Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

From Human Reliability To Resilience & System Performance - Adapting To A Changing World, Gesa Praetorius, Fulko C. Van Westrenen

Gesa Praetorius

Modelling Vessel Traffic Service To Understand Resilience In Everyday Operations, Gesa Praetorius, Erik Hollnagel, Joakim Dahlman

Gesa Praetorius

Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) is a service to promote traffic fluency and safety in the entrance to ports. This article׳s purpose has been to explore everyday operations of the VTS system to gain insights in how it contributes to safe and efficient traffic movements. Interviews, focus groups and an observation have been conducted to collect data about everyday operations, as well as to grasp how the VTS system adapts to changing operational conditions. The results show that work within the VTS domain is highly complex and that the two systems modelled realise their services vastly differently, which in turn affects …

Control And Resilience Within The Maritime Traffic Management Domain, Gesa Praetorius

Gesa Praetorius

This article presents research conducted within the Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) domain. VTS is a service that is provided close to ports and geographically challenging areas to support merchant vessels in their navigation. Although VTS is legally an advice and assistance service, applying concepts from Cognitive Systems Engineering and Resilience Engineering can highlight how the joint human-machine system works to promote safe and efficient traffic movements. The VTS is a Joint Cognitive System that maintains control through a mixture of opportunistic and tactical control. Strategic control is only partially supported by the higher levels of system aggregation that provide the …

Vessel Traffic Service (Vts): A Maritime Information Service Or Traffic Control System? Understanding Everyday Performance And Resilience In A Socio-Technical System Under Change, Gesa Praetorius

Gesa Praetorius

Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) is a shore-side maritime assistance service that supports bridge teams in their safe navigation of port approaches and other areas that present navigational difficulties. The VTS is implemented in national waters and provides vessels with information through transmissions and broadcasts on Very High Frequency (VHF) radio. With a continued growth in the number, size and cargo volumes of merchant vessels, the role of the VTS has recently become a matter of discussion, and it has been argued that changes, such as implementing an aviation-like control system, would be of an enormous benefit for stakeholders and guarantee …

Maritime Traffic Management: A Need For Central Coordination?, Fulko Van Westrenen, Gesa Praetorius

Gesa Praetorius

Traffic management is not formally organised in the maritime domain. Ships are autonomous and find their own way. Traffic is organised through rules, regulations, and “good seamanship”; it is a distributed system. In areas of high traffic-density support is proved by vessel traffic service (VTS) to promote traffic safety and fluency. VTS does not take control. This organisational structure has proven itself in situations with sufficient resources. When resources become insufficient (e.g. not enough sailing space), the traffic needs an organising mechanism. In this article, the authors argue that the most promising way to do this is by organising centralised …

Decision Support For Vessel Traffic Service (Vts): User Needs For Dynamic Risk Management In The Vts, Gesa Praetorius

Gesa Praetorius

Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) is a shore-side service implemented by a “Competent Authority to improve the safety and efficiency of vessel traffic and to protect the environment”. It is a service that operates through VTS centers, from which VTS operators monitor traffic, assist in navigational matters and provide information to all ships in a designated area. As VTS is provided by operators located on shore, they usually make use of several decision support systems to be able to monitor the traffic and to provide information to the vessels. Although several new tools and approaches have been introduced in the VTS …

Safety Within The Vessel Traffic Service (Vts) Domain. Understanding The Role Of The Vts For Safety Within Maritime Traffic Management, Gesa Praetorius

Gesa Praetorius

Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) is a shore-sided service implemented to promote the safety of navigation, safety of life at sea, and the protection of the marine environment. Its purpose is to work for safe and fluent traffic movements within a determined area, a VTS area. VTS is provided by VTS operators, skilled experts that provide vessels with information and advice, and work for the overall traffic organisation. Although VTS is regulated on an international level there are differences in how the service is provided in between countries, and even VTS centres. This licentiate thesis focuses on understanding the role of …

The Context Matters: Maritime Safety In The Vessel Traffic Service (Vts) Domain, Gesa Praetorius, Margareta Lützhöft, Karl Bruno

Gesa Praetorius

Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) is a service to the maritime community implemented to promote and improve maritime safety. In recent years VTS has become a topic of increased interest for maritime stakeholders and the general public. To derive insights on how maritime safety is constructed in the VTS domain this exploratory study was conducted. Four VTS centres were visited and 15 VTS operators were interviewed and observed at work. Further a focus group interview with 8 VTS operators with focus on decision support tools in the VTS domain was conducted. The results of the study indicate that VTS operators define …

Enacting Reliability: First Steps To Define Safety In The Vts Domain, Gesa Praetorius, Karl Bruno, Margareta Lützhöft

Gesa Praetorius

Although the term maritime safety is widely used in the maritime industry, there is no exact definition of what it entails. An explorative study of the VTS domain has been conducted to approach the concept of maritime safety. Four VTS centres were visited and 16 VTS operators were interviewed and observed to derive insights in how maritime safety is constructed from the perspective of an operator. Further, definitions of maritime safety by central actors in the maritime domain have been investigated through a literature study and several interviews. The results indicate that there is no common definition of the term …