Kvitsøy VTS Centre has been modernized

With a new VTS system and six new radars, the Kvitsøy VTS Centre is even better equipped to regulate and monitor ship traffic along the Rogaland coast and ensure safe and efficient maritime transport.

"Kvitsøy VTS Centre is now equipped with a more flexible VTS system based on the latest in integration technology. The system saves time for maritime traffic management and provides a better basis for maintaining maritime traffic safety," says Regional Director John Erik Hagen of Norwegian Coastal Administration's Region Western Norway.

Kvitsøy VTS Centre is the first of the NCA's five VTS Centres to be renovated, all by 2018. With the new system, the VTS Centres go from using three different VTS systems to a single common and unified maritime domain awareness system from Kongsberg Norcontrol IT. The unified maritime domain awareness system, called C-Scope, is tailored to the operational and administrative tasks for securing safe and efficient maritime traffic along the coast of Norway.

Simplified and streamlined

In order to implement rapid and effective preventive measures, the maritime traffic managers depend on updated and detailed traffic information in real time. This is possible using various monitoring and communication systems, including the Automatic Identification System AIS, radar, and VHF communications, which are currently used by the VTS Centres. With the help of multi-sensor tracking, information from these various systems is integrated in order to provide a comprehensive situation picture of vessel traffic.

"The new VTS Centre system simplifies and streamlines the process of collecting traffic information from different systems. Traffic information is analyzed, filtered and presented in a consistent picture that provides a detailed image of vessel traffic and a quick overview of situations that may be particularly risky," says Hagen.

A better situation picture

The C-Scope system calculates all the possible conflicts in traffic and arrival times based on vessel speed and course. In addition, nautical charts are updated automatically. The new C-Scope system also makes it possible to follow a vessel automatically with one or more surveillance cameras, while providing for automatic and manual highlighting of vessels that require special attention.

For the system to be flexible and adaptable to future needs and developing technologies, the C-Scope system is designed so that it works regardless of the technical platform.