Kongsberg Norcontrol IT has played a key role in the MarNIS project, which came to a close with final demonstrations in Genoa, Italy and Lisbon, Portugal in September and October 2008. MarNIS ( Maritime Navigation and Information Services) is a 20 million Euro, EU funded four year project with over 50 European partners, which was started in November 2004 to further the use of advanced and future technology within E-Navigation.
Kongsberg Norcontrol IT’s C-Scope operator client has been an integral element to MarNIS, providing the basis for the VTS operator interface for both research & development and during live demos, such as those that concluded MarNIS in Genoa and Lisbon, where functionality developed during the project was shown. The goal of the project is to integrate current and new technologies into one operator facing system and C-Scope has been used as the platform for which to build upon. The technology focus of MarNIS includes:
“MarNIS has enabled Kongsberg Norcontrol IT to develop some really exciting new technologies and functions,” states Kongsberg Norcontrol IT’s Einar Lihovd. “We can now provide shored based radar video in an internationally standard format so that Pilots, Tugs and Allied Services can visualise the same radar video provided to VTS Operators. To the best of my knowledge this is another world first for Kongsberg Norcontrol IT.”
Kongsberg Norcontrol IT presented two different areas of development during the two final MarNIS demonstrations. In Genoa, the focus was on ‘MOS - Maritime Operational Services’, a new concept proposed by MarNIS where services like coastal Vessel Traffic Services, Search and Rescue and Pollution Prevention are combined under one roof and by using one information system. A MOS system integrates information from numerous other systems that can be located internal or external to the MOS organisation. Examples of such information are:
The focus for the final MarNIS demonstration in Lisbon moved to Vessel Traffic Management in the port environment and one of the primary concepts demonstrated was Sharing VTS Information Using Standards. This included:
“The end of the MarNIS project signals the beginning of a new era for VTS. Some of the benefits in technology development gained from MarNIS are already in use, such as at our C-Scope installation in Vardø, Northern Norway, which is the first in the world to feature full integration with GIS,” says Inge Flaten, President, Kongsberg Norcontrol IT. “With Vardø as the forerunner, proving the performance of C-Scope, we are ready to implement this new functionality in other VTS installations in Europe and around the world, whether they are already running C-Scope or are ready to make the change to the cutting edge of VTS.”
For further information on MarNIS visit www.marnis.org. To find out more about C-Scope, visit www.kongsberg.com.