Sydney Ports Corporation is trialling state-of-the-art technology to keep track of shipping movements on Sydney Harbour. The ports operator has begun
Sydney Ports Corporation is trialling state-of-the-art technology to keep track of shipping movements on Sydney Harbour.
The ports operator has begun evaluating prospective technologies that can be used to establish a so-called vessel traffic service, or VTS, for Sydney and Botany Bay.
Sydney is one of Australia’s first ports to introduce the technology.
New South Wales Ports and Waterways Minister Joe Tripodi says the VTS could improve the safety and efficiency of vessel traffic and protect the environment.
“VTS can be compared to a version of ‘air traffic control’, where all activity, including ship movements, is monitored and timely contribution to evasive action can be communicated to ships,” he says.
“The current technology is now over ten years old and not comparable to technology being used in other major ports around the world.”
Registrations of interest for organisations wanting to provide this technology were called earlier this year, with tenders to close in December.
Tripodi says the three companies in the running are all international organisations with first-class credentials. They will participate in the radar trial to demonstrate the capability of their systems.
The trial will see a Terma radar set up on top of a shipping container over a three-week period in a fenced off area within Sydney Harbour National Park.
“The NSW Government is committed to ensuring that we are keeping the port environments protected and investing in new technology is one way of doing this,” Tripodi says.