Chennai Port upgrades security to international standard

Chennai:

Chennai Port’s safety as well as security has been upgraded to international standards with the inauguration of state-of-the-art Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS) here on Friday.

Speaking after inaugurating the Rs 9.82 crore VTMS, Union Shipping Minister G K Vasan told reporters that the port has been monitoring the traffic movement of ships by contacts through very high frequency (VHF) system and now VTMS will facilitate monitoring and advise the commercial vehicle traffic for further increasing the efficiency in surveillance and tracking vessel movements in Chennai limits.

Vasan said VTMS will have auto identification system (AIS), radar system and communication links enabling operators to manage vessel traffic, monitor the environment and support port and harbour resources.

The system shall optimize the improvement in safety of vessel traffic, allocation of berth, prevent accidental stranding, collision of vessels besides trenching of sub-sea pipelines.

All channels, pipelines, guard zones, anchoring zones will be graphically displayed superimposed on the radar picture. This system will be helpful in providing information to vessels during inclement weather conditions.

Interestingly, Indian Navy and Coast Guard will also be procuring video remote display feeds from Chennai Port’s VTMS.

He said VTMS will also enhance safety by professional handling of vessel traffic, facilitate protection of the marine environment and monityoring of international ship and port facility security (ISPS) compliance for waterfront areas of the port.

Interestingly, VTMS also has special features for oil spill detection, underwater surveillance and provision to incorporate webs server, distribute video remote display feeds to other stake holders like Indian Navy, coast guard, portable pilot units and emergency response facility.

The system is also equipped with a camera which can zoom in and follow any unidentified or rogue crafts in Chennai harbour. It also has a built in vehicle traffic service logging and replay which is similar to the black box in the aircraft and has a capability to record and display all types of tracks like radarn and AIS with very high frequency voice. “This will facilitate us to replay any incident that has taken place. We can also incorporate the voice data from any phone and voice from the Vehicle Traffic service (VTS) room along with date and time,” said a port official.

Salient features:

--- VTMS has third generation C-Scope Radar Extractor and tracker which gives clear pictures even in inclement weather

--- It has inbuilt radar based oil detection system

--- The system is ready to take on additional sensors like underwater diver detection and submarine detection