The year 2020 will most likely go to history for the pandemic that turned the world as we knew it upside down leaving a wet blanket of isolation and worry over “Business as usual”. Things in our everyday life such as going to an office and seeing colleagues, family and friends that we had always been taking for granted were suddenly exotic and out of reach for many of us. Despite all problems the lion’s share of the world fleet still sail our oceans bringing Christmas presents to dear ones near and far and digitalization has been fast forwarded and stress-tested to an extent we could not have imagined. So what have happened during 2020 from an interoperable digital Sea Traffic Management point of view?
EUREKA is a project involving the countries on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. The main goal is to raise the level of maritime safety in the region by introducing systematic cooperation and coordination among maritime administrations. Some of the goals are simplified ship reporting to ADRIREP, harmonization and standardization of VTS procedures and services, joint VTSO training, and implementation of Sea Traffic Management.
Ships are required to manually report voyage related information in 23 special reporting areas across the globe. A new emerging standard makes automated reporting possible. The STM BALT SAFE project has also released the first version of the automated reporting service. The solution lowers the administrative burden on board and help minimizing reporting errors.
The EfficientFlow project has finalised the activity regarding the ports. All actors in the ports of Gävle and Rauma are now using a Port Activity App to share real-time port call information. Port planning is even easier for ships with route exchange capabilities.
