THE MANAGEMENT OF MARINE TRAFFIC, A SURVEY OF CURRENT AND POSSIBLE FUTURE MEASURES

The risks involved in maritime transport are very much greater now than was formerly the case. This has been accompanied by a considerable increase in the damage resulting from certain accidents. Maritime traffic management has been made necessary not only for reasons of safety but also productivity and comprises two main types of measure: first, laying down and enforcing suitable regulations and secondly, providing navigators with real time information which is not available to them on board from the Vessel Traffic Services (VTS). Section 2 of this paper is a general description of the techniques used in maritime traffic management and an account of possibilities for the future. Section 3 describes a feasibility study for a traffic monitoring aid system based on VTS and using a knowledge based system. This paper is based on one which was first published in the journal, Recherche Transports Securite, issue no. 9, 1993.