The Maritime Services and Coastal Agency’s (MDK) Shipping Assistance Division met with colleagues from all over the world – including, for the first time, Port of Antwerp-Bruges and the Antwerp Maritime Academy (AMA) – to discuss current challenges to safe and smooth shipping traffic.
At the headquarters of the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) in Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris, the VTS Committee met for five days – from 11 to 15 March 2024. At this international forum, global standards for Vessel Traffic Services (VTS, which serve to coordinate shipping in traffic separation schemes ed.) are set.
MDK’s Vessel Traffic Services department represents the Flemish government in various working groups. “We do this based on our task of ensuring smooth and safe shipping traffic in territorial waters and on the Westerschelde,” explained Stefaan Priem, who is responsible for the education and training of VTS and MRCC (Maritime Rescue and Coordination Centre) operators. He was joined by VTS director Els Bogaert and technical director Wim Smets. “In addition, colleagues from the VTS within Port of Antwerp-Bruges and a representative of the AMA were present for the first time. It’s great to see the Belgian delegation expanding,” he says. “Ultimately, we are links in the same chain and it is good that we can speak as a group.”
Singapore
During this gathering of 130 colleagues, who perform the same task worldwide, the Belgians were able to both contribute and gain knowledge. “Els Bogaert is vice-president of the operations working group. I myself am head of the training and education working group. This allows us to co-direct the procedures and documents,” says Priem. “It is remarkable how similar the challenges are and how together we can come up with solutions that are useful for everyone. Many of the challenges we face in our busy shipping area also apply to Singapore or Hong Kong more than ten thousand kilometres away.”
Autonomous sailing and cybersecurity
Besides constantly updating existing procedures and guidelines, new work is also on the table. “The main challenge for everyone is autonomous sailing, which is coming at us at breakneck speed. It is a top priority for all shipping supervisors worldwide to prepare for it.”
“A second serious challenge is cybersecurity. The march of digitisation continues and more and more information is being exchanged digitally. This requires, on the one hand, an alert attitude among shipping supervisors and system administrators and, on the other, security systems against unwanted visitors who are out to steal data or influence traffic control, for example. The technical working group to which Wim Smets belongs prepared a guideline on this.”
“In addition, the corona pandemic gave a boost to distance learning, which barely existed ten years ago. Now some training is already done entirely from a distance. A guideline is in the making for that too,” Priem concludes.
IALA was founded in 1957 and the VTS Committee meets twice a year. The next meeting of the VTS Committee will take place in September 2024.
