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GLOBAL GUIDELINES
FOR VESSEL TRAFFIC SERVICES UPDATED
IN 2021, THE GLOBAL GUIDELINES FOR THE FUNCTIONING
OF VESSEL TRAFFIC SERVICES (VTS) WILL BE LAID DOWN IN AN UPDATED IMO RESOLUTION. ED VERBEEK, ADVISOR TO THE DUTCH MARITIME PILOTS’ ORGANISATION, AND REGISTE- RED PILOT MARTIJN DRENTH FROM LOODSWEZEN ROTTER- DAM-RIJNMOND DISCUSS THE CHANGES IN THE NEW RESOLU- TION AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THIS. “AS DUTCH PILOTS, WE ARE VERY PLEASED THAT WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PLAY A BRIDGING ROLE.”
Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) is the active, shore-based traffic management system aimed at promoting the safety and efficiency of shipping traffic. As shipping traffic needs to know what to expect everywhere and must not be confronted with surprises due to deviating regimes, the tasks and responsibilities in relation to VTS have been internationally laid down in an IMO resolution from 1997. The International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA for short) bears responsibility for the
practical implementation of the VTS regulations. “A few years ago, the realisation came about within IALA that the IMO resolution was in need of an update,” says registered pilot Martijn Drenth. “The shipping sector is changing: due to the increase in traffic and much larger ships, the ports have a greater need for efficiency. Now, the developments surrounding autonomous sailing can be added to that as well.”
That’s not all though. In the old resolution, a distinction is made between three different services: Information Service (INS), Navigation Assistance Service (NAS) and Traffic Organisation Service (TOS). At present a VTS is not obliged to provide all services. This may change from port to port. For ships, it is therefore not always clear which service provision they can expect from a particular VTS. Not very convenient. Drenth: “In some countries, the laying down of the three services in legislation is problematic due to issues related to liability regulation. The old VTS resolution describes in great detail what all parties are and are not permitted to do. In the new resolution the distinction between services has been removed and many descriptions
18 NAVIGATOR NL 2020 N°20