Vessel Traffic Management integrated with Incident Management and Search and Rescue planning to support a Common-Operational-Picture for collaborative decision making (CDM) in Maritime Coordination Centres
Ensuring that our maritime transportation system, the waterways upon which it navigates, and the ports into which the vessels travel are safe and secure, is a critical domain in which Barco, BMT Renewables Limited (UK) and Fortek Computers Limited (UK) are closely co-operating.
Advanced VTS solutions today are no longer reserved for major ports, waterways and mar itime author ities, but are becoming increasingly significant for mar itime rescue coordination and incident management. Integrated traffic management systems and solutions offering high-performance, highly reliable mar itime services are needed to fulfil the continually increasing security standards.
Barco Traffic Management focuses on integrating traffic management and rescue coordination services supporting a Common-Operational-Picture visualisation for ports, waterways, coastal and maritime security. The nature of maritime crisis management means that different agencies, like the coastguard, search and rescue, anti-terrorist units, emergency response services, security companies, ship owners and harbour organisations, are dispersed in virtual organisations. They need to work together to look at situations, assess the risks, identify potentially critical situations that may develop into crises, develop strategies for avoidance, mitigation or aid, plan for these and then implement. Continual re-planning and updating based on integrated information support is essential as the situation changes. Given this, it is difficult for information and knowledge to be shared to ensure a high degree of group awareness of how the situation is managed in order that timely, accurate and effective decisions are made throughout the process.
MRCC Ostend
As a first step towards implementation of a comprehensive solution, Barco was selected in February 2005 by the Shipping Assistance Division of the Ministry of the Flemish Community to build a new Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Ostend together with Fabricom GTI and Tein Telecom.
Barco will deliver an MRCC solution integrating an advanced version of OPScenter VTS with the Incident Management System VISION from Fortek and the Search and Rescue module SARIS from BMT. With the new system, operators will be able to display traffic data from different external sensor sites such as radar and AIS both coming from SRK (Scheldt radar chain). The solution also includes voice communication facilities, combined radar video, track, voice recording and replay and allows for browser-based access to an integrated traffic image. If there is an incident, the MRCC can rely on a lean, reliable and cost-effective solution, which fully supports all port control and maritime rescue activities.
Along with its role as maritime coordination centre, the new MRCC will also be used as an incident management room and press information centre. For this purpose, Barco Control Rooms will install a large-scale high-resolution OverView display, providing 24/7 operational capability with multiple inputs and adjustable screen layout functionalities.
Next generation MRCC integrated solutions
In the future, an integrated solution should not just cover the integration at the presentation level but also at the database level.
