Future Possibilities regarding the benefits to ships navigation and safety - Essay Example

Electronic charting systems that consist of at least an electronic chart and real-time position data, and which meet legal requirements for navigation, could achieve universal commercial use following the examples of radar and very high frequency radio, although international action may be required for this to occur. Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems will have the essential features to achieve real-time position-keeping benefits and by international and national definition be considered equivalent to paper charts for use in navigation.

As the shipping industry is benefiting from rapid technological innovation, in current circumstances where VTS is making rapid progress with the introduction of electronic chart equipment, where on the one hand VTS would help to reduce risks of incidents to an extent, on the other it would take the technology towards improvement of the performance of quality operators in the first instance. It would ensure Shore based monitoring and take active part in identifying, tracking and advising the lower quality vessels.

Global VTS possess the potential for risk reduction which would result in better shore based monitoring, vigilance and provide better guidance tools in ship's navigation ans safety (2). Marine traffic regulation, including vessel traffic services (VTS) as they interact with marine traffic and vessel operators, is a major issue and a central feature of the assessment. Also included are the risk assessment factors underlying marine traffic safety and system performance, relevant lessons learned from prior examinations of the Great Lakes Pilotage System, economic and operating trends in marine transportation, and issues that might affect implementation of options to improve the state of practice of navigation