Norcontrol IT wins Swedish West coast VTS contract

Norcontrol IT has been awarded a major new VTS installation contract by the Swedish Maritime Administration to supply extensive upgrades to the Swedish West coast VTS, including replacement of the existing Norcontrol VTS 5000 system of Gothenburg Port. The contract was won against competition that included all the key VTS suppliers. The new VTS system will be operational at the latest by 12 January, 2005. Built into the

contract is also a future expansion of the system to include maritime traffic data from the East coast of Sweden.

“This is the third time Norcontrol IT has been chosen by the Swedish Maritime Administration, and is based on the fact that we are very satisfied with the systems and service they have supplied in the past,” comments Anders Bjäringe, of the Swedish Maritime Administration. “Norcontrol IT?s very extensive VTS project management experience is reflected in their solid plan for implementation of the new system, which

includes minimal inference with the existing VTS system.”

The new VTS centre at Gothenburg will utilise Norcontrol IT?s VTMIS5060 with information gained from 7 Radar sites along the Swedish West Coast, in addition to AIS information. Norcontrol IT will supply and install 6 operator workstations to form the core of the operations room. In addition, several bespoke sub-systems have been specified.

Gothenburg will become the Traffic Control Centre for the entire Swedish West coast VTS area and Norcontrol IT?s systems will be used to increase efficiency throughout the service. Norcontrol IT will achieve enhanced safety within the service area through seamless surveillance of the entire West coast VTS, utilising excellent radar detection and tracking performance. This improved situational awareness will be utilised in

day-to-day operations and also to help co-ordinate Search and Rescue and pollution prevention and containment activities.

Norcontrol IT will provide a high level of system availability with built in redundancy to ensure that no single point of failure can occur. The entire system is easily expandable and prepared for additional integration of sensors and Port Management Systems. As an information based VTS the system can assist management with the decision making process in emergency and day-to-day situations. This extensive functionality, efficiency and reliability is made even more attractive by Norcontrol IT?s dedication to minimising the total cost of ownership of its VTS solutions.