Keeping an (electronic) eye on ports

Two projects partly funded by the European Union - the vessel traffic management information system (VTMIS) and the digital CCTV security infrastructure - have just been launched with the aim of boosting safety and security at sea and in ports.

The VTMIS project, procured and implemented by the Malta Maritime Authority, cost €3.5 million (Lm1.5 million) and the CCTV project cost €400,000 (Lm171,720).

VTMIS is mandatory to commercial shipping and the port community under international and EU legislation. The system is complemented by the electronic port notification and ship clearance system (Portnet Malta) that operates via the internet. All players within the port community, including terminal operators and other service providers, have access to the Portnet Malta on a need-to-know basis.

The MMA is the designated VTS authority in Malta. The Armed Forces of Malta is the designated coastal VTS station while the ports VTS is managed by the MMA's Ports Directorate.

Both stations, located at the AFM headquarters in Luqa and at the Ports VTS in Marsa, can exchange information. The VTS replaces the previous service provided by the Palace Tower Signal Station, commonly known as It-Turretta.

The objective of the VTMIS, which includes an automatic identification system (AIS), is primarily to monitor shipping and to provide vessel traffic management to shipping within the national waters and in ports.

The Malta port and coastal vessel traffic services involved the setting up of a network of eight radars (one of which was already being used by the AFM), automatic identification system stations, VHF communications, VHF direction finders and weather stations around the Maltese islands. This system provides the MMA and the AFM with the means to monitor and manage, on a 24x7 basis, ports and coastal vessel traffic respectively and automatically sends ship notifications to the European Maritime Safety Agency through the national Safe Sea Net system, which is obligatory to all EU member states, with Malta being one of the first to implement the system.

The surveillance equipment also helps to curtail illegal activities at sea and assist the authorities during search and rescue operations and dealing with illegal immigration.

The digital CCTV security system remotely monitors selected port areas and their approaches for the purposes of enhancing maritime and ports security, law enforcement and safety. It comprises 12 cameras linked via a wireless network to a newly-built control room at the MMA's Maritime Trade Centre in Marsa to monitor six ports in Malta and Gozo, namely Marsaxlokk, Grand Harbour, Marsamxett, St Paul's Bay (Buġibba), Ċirkewwa and Mġarr.

The digital CCTV system was implemented under Malta's European Regional Development Fund programme 2004-6, with the EU financing 75 per cent of the project. It complies with requirements of the Data Protection Act and principally monitors port approaches, port waters and fairways, port terminals, public marinas, quays, jetties, wharves and breakwaters.