383
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Itisestimatedthatmaritimetraderepresentsan80%
of total world merchandise trade (UNCTAD, 2020)
while(Georg,2014)mentions,thateven90%ofallthe
goodsarebeingtransportedbyshippingatleastonce.
Obviously,shippingisgoingtocontinuetoplayakey
role
forourglobaleconomy.However, themaritime
industryfindsitself, likemany other industries, ina
state of digital transformation. A part of this
transformation is the prospect of more automation
and even the autonomous operation of ships. The
provisionandintegrationofdigitalelementsonboard
ships will allow
for machines to interact and to act
moreandmoreindependently(Johns,2018).
The increasing level of automation and expected
autonomy on board ships has also a significant
influenceonshore‐basedcomponentsoftheMaritime
Traffic System (MTS) (Baldauf et. al, 2018). Vessel
Traffic Services are functioning as a control
and
monitoring system within the MTS (Relling,
Praetorius, & Hareide, 2019). The VTS Centres
actively inform, support and regulate the traffic to
enable smooth and safe traffic flow on the maritime
shipping routes. VTS Centres are actively in contact
withtheshipsbyVHF.VTSstationsreceiveposition,
course, speed
and many other information through
AISandradardataviachainsofradarstationsalong
the coast and river fairways. The VTS stations are
regularly broadcasting information services,
containing weather data, tidal changes or particular
information about traffic characteristics as well as
changestobeexpected.Ontheotherhand,VTSs
are
also alerting and instructing individual ships or
informingthematanearlystagetoavertdanger,see
i.a. (Relling, Praetorius, & Hareide, 2019). The
traditional structure of services provided by VTS is
sketchedinthefigurebelow.
From Ship to Shore – Studies Into Potential Practical
Consequences of Autonomous Shipping on VTS
Operation and Training
T.Janssen
1
,M.Baldauf
2
&G.Claresta
3
1
AssociationofCaptainsandOfficersintheFederalMinistryforDigitalandTransport,Hamburg,Germany
2
HochschuleWismarUniversityofTechnology,BusinessandDesign,Rostock‐Warnemünde,Germany
3
InstitutTeknologiSepuluhNopember,Surabaya,Indonesia
ABSTRACT:VesselTrafficServices(VTS)aretoimprovethesafetyandef
f
iciencyofvesseltrafficandtoprotect
themarineenvironmentbyinteractingwiththeship’strafficinmonitoredcoastalareas.Today,VTSoperators
are maritime professionals with nautical education from a university or technical college and practical
experienceonboard.Thisexperienceandnauticalbackgroundisakeyelementofthe
workasaVTSoperator.It
is to support understanding the daily work. The current situation in the maritime domain is undergoing
substantialchanges,suchasintroducingnewtechnologies,implementingthee‐Navigationconceptbasedon
sustainable digitalization and ambitions to realize unmanned and autonomous shipping. This paper will
present
preliminaryresultsofapilotstudyconductedinVTSCentresalongthecoastofNorthandBalticSea
anddiscussselectedoptionsandopportunitiesforeducationandtrainingoffutureVTSoperators,whichmight
nothavetheadvantageofpracticalseaexperienceanymore.
http://www.transnav.eu
the International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 17
Number 2
June 2023
DOI:10.12716/1001.17.02.15
384
Figure1. Original structure of VTS services, own
illustration,adaptedfromIALAVTSManual(2021)
1.2 RevisionoftheIMOVTSGuidelines
Over a period of almost three decades, VTS were
established and organized according to IMO‐
Resolution A.857(20), firstly introduced in 1997. The
main aim was defined as to contribute to safety,
increase efficiency and also protect the marine
environment by implementing VTSs where deemed
necessary. This original resolution also contained a
clear distinction between Coastal, Harbor and Port
VTS stations and the services were divided into the
threemain types ofservices:INS(Information),TOS
(Traffic Organization) and NAS (Navigational
Assistance).
Nevertheless, after more than 25 years of
worldwideexperienceinoperatingVTSand
withthe
introduction of new technologies and further
developments in the maritime industryasubstantial
revision of the guidelines was realized. Different
stakeholders related to VTS operations joined their
effortstoupdatetheresolutionandaffectedthelegal
framework, the definition and provision of services
and the training and qualification standards
(Juncadella&MartinezdeOses,2020).
The need for an update and revision of the
definition of services provided by the VTS was also
pointed out by the German Federal Bureau of
Maritime Casualty Investigation in the report408/17
which dealt with the grounding of the bulk carrier
“MV Glory
Amsterdam” 1,6 nautical miles off the
German coast within a nature protected area (BSU,
2019). The vessel was located at the deep‐water
anchorage area in the German Bight. Due to severe
weather conditions the vessel started dragging the
anchor and moving to a southerly direction. All
attempts to secure the
vessel and prevent the
groundingfailed.
The investigations identified several factors that
might have influenced the outcome. Among others
thereportmentionsthattheservicesprovidedbythe
VTS and the Central Command for Maritime
Emergencies (CCME) were not sufficiently clear
distinguished.
Similar facts were discussed by experts from
different
maritimeorganizations,suchastheNautical
Institute,theInternationalFederationofShipmastersʹ
Associations (IFSMA) or the International Maritime
Pilots Association (IMPA) at IALA‐seminars and
workshops preparing the revision of IMO’s VTS‐
Guidelines.Amongothers,54participantswereasked
ifthey aresatisfiedwiththeremovalofthetypesof
services
and 96 % agreed with the removal and
intention of revision (Southall, 2019). The major
concernoftheparticipantsagreeingwiththerevision
was that these services are not being declared or
deliveredgloballyinaconsistentmanner.Thiscauses
confusion among the stakeholders, particularly
masters and officers navigating the
ship through a
VTSarea,resultinginmisunderstandings,whichmay
createineffectivetrafficmanagement.(Southall,2019).
That was one of the reasons, why the new VTS
guideline (IMO, 2022) is no longer distinguishing
betweentypesofservices.ThepurposeofVTSisnow
laiddownas“tocontributetothesafety
oflifeatsea,
improve the safety and efficiency of navigation and
support the protection of the environment within a
VTS area by mitigating the development of unsafe
situations”.Thisshallberealizedthrough
theprovisionof“timelyandrelevantinformation
…”,
“…monitoringandmanagingshiptraffic
…”and
the response “… to developing unsafe situations
…”
The guidelines further clarify that for these
purposesVTSoperatorsmay“provideinformationor
issue advice, warnings and instructions, as deemed
necessary”.Thedecisionabouttheexactmeasurefits
bestinacertainsituationremainswiththeoperator’s
judgement.Usually,
operators are trained to use the
measures dependent on the risk level of a certain
situationandthelevelofurgencyasitisvisualizedin
figure2.
Figure2. Model for measures of VTS interventions to
respondtounsafenavigationalsituations
Firstly, in an early stage of development of an
unsafe situation and independent of what type of
service is provided, ”information” shall be applied.
“Warning/Advice” shall be used if in a developing
situationconcreteriskexistsandonlyinrarecaseof
an escalated risk of a collision or grounding etc.
operatorsshallsendout“Instruction”.Differentfrom
the old guidelines, the new one provides samples
about what VTS may inform, warn, advise, or even
instruct. It includes, i.e. position, identity, intentions
etc. of ships or information about route deviations,
guidance to an anchor position but also
meteorological conditions or support
for emergency
services.
In this way, all references to the former type of
services are obsolete. Moreover, the revised
guidelinescontainaparagraphthatVTSmayprovide
385
services even beyond territorial sea. It is also
important to note, that the new resolution calls for
consideration of future technical and other
developments accordingly. Finally, yet importantly,
qualification and training of personnel has been
updatedaswell.
1.3 ChallengesfromDigitizationandAutomation
The revisions of the VTS guidelines
addresses very
well the ongoing digital transformation and
technologicaldevelopmentincommunications,which
have major impacts on operation of VTS and the
trainingandrecruitingofVTSpersonnel.
Even though, i.e., general Ship Reporting still
remainsa manualprocessandrequiresagreatdealof
attentionfromtheshipmasteror
officeronboardand
VTS operators as well. Inter alia, there are multiple
forms to deliver to numerous different institutions.
These forms are varying and are aconfusing mix of
procedures,standardsandtechnologies(Tijan,Agatic,
Jovic, & Aksentijevic, 2019). The IMO e‐Navigation
initiative addresses these issues. E‐Navigation is
defined as “the harmonized collection, integration,
exchange, presentation and analysis of marine
informationonboardandashorebyelectronicmeans
to enhance berth to berth navigation and related
servicesforsafetyandsecurityatseaandprotection
ofthemarineenvironment”(IMO,2014).TheStrategy
Implementation Plan (SIP) provides a
list of tasks
required to undertake five prioritized e‐navigation
solutions. Those solutions describe means for
standardizedandautomatedreportingandimproved
communication of the VTS service portfolio (Hauge,
2020).
Solutions for automatic reporting system are, for
instance,theMaritimeSingleWindow(MSW),which
enablesallstakeholderinvolvedtousea
single‐entry
pointandprovidesotherstationwiththeinformation
by automatic data exchange (Tijan, Agatic, Jovic, &
Aksentijevic, 2019). Another method was tested in
EMSA’s pilot project “Facilitation of ship to shore
reporting”. By means of re‐use of data and the
“reporting once” principle, the burden of
communication
and collection of relevant data for
both, the ship master and the VTS operator was
reduced, and harmonization of the reporting system
onaEuropeanlevel(EMSA,2022)wasdemonstrated.
Next steps will show how a VHF Data Exchange
SystemandharmonizedEuropeanreportingsystems
impacttheMTS.
Further popular approaches
to implement new
technology into VTS operation and the exchange
process of data from ship to shore are automatic
speech recognition (see i.e. Tagaki et al 2016).
Miscommunicationinthemaritimedomainhasbeen
identifiedasamajorcontributoryfactortoship‐ping
accidentsandthereforetheIMOhasmade
substantial
effortstoreduceambiguouslanguagepatternsbyfirst
developing the Standard Marine Navigational
Vocabulary and later on the Standard Marine
Communication Phrases (SMCP) (John, Brooks, &
Schriever, 2019) with special units dealing with
ship/shorecommunication.
Automatic speech recognition is developed
specifically for maritime communication by being
extensivelytrainedwithreal
andsimulatedVTSand
bridgeteamcommunicationandwiththeIMOSMCP
(John,Brooks,&Schriever,2019).Itprovidesanother
channel to exchange information and might reduce
distractionbyothermeans(John,Brooks,&Schriever,
2019).
CommunicationisessentialforVTSoperationand
the rapid developments to introduce maritime
autonomous
ship (MASS) requiring concepts and
preparationfortheoperationalintegrationofthisnew
typeofshipsintotheexistingstructures.
Even though these new technologies are on the
horizonandimplementedashoreandonboard,they
represent major challenges for maritime education
andtrainingfacilitiesaswell.
This paper will focus
on the maritime education
and training standards for VTS personnel by
presentingpreliminaryresultsofastudyconductedin
selected VTS Centres along the coast of North and
BalticSea.
2 TRAININGANDQUALIFICATION
STANDARDSANDTODAY’SPRACTICE
Untiltoday,accordingtointernationalguidelinesand
specificnationalrequirements,operatorsworking
ina
VTS are trained maritime professionals and
experienced captains or navigating officers. To geta
positioninaVTSCentreapplicantsneedtohavethe
at least minimum STCW qualification for
watchkeeping officers. Most of the operators have
overoneyearofexperienceaswatchkeepingofficers
and/or captains. With this
prerequisite, VTS
applicants are trained according to the VTS model
course V‐103 by the International Association of
MarineAidstoNavigation&LighthouseAuthorities
(IALA) (IALA, 2016). Besides theoretical training
providing the basics of international and national
legalframeworks,rulesandregulations,operatorsare
also trained in practical operation
in simulator
courses, get a theoretical knowledge of the national
maritime industryand law, and are later trained on
thejob.
Figure3. Basic structure of VTS training and education
elementsappliedtobeginners/newVTSstaff
Figure 3 provides a visualization of the basic
structure as exemplarily applied for training of VTS
operators in Germany. For purposes of a more
detailedassessmentofthepresentsituationalongthe
coastsofNorthandBalticSea,anempiricalspotlight
study applying questionnaires and semi‐structured
interviews was conducted. The
pilot study was
developed after conducting field studies within
selected VTS Centres. In a first step two groups of
386
operators were involved. 22 operators from three
differentnationsparticipatedandsharedtheirviews.
Future steps will be expert interviews and
specificallydesignedsimulatortrials.
Preliminaryresultsshowthat11participantshave
a university degree with a diploma in maritime or
nauticalstudies, 9participants holda degreefroma
technicalcollege.Whereas18ofthemhaveanautical
license according to STCW standards, either coastal
voyages or internationalvoyages unlimited.3 of the
participants hold a license according to the STCW‐F
standardsornationalnauticallicense,thatwasmade
before 1998. Over 70% of the participants have
seafaring
experience between 1‐5 years as a nautical
watchkeeping officer. The average experience as a
captainorchiefofficeris5‐10years.
Figure4. Analysis results of training periods in different
VTSstations
Furthermore, participants were asked what,
according to their opinion, is important for the
successful training of a VTS operator. Answers
includedknowledgeofthemonitoredarea,technical
training in VTS simulators and experience as a
nauticalofficeror more extensiveon‐the‐jobtraining
in the VTS Centre. When asked what
was missing
during their training, 55% (n=22) stated that
standardized and structured training would be
helpful.
According to national rules, operators usually
repeatthesimulatorandtheoreticalcourseseverytwo
yearsto refreshthe knowledgeandlearnaboutnew
terminology or technology used in maritime
surveillanceaswellasconducting
specificsimulation
exerciseswithincidentandaccidentscenarios.
According to the expert opinions, the most
importantscopeoftrainingisthefamiliaritywiththe
areatobe monitored, and the specificknowledgeof
terminology used in that monitoring area. One
participant mentioned, that “it is taking months to
learnthe‘Weser
‐language’”Itistobenoted,thatthe
participant’sanswerisreferringtoa specialtermand
terminology used when monitoring his area. The
original term he used was “Weser‐Sprech”.‐The
interview with the participant was conducted in
GermanandtranslatedintoEnglishbytheauthors.
As an overall
outcome of the interview, it is
suggested,thataccordingtotheparticipants’opinion
thetrainingforbecomingaVTSoperatorisstillvery
traditional and not yet sufficiently enough focusing
onnewtechnologies.
On the other hand, in another section of the
questionnaire the operators were asked about their
views and
opinions in regards to the relevance and
importance of sea‐going experience as OOW, Chief
officer/captainasaprerequisitetofulfilthetasksofa
VTSoperator.Thenextfiguresummarizestheviews
oftheexpertsgroupedbytheirnations.
Quite obviously, the great majority of the
participants in this
pilot study still see practical
experience on board ships as a “very” or “quite
important”skilltounderstandtheworkintheVTS.In
their responses about the reasons, why practical
experience is or is not important the participants
added comments like “It allows me to relate to the
seafarers’ problems/conditions”,
“better knowledge/
understanding for the ships monitored” or “I get a
goodideaaboutCPA,whatCPAisacceptable,…you
gettoknowculturalaspectsonboard”.Anotheraspect
thatwasmentionedintheresponseswas,knowledge
about the behaviour of ships: “You have so much
understandingofnavigationand
manoeuvringifyou
have sea time!” From this first spotlight study, it
seems, that operators feel more confident when
providinginformationandwhatexactinformationto
navigatorsonboard.Thereseemstobeatendencythat
shore‐based operators see themselves as colleague
usingsituationalawarenessandtogenerateassistance
thatis
supportiveinaconcretesituation.
Figure5.Expertopinioninregardstoelevanceofpractical
seaexperienceinscopeofVTSoperation
However,therevisedIALAmodelcoursesC0103‐
xforVTSoperatortrainingtowhichIMOguidelines
explicitlyreferareveryflexibleinrespecttosea‐time
experience.On theonehand, IALAissuedguideline
for recognition of prior learning. This guideline
provides a framework about how to assess “prior
learning” which
authorities can adapt and apply to
theirspecificneeds.Themodelcoursesdonotprovide
detailed syllabuses but a framework for the
development of trainingmodules. Module 4, named
“Nautical Knowledge”, i.e. might be adapted to the
needs if seafaring experience is assessed as not
sufficient and the applicant might
compensate
through enhanced and extended module content
respectively. The recommended duration in hours
ranges from 23‐44 hours lectures/presentations and
16‐31hoursexercises/simulations.Thisgivesroomto
designvariousversionsofthemoduleaddressingthe
specific needs of the students identified during the
assessmentofpriorlearning.
Eventhough,when
askedabout alternative ways
to substitute practical experience, 80% (n=22) of the
387
participating operators suggested professional
simulatortrainingandjobexperience,maybe,canbe
analternateoption.However,thechallengeinregards
tothemoduledesign,willbetoidentifyandtodefine
criteriaforthemissingexperience,afutureoperatoris
expectedtohave.Ship‐handling,certainlycanbevery
well
trainedina simulator environment, and would
match with the comment about “understanding the
manoeuvring” mentionedabove.On theotherhand,
probably, it would not really meet the “cultural
aspects”alsorespondedtothequestionnaire.
However,inthelightofthedecreasingnumberof
applicantsforVTSoperatorpositionsin
somecoastal
nations, there is not only a need to further develop
career paths, there is a rising need and urgency to
adaptand furtherdeveloptrainingandqualification
schemesaswell.
3 REVIEWINGNEWWAYSOFTRAINING–
THINKINGOUTOFTHEBOX
3.1 BackgroundandIALA‐Requirements
Trainingis
oneofthekeyelementstolearnanewjob.
Even though the applicants for a job in VTS have
(mostly) a degree in nautical studies and experience
onboardsea‐goingships,theystillneedtoadaptto
thenewworkenvironment.Acommonissueamong
the case studies
about VTS and other maritime
surveillance training standards was the topic
“operator skills”; namely, what skills would be
required,howtheywouldbeobtained,andhowthey
would be retained (Veitch, Hynnekleiv, & Lützhöft,
2020).
Considering autonomous or unmanned shipping
formostoftheShoreControlCentre(SCC)operators,
itwas
suggestedthattheyholdthenecessarynautical
licenses and diplomas since they are considered
experienced navigators or seafarers. However, some
suggestedthatgiventhenewworkingenvironment,a
unique set of skills must be defined (Relling,
Praetorius,&Hareide,2019).
The revised IALA model course C0103‐1 for VTS
operators
hasbeendevelopedtoprovideguidanceon
training and skills sets for authorities, which
implemented VTS Centres. The IALA classifies 5
levels of skills, whereas the first level is guided
responseandthefifthlevelmodificationorcreationof
actions based on knowledge and experience. A
summary of skills and level
of competence is
presentedinthetablebelow.
Table1.ShortsummaryofVTSoperatorskillsandsubjectof
areaadaptedfromIALAmodelcourseC0103‐1(December
2022)
________________________________________________
SkillElement/SubjectareaLevelofcompetence
________________________________________________
Communication,coordinationandinteraction3‐4
Legalframework1‐3
ProvisionofVTS2‐3
Trafficmanagement4
Nauticalknowledge1‐3
Equipmentandtechnicalsupporttools 2‐4
Humanfactors2
Safetymanagement4
Emergencyhandling2‐4
________________________________________________
3.2 E‐Learning
The COVID‐19 pandemic challenged all education
andtraininginstitution,schoolsanduniversitiesona
worldwidescale.Studentscouldnotenterclassrooms
at universities or teaching facilities, and everything
hadtobeswitchedfromclassroomteachingtoonline
teaching via video platforms and sharing platforms.
Mostof
theteachinginstitutionsadaptedquitefastto
the new situation and made teaching and learning
availableonline.
This experience is valuable and has potential for
future training as well. A few online platforms
provide nautical students already with the
possibilitiestostudytheSMCP.
Thisplatform isaccessibleby traineesin
theVTS
Centre (without practical experience) as well to get
familiarwiththephrasesusedonadailybasis.
3.3 VTS‐SimulatorTrainingusingVirtualReality
Anotherimportanttooltoacquirenecessaryskillsasa
VTS operator is simulator training. For now, in
Germany,VTSsimulatortrainingispartof
thebasic
trainingandthenrepeated yearly.For trainees,who
do not have the necessary practical experience on
board ships, bridge team simulator courses can be
included and the VTS simulator training can be
extended.
Otherveryrecentoptionsfordevelopingtraining
for VTS operators, relates to Virtual Reality (VR)
technologies.
Figure6.Snapshotoftrainingonboardanicebreakerusing
VRtechnology(photo:author)
Figure7.Sampleoftrainingequipmentneeded,takenfrom
https://www.morildinteraktiv.no/icenav (accessed
13.03.2021)
Presently a popular option, VR has potential to
providethetraineewiththe“shipsense”and“feeling
388
of the ship” while manoeuvring. This technology is
alreadyin use by training institutionstoday to train
icenavigation,forinstance.
WecanusethisVRand3DtechnologyforECDIS
trainingand for daily VTS operation. The Electronic
Navigational Charts (ENC) are two‐dimensional
charts. It is a generalization
and abstraction of the
actualworld. New technology can give the operator
thepossibilitytolookfromadifferentperspectiveand
avoidmisinterpretationofthesituation.
Thinking one step further and imagining an
autonomousshipnavigatingwithintheVTSarea,the
VR technology can be used to get a view
from the
ship’sperspective.
3.4 Cloud‐basedtraining
Simulation training is a state‐of‐the‐art method for
basic and refresher training of VTS operators.
Training providers integrate different kind of
simulatorsfordifferenttrainingpurposesfromsimple
desktop‐computer simulator stations up to full‐
missionVTSsimulators,whichmayprovide
full‐scale
equipment of workstations as originally installed in
the work environment of a real VTS station. Full
mission simulators facilitate options to replicate the
complete workaround of a shift for one or several
linkedVTSareas.HighsophisticatedVTSsimulators
may even pro‐vide connection with part‐ or full‐
missionshiphand‐lingsimulators,i.e.toincreasethe
level of reality when training of complex scenarios
likeVTSmonitoringofvesselwithpilotonboard.
AstillrecentoptionfortrainingofVTSoperators
is web‐based simulation. Trainees join a network‐
sessionfromseveralplacesandmayhandlesimulated
traffic in one generic VTS area. Desktop computer
with standard equipment provide generic VTS
workstations but can be linked to full mission VTS
simulatorsas well. Communication between trainees
and instructors is realized using additionally
equipment.
First courses using this new technology were
delivered with promising results (AMCS, 2021).
Considering
the rapid technological developments,
one may expect a further development of the
technology and its extensive use for VTS operator
training.
3.5 Integrationofremote‐controlledships–simulating
thefuture
Besides the new and enhanced technical facilities of
VTSsimulationaforementioned,simulationallowsfor
the implementation of hypothetical scenarios VTS
operatorspotentiallybeingfacedwith.
Fromtheresponsesofthequestionnairesitisseen,
that operators want to be confronted not only with
escalating risky and emergency scenarios, as often
derived from real collision or grounding situations.
Operators also want to experience new and even
unexpected situations in training sessions.
However,
integrating sophisticated future scenarios, i.e. into a
training session of i.e. a refresher course may also
cause conflicts with meeting requirements of a
training course and therefore requires careful and
comprehensivepreparation.
During regular training course a first pilot
simulationstudyinvolvingremotecontrolledshipsin
atypicaltrafficscenario
ofaVTSareafamiliartothe
traineeshasbeenconducted.Forthisspecificpurpose
communication with the operator in the remote
control centre (RCC) of the MASS target has been
integratedinthescenario.
During briefing and debriefing sessions, the
experienced VTS operators were asked to reflect the
handling
of the unmanned vessel especially. In this
discussiontheoperatorsexpressedthatthehandling
was managed according to the existing rules and
regulations and that there is no big difference
compared to handling a manned vessel. An overall
tendency was: as long as there is stable connection
and fluent communication with
the remote‐control
operatortheyfeelconfidentwiththeirtasks.Amajor
issue,however,wasthattheVTSoperatorsexpressed
their urgent request that a remote controller shall
have appropriate qualification and experience in
navigating a ship. This, according to their opinion,
mayformafirstgoodbasisfornavigating
throughthe
VTSarea.
Even though, just preliminary results of the
experimental trial, it shows again, that seafaring
experience seems to be a main focus to whether a
person in command of a vessel is seen suitably
qualifiedandcompetent.Ofcourse,furthersystematic
trialsare requiredtoproofand further
elaboratethe
statementsgainedsofar.
4 SUMMARYANDCONCLUSIONS
After25yearsofworldwidepracticeofvesseltraffic
servicesarevisionofIMO’sVTSguidelineshasbeen
carried out. The revisions consider the experiences
gained during the past period of successful world‐
wide operation of VTSs. On the one‐
hand the
revisions overcome some inconsistencies and clarify
interpretations of the old guidelines. On the other
hand, the revisions address current technological
developmentsandfuturechangesandtheirpotentials
for instance to provide services even beyond
territorial seas. VTS operator education and training
need to take intoaccountthe revisions and
ongoing
changes accordingly. An empirical spotlight study
intopotentialconsequencesofthechangingsituation
hasbeencarriedoutwithspecificfocusonseafaring
experiencesasprerequisiteforVTSoperatortraining
andpotentialchangesintraining content.According
to the first preliminary results, there seems to be a
tendency supporting that
seafaring experience is the
mostvaluablesourceforsuccessfullyperformingthe
tasks of a VTS operator. However, compensation of
lackingactiveseafaringtimebydedicatedcoursesin
ship‐handling simulation was seen as a potential
optionbytheparticipants.
Using new technology and the results of the
empirical studies directing to
next steps, that will
includeexpertinterviewsandspecificsimulatortrials
addressing future traffic scenarios, also integrating
new technology. Developing ideas into strategies to
389
applytrainingmodulesmeetingthenewstandardsas
well as possibilities for integrating the new
technologiesintotoday’strainingandoperationisthe
aimedoutcome.
VTS operation and training today is still very
traditionalandbasedonpracticalexperience.Asthe
study had shown, most of the participants still see
theirtimeatseaasthemajorskilltoworkinaVTS.
However,thenewIALAmodelcoursesopenthedoor
also for non‐seafarers to a highly interesting and
attractive job. With the ongoing research on
autonomous shipping, VTS training standards not
only in Germany might have a
new perspective for
reviewing and new technologies need to be
implemented.
Researchisstillongoingandfuturescenarioswill
be developed and tested carefully, considering the
operationtrainingofotherVTSpersonnelwithinthe
EuropeanUnion.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TheauthorswishtothankthoseVTSoperators,pilotsand
navigators who shared their opinions in interviews and
questionnaires.Theyalsothankfortheopportunitiestojoin
watchesforparticipantobservationsinVTSCentres.
Investigations and preliminary results presented in this
paper were partly carried out and achieved within the
Polish
‐German RTD project CADMUSS‐Collision
Avoidance Domain‐Method Used by Ships and Ashore.
Thisprojectbelongstothe MARTERAprogram supported
bythe EuropeanCommission. Itisfundedby theGerman
Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi),
andsupervisedbytheGermanResearchCentreJülich(PTJ).
Moreover,someof
thematerialspresentedinthis paper,are
partlyachievedinthenationalresearchproject“Shore‐side
decision support for traffic situations with highly
automatedorautonomousvesselsusingAI(LEAS)”funded
bytheGermanFederalMinistryofEducationandResearch
(BMBF). It is supervised and surveyed by VDI
TechnologiezentrumDüsseldorf.
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