Watch: Sea Traffic Management System in Action

The E.U.-funded Sea Traffic Management (STM) Validation Project has released a film showing how bridge officers, ports and vessel traffic service centers benefit from using the STM services. 

The film describes STM more from the perspective of onboard and shore-based users, following a voyage from New York to Umeå, Sweden.

The STM project is a follow on from the E.U.-funded MONALISA 2.0 project. MONALISA 2.0 developed a system that will enable vessel route information to be shared between ships and centers on shore.

Using this data, other service providers will be able to offer advice to vessels, such as recommendations to avoid congestion in areas with high traffic, avoidance of environmentally sensitive areas and maritime safety information. The information exchange between vessel and ports is anticipated to improve planning and performance regarding arrivals, departures and turnaround times.

STM is developing the information technology platforms needed for this boost to voyage planning and traffic flow. Test beds in Northern Europe and Mediterranean Sea will engage 300 vessels, 10 ports of different sizes and three shore centers. These will validate the STM concept and pave the way for smooth deployment of new collaborative services.

The first MONALISA project, implemented in 2010-2013, showed that providing vessels with the ability to see each other’s planned routes gives navigators a more complete picture of how surrounding vessels will influence their onward voyage. 

The STM Validation Project encompasses 39 partners (private, public and academic) from 13 countries and with a total budget of 43 million Euros ($45 million). The project will run from 2015 to 2018.