The onward march of VTS

摘要

The genesis of vessel traffic services (VTS) lay in the need to avoid an unseemly scramble for berths at major commercial ports. Advisory services, originally based on harbour-head semaphore stations, helped port authorities regulate traffic movements and berth allocation. Traffic services, still advisory, remain dedicated to the safe and orderly conduct of vessel movement in and around significant ports. But these days VTS, enabled by the latest sensor and communications technology, are not only strengthening their contribution at ports and waterways, but are reaching beyond to coastal areas. Some examples will serve to illustrate current trends. The state of the art around ports is exemplified by developments at southern England's Southampton-Portsmouth nexus. Here, closer integration between recently upgraded port installations is providing closer coordination, technical back-up and extended reach. For example, improved radar coverage enables ships to be detected right out at the pilotage reporting point a couple of miles south of the Nab Tower off the eastern tip of the Isle of Wight.