Our friend Richard Rodriguez of the BitterEnd Blog had an excellent post titled VTS – Working with large vessels, that gives Puget Sound boaters tips on communicating with the numerous large ships transiting to and from port.
The post had me thinking about my frequent dealings with Vessel Traffic Services worldwide like the time we entered the Singapore Straights and our Captain ordered, despite loud protests, the deck crew to finish chipping paint on the Flying Bridge. The result… the mate on watch missed a few critical calls from the local vessel controllers and they basically shut down the port for 20 minutes to give us plenty of sea room…. and a $25,000 fine!
Once my mind was past reminding me of few sea stories to tell at the next CAMM meeting I started to realize that I had no idea what the VTS stations I have been calling look like. So here they are:
United States:
The Volpe Center recently implemented a vessel communications and tracking network for the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The network, based on the automatic identification system, promises improved safety, security, and efficiency throughout the Seaway. Above, the new system in use at the Eisenhower Lock vessel traffic control center in New York. (Photo courtesy of Mr. Kam Chin)
New York, NY – Seaman Operations Specialist Jason Dailey, sector operator at the Vessel Traffic Center at Coast Guard Activities New York, Staten Island, N.Y. monitors vessel traffic in the New York Harbor. USCG photo by PA2 Mike Hvozda.
BM2 Erin de la Cruz, a controller at Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) Houston, monitors the tracks of numerous ships and barges as they make their way along one of largest concentrations of heavy industry and maritime traffic in the world.
At LOOP‘s Marine Terminal, vessel traffic controllers maintain a 24-hour watch over all vessel traffic in the LOOP controlled safety zone. Similar to air traffic controllers, they monitor radar and maintain continual radio communication with tankers.
NorControl VOC 5060 system as installed and operating at the
Marine Exchange’s Vessel Traffic Center, which runs VTS for
Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard
Europe:
Monitoring vessel traffic in the South West Lane. The three screens to the right of the picture provide the operator with live radar coverage of vessel traffic throughout the Dover Strait
The Vessel Traffic Service Centre in Bremen
.JPG)
London
Horten Norway
Asia:
The Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, visiting the Hong Kong Marine Department to better understand their work in vessel traffic control, marine rescue and co-ordination, as well as ship registry and safety inspections.
VTS Hong Kong
Singapore
Vessel Traffic Service Links;
***including US & Canadian waters Web Resources for VTS are: Sector Seattle VTS Cooperative Vessel Traffic Service USA & Canada November 5, 2007 update: gCaptain has a great photo essay follow up on VTShere.
[...] out of the way of a vessel in a VTS lane. … And gcaptain has a very nice series of VTS photos: VTS Photo Gallery – A look inside maritime vessel traffic services worldwide (Photo by Kam Chin) Posted by Kurt | [...]
[...] VHF voice communications. This is normal for a control center. Working with large vessels Inside a control center. There is a link to a nice video of Seattle Control Center at the bottom of the second link. [...]
[...] news sources are publishing a story about the VTS warning to the Cosco Busan’s pilot Jim Cota. In a story titled “Ship Got No Alert From [...]
[...] gCaptain has “VTS Photo Gallery – A look inside maritime vessel traffic services worldwide.“. [...]
I think it's time we, and all other countries, arm our cargo vessels in order to have a fighting chance against pirates. What we have now is a bunch of teenage gang-bangers in small boats, armed with AK47 rifles and a few rocket grenades, ordering a huge freighter or oiler to stop and be boarded. What nonsense! And they are winning!!
These poor, innocent, maritime vessels are just "sitting ducks." You wouldn't need state-of -the -art weapons to discourage the pirates. Maybe just a couple of 50-caliber machineguns or some old, cheap, 20mm anti-aircraft Oerlikon repeating cannons.
Is there a law against protecting yourself from attack? Worried about a national incident? Too late. It's already a world-wide incident. Let's get these cargo ships armed, and that will be the end of piracy on the high seas.
I think it's time we, and all other countries, arm our cargo vessels in order to have a fighting chance against pirates. What we have now is a bunch of teenage gang-bangers in small boats, armed with AK47 rifles and a few rocket grenades, ordering a huge freighter or oiler to stop and be boarded. What nonsense! And they are winning!!
These poor, innocent, maritime vessels are just "sitting ducks." You wouldn't need state-of -the -art weapons to discourage the pirates. Maybe just a couple of 50-caliber machineguns or some old, cheap, 20mm anti-aircraft Oerlikon repeating cannons.
Is there a law against protecting yourself from attack? Worried about a national incident? Too late. It's already a world-wide incident. Let's get these cargo ships armed, and that will be the end of piracy on the high seas.
[...] gCaptain has “VTS Photo Gallery – A look inside maritime vessel traffic services worldwide.“ [...]