This WP will provide the ships in the testbed with STM capable onboard system in order to facilitate ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore exchange of voyage plans. This is fully in line with the amended HELCOM Recommendation 34E/2 on further testing and development of the concept of exchange of voyage plans to enhance safety of navigation and protection of marine environment in the Baltic Sea region. The recommendation also mentions a number of different suitable services such as ice routing and winter navigation services as well as SAR information.

These STM enabled maritime services are also included in in other HELCOM recommendations. The aim of the work package is to involve tanker ships and regular ferries in crossing traffic in the Gulf of Finland in the testbed of the STM BALT SAFE project. The increase of the number of STM compatible tanker ships in the Baltic will contribute to increase navigational safety while at the same time increase efficiency and reducing environmental impact.

The STM concept supports ships in both the voyage planning phase and during the voyage e.g. route optimization services, providing pilot routes and Navigational Warnings directly to the navigational system of the ships, ship-to-ship route exchange etc. All services are supported and delivered via the Maritime Digital Infrastructure where the exchange of voyage plans is executed in a standardized way. This caters for that end-toend interoperability in communication between systems from different manufactures regardless if they are shore based systems or ship based systems and with an ability to interact with maritime services enabled by STM.

By involving a large number of tanker ships in the STM BALT SAFE testbed, a good quantity of data can be collected for analyses and evaluations.
The functional requirements for ship systems will also take into account the needs of other maritime services than exchange of voyage plans, i.a. automated ship reporting services etc. (WP 5)