LAUSR

Vessel traffic services (VTS) systems are critical to safeguard maritime traffic safety in which sensing and information technologies are implemented to assist in gathering, storing, processing, and visualizing maritime traffic data and are inclusively produced as a system solution. Mariners all over the world recognize VTS systems as aids to navigation. For instance, they use the services provided by the system to request traffic data and availability of pilots when vessels are arriving at a port or while transiting in waterways closer to the shoreline of a country. However, current VTS systems still work in a “passive” mode, which requires tedious human labor, and especially relies on a VTS officer’s professional experience and skills. Today, industrial customers (like port authorities, maritime traffic management agencies, and so forth) have higher expectations for “proactive” decision support features that enhance VTS intelligence and help reduce manual workloads and human errors. In this article, we focus on an overall framework including software technologies and functional features that may transform VTS systems from passive to proactive, which is highlighted in line with the technologies and toolkits we developed in several industrial projects for maritime traffic safety management.