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MARITIME TRAFFIC SYSTEMS ESTABLISHED FOR MONITORING
By our ministry,
for the purpose of reducing the risk of maritime accidents and thus minimizing
the loss of life and property by increasing the navigational safety on our
coasts, it is aimed to benefit from international developments in the field of
electronics and communication to the maximum extent. Moreover, developed
internationally and accepted by international organizations IMO and IALA etc.
systems such as Vessel Traffic Services (VTS), Automatic Identification System
(AIS), and Long-Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT), which enable the
control and organization of maritime traffic with instant tracking, have been
established in our country.
(1) TURKISH STRAITS SHIP TRAFFIC SERVICES SYSTEM
PROJECT:
The region defined
as the Turkish Straits, consisting of the İstanbul and Çanakkale Straits and
the Sea of Marmara, it is a waterway which has a total length of 164 nautical
miles and no alternatives and where national and international maritime traffic
is quite intense.
The Turkish
Straits have a very risky structure due to their invariable geographical,
morphological and oceanographic structure.In these straits, which require
mandatory maneuvers such as current, wind, heel and islets, the speed of which
reaches 7 - 8 knots per hour, and there are elements that prevent safe
navigation.
It is clear that
the dangers in a maritime accident which may occur as a result of intense
maritime traffic will cause to the historical and natural environment of the
Turkish Straits will not be less harmful than the dangers of an earthquake
which may occur in Istanbul, that is talked about from time to time.
As an example, the
dangers experienced in the "INDEPENDENTA" and "NASSIA"
accidents that occurred in the Istanbul Strait in the past years can be given
as an example.
This region, which
is of vital importance for Turkey, is under a great risk due to the constantly
increasing traffic, especially due to the traffic of ships carrying dangerous
goods.Again, high traffic density in the region, increasing ship lengths,
complex traffic structure, difficult weather, sea current and climatic
conditions, sensitive environmental conditions, local hazards, increasing
marine accidents, other maritime activities affecting ship traffic, narrow
water passages restricting the progress of ships, port Due to its
configuration, bridges and similar elements, it has required the establishment
of a modern ship traffic services that can provide active monitoring of
maritime traffic. It has also made it mandatory internationally.
Considering the
aforementioned risks, in the Turkish Straits, in order to increase maritime
traffic safety and efficiency, to increase environmental safety against risks
and dangers that may arise from maritime traffic, The Turkish Straits Ship
Traffic Services (TBGTH) System, which was established in accordance with
national and international rules, was put into service on 30 December 2003.
It consists of 2
centers and 16 Traffic Surveillance Stations in the İstanbul and Çanakkale
Straits. In the TBGTH area, it includes a combination of gathering, processing
and disseminating information on maritime traffic and weather, sea conditions, and
various types of detecters installed for this purpose.
Maritime traffic
in the TBGTH area is monitored using radar, Automatic Identification System,
closed-circuit television cameras(CCTV), electronic maps, and radio systems.
Within the
framework of the objectives, the TBGTH System provides three main services.
These are
information service, navigational assistance service and traffic organization
service.
The main
functional task of the system is to monitor the ships in the VTS area, to
transfer the information needed to the ships and to make recommendations.
In order to
fulfill this task, the assets, positions, identities, etc. of the existing
ships are detected by various sensors such as radar and camera; In addition,
hydrographic and meteorological conditions are also monitored.
These data are
transmitted to the operators in the operator center by the system functions and
stored in the archive environment correspondingly.
System operators
constantly monitor the ship traffic by means of the display data they receive,
and identify situations that may pose a potential danger. In order to
communicate with the ships, it transfers the information they need to the ships
and gives advice, and enables the ships to take precautions.
(2) SHIP TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM PROJECT
The installation
of the Regional Ship Traffic Services Systems covering the Gulf of Izmit, the
Gulf of Izmir and the North Aegean, as well as the Mersin and Iskenderun
Gulf/Regions, where maritime traffic is intense and risky, and the Ankara Ship
Traffic Management Center, where a single country picture is created, were
completed in 2019 with the final acceptance of the System. It was carried out
within the scope of the Ship Traffic Management System Project, which was
completed by our Ministry, taking into account the knowledge and experience
gained from the Turkish Straits.
The system can
monitor continuously for 24 hours with 3 VTS Centers and 24 unmanned
surveillance stations.
All possibilities
of modern technology such as radar devices, night vision cameras, communication
equipment, meteorological sensors are utilized. Just like in the Turkish
Straits.
Thanks to these
possibilities, any ship that enters the VTS coverage area can be detected
immediately. Information such as ship identity, navigational information, and
cargo type are instantly transmitted to both the Vessel Traffic Services
Centers and the Vessel Traffic Management Center in Ankara.
The Ship Traffic
Management Center, which was established within the scope of the same project;
A single country picture was created by combining the sea pictures created in
regional tracking centers (TBGTH System, İzmit GTHS, İzmir GTHS, Mersin GTHS)
and integrating them with other ship tracking systems (LRIT, OTS, e-maritime
software).
Izmit, Izmir and
Mersin VTS Systems, which were transferred to the General Directorate for
Coastal Safety, started to operate actively for the purpose of their operation.
(3) AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM (AIS) PROJECT:
Automatic Identification
System (AIS) was established in 2007. Its aims are to protect the rights and
interests of our country, located in a sensitive and important geographical
region due to its geopolitical position, to fulfill its national and
international responsibilities in time and completely, and to increase
navigational safety and maritime security on our coasts.
Thanks to this
system, too much detailed information about the ships navigating in the Black
Sea, Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean is automatically obtained and the ships
are tracked instantly.
The Automatic
Identification System, which is a passive monitoring system and provides the
opportunity to monitor all ships and marine vehicles equipped with AIS device
within the area it covers, allows both ships to communicate with each other and
with the Base Stations established on the shore for this purpose.
The operational
center of the system is in Ankara. With 27 coastal base stations, ship
movements on all Turkish coasts can be monitored instantly and detailed
information is provided for ships and marine vehicles within the coverage zone.
(4) ISTANBUL HARBOR MASTER LOCAL TRAFFIC MONITORING
SYSTEM PROJECT:
Local Traffic
Monitoring System was established in Istanbul. The purpose of the system is to
prevent local traffic from jeopardizing international ship traffic within the
administrative borders of Istanbul Port Authority, and to increase navigational
safety and maritime safety.
The System, whose
final acceptance was made on September 26, 2018, has one center. Besides, there
are 13 Local Traffic Stations connected to this center.
The data obtained
from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) base stations, AIS receivers,
Electro Optical System and vision sensors at the Local Traffic Stations are
transmitted to the Center established under the port authority. It is also
displayed on the operator consoles located in the centre.
(5) LONG DISTANCE VESSELS IDENTIFICATION AND TRACKING
SYSTEM (LRIT) PROJECT
The Identification
and Tracking of Ships at Long Distance System is a satellite-assisted system
and was established to increase navigational safety and maritime safety, to
contribute to search and rescue activities, and to effectively combat
environmental pollution. As of 30.09.2009, it started to operate globally.
Thanks to the
system, the identity information, location information and time information of
the ships can be obtained. In addition, it has become possible to track Turkish
flagged ships all over the world, and foreign flagged ships up to 1000 nautical
miles from our shores.