467

1 INTRODUCTION

I am a serving VTS Officer working at Aberdeen

Harbour in North East Scotland. However, my

backgroundisasaseafareroncommercialdrycargo

shipscommencingasdeckcadet in 1978 moving up

throughtherankswithvariousownersuntilcoming

ashorein2005.Forthelast9yearsofmyseaservice,I

servedasMasteroncoastaltradersandmediumsized

vesselsonlongerdeepseaandMediterraneangeneral

tra

mptrades. 

Throughoutmytimeatsea,shore“interference”in

the navigation and routing of ships was regarded

with a large degree of suspicion and the input of

shoreVTSandmonitoringserviceswasseen,atbest,

as snooping and, at worst, an a

ttempt to usurp the

authority of the Master and effectively remove his

responsibilityforthesafenavigationofhisvessel.

Coming ashore into VTS in 2005, I will admit to

bringingsomeoftheseprejudiceswithmebutinthe9

yearssincethenithasbecomeincreasinglya

pparent

that VTS, particularly in port areas, plays an ever

increasinglyvitalroleinnavigationalsafety.

2 SEASERVICE

Going back to 1978, I started my cadetship straight

fromsecondaryeducationatschoolandthecadetship

was5yearsduration.Incommonwithvirt

uallyallof

my contemporaries I was not particularly highly

educatedandwewouldallhavehadthesamenotion

– thata5yearcadetshipbeforetakingawatchalone

was an absolute requirement in order to give the

junior officer the confidence and competence to

executewatchkeepingdutieseffectivelyandsafely.

During the mid‐1980s in the UK, as well as in

ny countries in Europe and the western world,

therewasadistinctfallingawayoftrainingofships

officersduelargelytothedifficulttradingconditions

experienced at the ti

me. The UK fleet contracted

dramatically and with it the requirement for junior

shipsofficersdiminishedtoapointwherealmostno

training was taking place. Subsequently though,

changes in government policy and an upturn in

trading conditions highlighted the need for more

officerstobetrained.Thegapinsupplyofpersonnel

was such tha

t the UK government removed the

requirementforBritishflaggedshipstocarryBritish

officers. This resulted in the employment of many

The Need for VTS in the 21

Century

–

A Personal

Perspective

B.Standerline

VTSO,MarineOperationsCentre,AberdeenHarbour,Scotland,UK

ABSTRACT: This article is a personal view on why the need for port and coastal VTS  services are needed

around the world and in places where the need was never perceived before. From a professional formers

marinersperspectivethegrowthofVTSexactlymirrorsthereductioninthestandardsofma

rineofficerandthe

resultingreductionintheregardfortheprofessionasawhole.

http://www.transnav.eu

the International Journal

on Marine Navigation

and Safety of Sea Transportation

Volume 8

Number 3

September 2014

DOI:10.12716/1001.08.03.19

468

foreignnationalsonboardUKflaggedshipsworking

underCertificatesofEquivalentCompetencyinorder

for owners to keep their ships manned with

certificatedofficerswithouttheneedtoflagout.This

alsoencouragedthefast tracking ofcadets on much

shortercadetshipsofonly3years.Duringthisperiod,



the whole training environment had changed and

cadetswerecomingontoshipswitharequirementfor

amuchhigher standard of educationthan had been

thecase15or20yearsearlier,thustheperceptionwas

thatashortercadetshipwasmoreappropriate.

Throughout my own sea service there were

rumours and schemes afoot that, in certain more

congestedpartsoftheworld,thenavigationofships

shouldbecontrolledfromashore.Thishasbeen,quite

rightly and successfully, resisted so far but, now

working as poacher turned gamekeeper, I can

increasinglyseeevidencethatthismaynotbeabad



thing in some cases. The worldwide fast trackingof

cadets into officer positions appears to have created

anindustrywheretheseafaringaspectisnolongera

respectedprofession–indeed,whathasbeencreated

is a third world industry where the competence of

manywithinithastobe

questioned.

Theinfrastructureoftheindustryhasevolvedover

the past 20 or so years to the point where the ships

Master and officers are slaves to paperwork with

more and more input from shore inspection and

auditingauthorities.Rarelydoesashiparriveinport

withoutsomeinspection,surveyor

audittakingplace

andmoreandmoreauthorityregardingtheoperation

and maintenance of the ship being transferred to

shore personnel. The Master and his officers are

regarded more and more as operatives rather than

skilled professionals. This approach has therefore

enabledadumbingdownoftheshipboardsideof

the

industrytothepointwhereshipscrewsarethereto

doastheyaretoldbyshoreofficials,bethatfromthe

ships owners or managers or from port state and

inspectionauthorities.Thereisafeelingthatanofficer

preparedtodowhatheistoldispreferredto

onewho

wouldstandupforwhatisrightbutatriskofbeing

sharply replaced by one who is prepared to toe the

lineandobeyinstructionsblindly.

3 VESSELTRAFFICSERVICE

Thedumbingdownofthestandardof personnel on

board ships has, ironically, gone hand in hand

with

anexplosionintechnologyonboardtheseships.This

is particularly so on vessels working in the offshore

and oil sector with which I am very familiar in

Aberdeen. Propulsion systems and machinery on

offshorevesselsareverycomplexanditisbecoming

increasinglyclearfrommyownstandpointthat

many

oftheofficerschargedwiththeoperationoftheships

donothavetherequireddepthofknowledgetocarry

outtheirdutiessafelyandeffectively.Theprinciples

ofVTSarebasedaroundsafetyofnavigation,safety

of life and protection of the environment and,

particularly in a busy

port VTS area like Aberdeen,

wearefacedwithpolicingwaterswheremanyusers

are,quiteclearly,unfamiliarwiththewaytheirships

operate. Traffic management in a busy TOS (Traffic

OrganisationService)VTSarea,asAberdeenis,needs

thetraffictofloweffectivelyandthis is increasingly

compromisedwhenshipsMastersandofficersarenot

ascompetentwiththeirshipsastheyoughttobe.The

foregoing points regarding training and outside

influences are therefore more and more relevant as

owners place and promote more and more

inexperienced and increasingly inept officers into

positionsofresponsibilitywithoutthefamiliarityand

experienceoftheshipstheyaremanning.Instead of

raising standards, the owners and flag state

authorities are sacrificing safety and competence for

thesakeoffinancialexpediency.Thereare,ofcourse,

good and responsible owners  amongst all this with

crews who are completely adept at operating their

shipsbutthese

aregettingfeweras theyearsgoby.

Even in the 9 years that I have been in VTS at

Aberdeen the standards of ship handling and

awareness of surroundings have reduced

significantly. It is therefore more and more an

incumbentresponsibilityoftheVTSOfficerstokeep

an ever

closer watch on the movements of vessels

withinourwaters.

As a TOS, we are not able to give navigational

instruction to Masters, but, even in Aberdeen, this

may well become a reality in the not too distant

future. The obvious reduction in the standards and

capabilities of many of the

 officers in charge of the

navigation of the vessels will, sadly, only continue

and the input of shore VTS directly into ship

navigation will become the reality that we all stood

steadfastlyagainstforsolong.Itisasadfactthatthe

more regulations put in place by owners,

managers

and port state authorities in attempts to drive up

standards will only serve to have the reverse effect.

Indeed, the more the standards fall the more

regulationisputinplacetostopthetrendbuthaving

the effect of only exacerbating the problem further. 

VTSisagrowingindustry

andisanevermorevital

cog in the wheel of navigational safety because the

training of ships officers is not good enough and is

not keeping pace with the advances in shipboard

technology. The basic principles that those of my

generation trained under are being ignored for

financial expediency

and unless there is a

fundamentalchangeintheapproach toandpractise

ofthetrainingofshipboardpersonnelthequickerthe

introductionof“navigationfromshore”willbe.This

will signal the death of one of the finest and oldest

professions in the world and one that every

professionalmarine

navigatorshouldbeawareof.

4 CONCLUSIONS

The manner and speed in which the crewing of

merchant ships world‐wide has been reduced in

importance is shocking. Without skilled and well

trained ships officers, no amount of VTS input and

shorebasednavigationaladvicewillpreventdisasters

happening.Now,we

seeaproposaltoactuallytrade

unmanned ships across oceans and maritime skills

thereforeactuallyconsideredtobetotallyredundant

inthedaytodayoperationandnavigatingofships.

This can only serve  to further reduce the morale of

existing seafarers, reduce the desire to serve at sea

and,clearly,

reducethecaliberofanypersonsactually

takingtotheseaasacareer.Theblameforthismust

469

lie at the door of Government agencies which have

played into the hands of those seeking to cut their

costs by employing ever cheaper and thus less

capable crews. Instead of addressing a problem,

Governmentshave soughttocircumventtheproblem

of falling standards by regulating more and more,

taking

moreofthedayto day ship operations away

from those who are best pla ced to carry out those

duties –  the ships crews. It is far beyond the time

whenskilledshipsofficersshouldbevalued,listened

to and encouraged and, clearly, without a root and

branchchangein

attitudeandapproachfromallsides

ofthemaritimeindustry,standardsaregoingtofall

further. There is only so much that technological

advancementandshorebasednavigationalassistance

can do – the world needs skilled seafarers on the

shipswhoarecapableofmakingdecisionsandsound

judgements.Onlythe

licensing Governments can do

this by insisting on proper crewing levels, proper

trainingandqualificationsandtherightsortofpeople

doingthejob.Sadly,Ifeelwearepastthispoint–and

pastthepointofnoreturnalready.

REFERENCES

[1]IALA Vessel Traffic Services Manual. Edition 5.

InternationalAssociationofMarineAidstoNavigation

and Lighthouse Authorities, Saint Germain en Laye,

2012.

