AIS data analytics for adaptive rotating shift in vessel traffic service

Purpose Considering the varied and dynamic workload of vessel traffic service (VTS) operators, design an adaptive rotating shift solution to prevent them from getting tired while ensuring continuous high-quality services and finally guarantee a benign maritime traffic environment. Design/methodology/approach The problem of rotating shift in VTS and its influencing factors are analyzed first, then the framework of automatic identification system (AIS) data analytics is proposed, as well as the data model to extract spatial-temporal information. Besides, K-means-based anomaly detection method is adjusted to generate anomaly-free data, with which the traffic trend analysis and prediction are made. Based on this knowledge, strategies and methods for adaptive rotating shift design are worked out. Findings In VTS, vessel number and speed are identified as two most crucial factors influencing operators' workload. Based on the two factors, the proposed data model is verified to be effective on reducing data size and improving data processing efficiency. Besides, the K-means-based anomaly detection method could provide stable results, and the work shift pattern planning algorithm could efficiently generate acceptable solutions based on maritime traffic information. Originality/value This is a pioneer work on utilizing maritime traffic data to facilitate the operation management in VTS, which provides a new direction to improve their daily management. Besides, a systematic data-driven solution for adaptive rotating shift is proposed, including knowledge discovery method and decision-making algorithm for adaptive rotating shift design. The technical framework is flexible and can be extended for managing other activities in VTS or adapted in diverse fields.