime Pollution Responsibility Zones (MPRZ) of the coastal state is addressed. This is achieved following a four-strand approach:
- Strand 1: Consolidation and Co-operation: an examination of how enhanced co-operation amongst Maritime Administrations and other key stakeholders can deal with common issues that have a direct bearing on VTMIS;
- Strand 2: Technologies and Traffic Management Measures: a review of relevant technologies and traffic management measures and how they may be adapted and applied (individually and collectively) in VTMIS;
- Strand 3: Potential Benefits/Applications: assessment of the benefits that may arise from the deployment of these technologies and traffic management measures in selected areas, how these benefits may be attained and the budget costs of their introduction.
- Strand 4: The Future of VTMIS: possibilities of enlarging the scope of VTMIS to hitherto unused or underused applications.
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