Wärtsilä Voyage Solutions signed a contract to upgrade ECDIS on-board 50 tankers as a part of Sea Traffic Management (STM) BALT SAFE project.
The project goal is enabling route exchange on tankers in the Baltic and providing digital VTS services to them, including route cross-check and risk situation alert. 129 of total 300 STM vessels are equipped with Wärtsilä ECDIS.
How does it work?
Information is transferred via AIS between ships. Between ships and shore, the data is shared through the Maritime Digital Infrastructure. All existing implementations and the current STM projects will run on the Navelink platform, provided by the non-profit industry consortium.
Why is that important?
Efficient and reliable data exchange among port actors can cut waiting times during port calls and assist in achieving just-in-time arrivals.
An in-depth analysis of shipping movements showed that cargo vessels of various types spent only 60% to 70% of their port time at berth. The rest of the time was spent waiting. Only 40% to 65% of time at berth was used for operations.
Obtaining a much higher degree of predictability for ship arrivals, cargo operations and departures would enable higher fleet and capacity utilization, affecting both ships and ports.
Port arrival synchronization and improved predictability of operations offer considerable potential savings to port and ship operators.
