Experiences in traffic-control in a coastal VTS

摘要

Since the inauguration of the long-range radar station on the isle of Heligoland in 1984, the waterways and shipping administration of the Federal Republic of Germany is in the position to monitor the traffic in the coastal waters of the inner German Bight in the VTS Centre Wilhelmshaven. The peculiarity of this VTS is the fact, that there are actually 2 VTS-centres is one: The coastal VTS German Bight Traffic (abbreviated: GBT) and the River VTS Jade Traffic, which is in charge of the river Jade from the mouth up to Wilhelmshaven. The Jade fairway is mostly navigated by large crude oil carriers, which carry in average 40 million tons of cargo per year to Wilhelmshaven.