VTS

■ The goal of the VTIS is to “improve vessel transit safety by providing

vessels with advanced information of other reported marine traffic and
any additional information which may affect traffic safety within the area
covered by the VTIS ”
■ The purpose of a Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) is to provide active
monitoring and navigational advice for vessels in particularly confined
and busy waterways.
■ Ship reporting systems and reporting requirements are used to provide,
gather or exchange information through radio reports.
■ The information is used to provide data for many purposes including
search and rescue, vessel traffic services, weather forecasting and
prevention of marine pollution.
■ The IMO identifies three types of service that can be provided by a VTS:

 Information Service (INS)

 Traffic Organisation Service (TOS)

 Navigational Assistance Service (NAS)

 Benefits of the VTS

 Safety of life at sea and the safety of navigation by identifying and

monitoring vessels, by planning for movement of vessels in the VTS area
and the disclosure of information and assistance to the navigator;

 Increased efficiency of maritime traffic;

■ Vessel traffic services (VTS) are shore-side systems which range from
the provision of simple information messages to ships, such as position of
other traffic or meteorological hazard warnings, to extensive management
of traffic within a port or waterway.
■ Generally, ships entering a VTS area report to the authorities, usually by
radio, and may be tracked by the VTS control centre. 
■ Ships must keep watch on a specific frequency for navigational or other
warnings, while they may be contacted directly by the VTS operator if
there is risk of an incident or, in areas where traffic flow is regulated, to
be given advice on when to proceed. 
■ A revised SOLAS chapter V on "Safety of Navigation" was adopted in
December 2000, and entered into force on 1 July 2002. Regulation 12
Vessel traffic services states:
1. Vessel traffic services (VTS) contribute to safety of life at sea, safety and
efficiency of navigation and protection of the marine environment,
adjacent shore areas, work sites and offshore installations from possible
adverse effects of maritime traffic.
■ 2. Contracting Governments undertake to arrange for the establishment of
VTS where, in their opinion, the volume of traffic or the degree of risk
justifies such services

■ Contracting Governments planning and implementing VTS shall,

wherever possible, follow the guidelines developed by the Organization.
The use of VTS may only be made mandatory in sea areas within the
territorial seas of a coastal State.
■ Contracting Governments shall endeavour to secure the participation in,
and compliance with, the provisions of vessel traffic services by ships
entitled to fly their flag
■ Nothing in this regulation or the guidelines adopted by the Organization
shall prejudice the rights and duties of Governments under international
law or the legal regimes of straits used for international navigation and
archipelagic sea lanes.
 Importance of Vessel Traffic Services

■ Importance of Vessel Traffic services can be better understood from the

functions it plays in managing ship traffic. The key importance of VTS is
for managing vessel traffic. This further helps ensuring safety of ships,
along with helping attain maximum traffic flow from any given route.
■ Maximum economic returns possible from a marine route can be realized only
with help of these traffic services that keep important marine information
available for all mariners at all times.
■ It even helps in keeping a tab on movement of unauthorized cargo
movements, making waters safer and more controlled.
■ However, one of the most important roles of these services is to act as a vessel
finder. The information gathered, stored and replayed by various sensors help
in keeping a tab on movements of vessels at all time. This crucial marine
information is available at all times and can be used to find a vessel if it goes
missing.
■ Depending on type medium used to gain this information, VTS can be
classified as:
 Surveilled – they consist of land based sensors for attaining important marine
information. These sensors include radars, AIS and closed circuit television
sites. Signals from these sensors are sent to central locations where trained
VTS personnel analyze the information and guides ship traffic.

 Non Surveilled- consists of one or more reporting points at where ships notify
about their identity, course, speed and other data. Using this data, courses of
various vessels are mapped out and regulated to avoid any mishaps.
■ Uniformity is attained in between surveilled and non-surveilled sensors
for complete coverage of entire marine traffic.  Hence understanding
nature and working of these sensors would be of importance to any
mariner. Here is a list of most commonly used sensing components of
vessel traffic services
■ 1. Radar system
■ It includes transmission of marine information in form of radio waves
of certain frequencies. These frequencies can be read to determine size
and speed on any incoming object to a distance of several miles. All
vessels are equipped with radar systems which are further connected to
onshore centre for transmitting information and forming a web of data.
■ 2.  AIS
■ It stands for Automatic Identification System and helps in improving
safety and efficiency of navigation. This system makes use of a broadcast
system that helps in updating data on connected vessels automatically.
This is a speedy system which can update information ever two seconds.
Self Organizing Time Division Multiple Access (SOTDMA) technology
is used to handle and transport such huge amount data at such high
speeds.