Alternative On-board Communication Systems Enhancing the Operation Efficiency of Vessel Traffic Services

Keywords:

coastal cellular coverage, GPS tracker, LoRa WAN, Vessel Traffic Services, VTS enhancement

Abstract:

The European Integrated Maritime Policy aims to improve the sustainable development of the maritime economy and better protect the marine environment. It is well understood, that cooperation among all entity participants crossing different sectors and borders should be facilitated. The cel-lular network communications, the radio frequency identification techniques and the high-level communication protocols are in fact all modern technologies complementary to each other. The article considers and makes comparison between traditional ways for GPS tracking and modern LoRa WAN devices, utilized in coastal waters. The utilization of such de-vices onboard of small leisure crafts or fishing vessels could be vital to support the operation of vessel traffic services. Cellular trackers have also the advantage to send distress alerts. Measurements of signal strength and quality have been presented to decide whether to utilize cellular network signal for emergency alerting and position reporting. So far, on the Bulgarian coast, the IoT gateway infrastructure might be insufficient but the growth rate is sufficiently high. The potential solution, presented in this article, could serve to improve the operational efficiency of marine traffic control.