£1.5m upgrade for Harwich VTS
With a minimum of three control room staff on watch, the new work stations are dedicated to the duty manager, traffic controller and pilot coordinator.
Harwich Haven Authority, which operates the Harwich Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) controlling the movements of vessels in and out of the cluster of Suffolk and Essex ports, has upgraded its VTS hardware and software.
The £1.5m upgrade was officially opened by Bernard Jenkin, MP for Harwich, on the same day the second of the Authority’s new pilot launches, the St Christopher, was named by Baroness Jenkin.
The VTS upgrade involved a complete redesign of the control room as well as installing revised systems hardware and software. It was mainly undertaken by Signalis, a recently created German and French consortium.
The upgrade has delivered the latest traffic monitoring and management technology, improving the Harwich VTS system’s ability to manage some 15,000 annual vessel movements to/from the Haven ports of Felixstowe, Harwich International, Harwich Navyard, Ipswich and Mistley. Those vessels include the latest Ultra Large Container Ships, for which Felixstowe is the only UK port of call, several passenger and ro-ro services and various other traffic, including wind farm craft. With a plethora of vessels using the Haven, there are strict rules on where, for example, Ultra Large Container Ships can pass passenger vessels, tankers or other vessels with restricted manoeuvrability
Harbour Master Captain Cliff Brand explained that, “The previous system had been in operation for 10 years and was in need of an upgrade to keep up with industry standards. The new equipment provides a better operating platform, is more efficient and more reliable, with replacement parts that are easier to source. On the hardware side, the older monitors needed replacing and we now have touch screen communications combined with a new digital telephone system.”
The new Signalis software gives better definition on the visual display, which combines an electronic chart overlaid with radar and AIS. The system correlates the various inputs to a specific tracked vessel or other target. It can also link this vessel track to existing historical database information either locally or internationally and operations can be continuously archived including tracks, raw radar video, operator actions, voice communications and camera/imager video.
The VTS upgrade includes an aftercare contract with Signalis to provide continual updates of the system.“Not only have we invested in the very latest VTS technology, but through this aftercare contract we can be confident that Harwich VTS will continue to benefit from ongoing VTS developments and innovations”, said Tim Clarke, chairman of the HHA.
With a minimum of three control room staff on watch, the new work stations are dedicated to the duty manager, traffic controller and pilot coordinator. A fourth desk is designated for navigation assistance, to be manned by a pilot during extreme weather conditions when vessels need navigation advice. There is also a separate, duplicate work station housed in another room for use in emergencies, and a back up system is available in another building.
by Graeme Ewens
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