The continuing surge in commercial vessel sizes is putting increasing pressure on the world’s port operators to adopt effective operational systems that can guarantee safe and efficient traffic from sea to berth.
In this paper we present the web based operational port traffic management model NCOS ONLINE. The system supports multiple concurrent users groups, which allows harbour master, VTS and Pilots to work more effectively together on managing the flow of vessel traffic through the Port and shipping channel through a series of highly intuitive graphical interfaces. The system focuses on the efficient management of a large number of vessels of which many relies on constricted UKC windows as well as passage constrictions caused by other vessels in certain sections of the channel. For this purpose, the system uses a new generation of highly powerful numerical engines for simulating vessel UKC response. The vessel response engine is equivalent to that used in the 3D full bridge simulator SIMFLEX and provides unsurpassed accuracy compared to conventional methods.
We will present our practical experiences with using the system for Port of Brisbane and other Ports through approximately 1 year of operation and discuss ongoing challenges and future development initiatives.