An innovative maritime communication system enabling:
1. Invisible and unidentifiable VHF communication becomes visible in real time with one click.
2. A ship's past routes and/or frequently navigated routes, which were previously unrecorded, will be made known through big data-based analysis that fully reflects the ship's characteristics and general routing patterns.
3. Invisible voices will be made visible through an automatic transcription system based on voice recognition.
Innovation Summary
Innovation Overview
To take an example from the past, the Hebei Spirit oil tanker mass oil spill accident took place in Daesan, Republic of Korea, in 2007, which has been recorded as South Korea's worst oil spill ever, amounting to 12,547㎘ of crude oil. The investigation has revealed that the root cause of the accident was communication failures between the VTS Center and Hebei Spirit which were on different VHF channels (VHF Channel 12 and 14, respectively). Therefore, the communication efforts from the VTS Center in taking preventive actions were not able to reach the vessel.
Another national maritime disaster was that of the Sewol ferry, which took the lives of more than three hundred people near the coast of Jindo in 2014. The ferry was not on the designated VHF channel (Jindo VTS on Channel 68), but was instead on the channel of a different VTS area (Jeju VTS on Channel 12). This caused the delayed actions of emergency response teams and initial critical rescue time was, unfortunately, lost. Such mega-scale casualties did not only happen on Korean domestic waters controlled by VTS Centers; it has been reported that 19 out of 46 cases (22%) were caused by “no response” from the vessel on VHF communication.
The significant problems identified through past marine accidents raised a series of "what if" questions such as "what if VTS operators were able to identify that Sewol ferry had not been on the right VHF channel in advance?", "what if requests to stand by on the right channel had been able to be made?", and "what if the first rescue assistance request had been made to the right VTS Center or Jindo VTS?“
These questions have been further expanded to consider the prevention of any possible systematic failure and even human errors caused by VTS operators, by asking "what if there had been a system to give a warning alarm to a VTS operator when Sewol ferry had altered her course by a big angle within a very short period?” and “what if there had been an automatic VHF voice communication logbook to record all of the verbal pieces of evidence exchanged in the worsening navigational situation for further investigation?”
To address the issue, systematic or hardware changes had been continuously made, specifically in terms of organisational reforms, the expansion of VTS services to cover a more extensive national waters, and reinforcement of education and training. However, the innovation and advancement of the VHF radio system still did not see any remarkable progress.
With these efforts, highly innovative and reformative actions will be taken as follows:
1) Invisible and unidentifiable VHF communication becomes visible in real time with one click (e.g., the current VHF channel that the other party is on, and the technical status of the other party's VHF radio equipment (e.g., volume and power on/off), which prevents delay in search and rescue response time.
2) A ship's past routes and/or frequently navigated routes, which were previously unrecorded, will be made known through big data-based analysis that fully reflects the ship's characteristics and general routing patterns. This analysis will enable navigators and VTS operators to make prompt decisions by providing information on abnormal patterns of navigation and accident risk sources. This system is far more advanced than the existing one, which only analyses the risk of collision by calculating the speed and direction of the vessel.
3) Invisible voices will be made visible through an automatic transcription system based on voice recognition. This will lighten the cumbersome administrative burden to create accident transcription records requested by media, the national assembly, and investigation agency, for example. Furthermore, a high level of objectivity in transcription can be ensured as the first step of a transparent marine investigation process.
When this project gets a chance to be developed in close cooperation with and supported by the OECD, it will be expected that this innovative high-end technology can be shared with other nations in a highly expedited time frame, and all VHF radio conditions both on vessels and shores can be monitored continuously. Furthermore, the big data-based analysis of a ship's routing pattern will directly contribute to the prevention of marine accidents.
This project was selected as "Promotion of Public Services through Information and Communications Technologies, 2019”, a position coveted among regional and national government bodies (15 selected out of 142).
As a result, a pilot installation was first conducted at a national level on one VTS Center and 50 merchant vessels.
Innovation Description
What Makes Your Project Innovative?
The main causes of the maritime disasters recorded in Korea, which were the Heibei oil spill and the Sewol ferry accidents, were “no response” from the vessel on VHF communication. This project has been developed in order to avoid repetition of catastrophes of the past.
What is the current status of your innovation?
This project was selected as "Promotion of Public Services through Information and Communications Technologies, 2019”, a position coveted among regional and national government bodies (15 selected out of 142). As a result, a pilot installation was first conducted at a national level on one Vessel Traffic Service Center and 50 vessels.
According to the research targeting VTS users, approximately 90% of the respondents agreed that this system is highly required. The pilot test for this project will be completed on December 27, 2019, thereafter, the suggestions for improvement of the system will be made at an international level based on the outcomes of the pilot test.
Last but not least, significant efforts to improve marine communication by raising awareness and generating a consensus have been continuously made at national and international levels. For this purpose, consultation activities for the revision of technical standards for marine radio equipment have been held in the R.O.K.
Innovation Development
Collaborations & Partnerships
This project was selected as "Promotion of Public Services through Information and Communications Technologies, 2019 (Sponsored by National Information Society Agency)”, a position coveted among regional and national government bodies (15 selected out of 142). As a result, a pilot installation was first conducted at a national level on one Vessel Traffic Service Center and 50 merchant vessels.
Users, Stakeholders & Beneficiaries
Once the effectiveness of this project is verified through a pilot test, this innovative system can be distributed into the world by creating new international regulations. By doing so, all stakeholders related to ships’ operations, such as navigators, shipping companies and administration, will benefit from enhancing the safety of navigation.
Innovation Reflections
Results, Outcomes & Impacts
The results of “The innovation of maritime communication system” include:
1) Invisible and unidentifiable VHF communication becomes visible in real time with one click.
2) A ship's past routes and/or frequently navigated routes, which were previously unrecorded, will be made known through big data-based analysis that fully reflects the ship's characteristics and general routing patterns.
3) Invisible voices will be made visible through an automatic transcription system based on voice recognition.
Challenges and Failures
ㅇ Due to the nature of the project, a considerable amount of time and effort must be spent in establishing a regulatory framework, which will encourage private sector entities to install the system on a voluntary basis.
ㅇ Spending national budgetary funds on the installation would be the quickest and easiest way to implement this, but a large amount of funds must be spent, and a vast administrative burden can be expected, for example, in managing equipment and monitoring the maintenance status.
ㅇ In order to resolve the issues mentioned above, implementing a relevant regulatory framework is recommended both at national and international levels.
ㅇ In this perspective, a pilot test is being conducted in the Republic of Korea, targeting two VTS centers and fifty merchant vessels. Once the effectiveness of this system is proven, the trial to renovate the relevant regulatory framework will be executed.
Conditions for Success
According to the research targeting 606 respondents, approximately 90% of the respondents agreed that this system is highly necessary for the enhancement of maritime safety. As of submitting, the pilot test is currently demonstrating the checking of the status of the VHF radio project, the analysis of risk of collision, and the automatic transcription of VHF communication. Following the pilot test, it is expected that this system can be distributed rapidly around the world and mandatorily implemented within a regulatory framework. It is expected that the time frame for this would be greatly expedited with collaboration with other governments and organisations from the OECD.
Replication
Once the effectiveness of this project is verified through a pilot test and this innovative system can be expanded into the world by the use of new international regulations, all ships and navigators across the world can benefit from the greater chances of ensuring maritime safety and environmental protection by the prevention of marine accidents.
Lessons Learned
- The active administrator must possess “a strong belief.” After giving a presentation on this project in the Journal of Navigation and Port Research, Republic of Korea, titled “Enhancement of maritime safety through the display of VHF stand-by channel on AIS equipment,” a private sector entity suggested a large sum of money for the technology transfer and patent acquisition.
- However, a strong belief that “national safety” and “public interest” should be considered foremost in the development of technology, equipment and ideas, rather than the pursuit of economic interest.
- Once the pilot test is completed with success, it is highly expected that this should be extended to all vessels around the world on the basis of the national and international regulatory framework, which ultimately will contribute to the prevention of marine accidents.
Status:
- Identifying or Discovering Problems or Opportunities - learning where and how an innovative response is needed
- Generating Ideas or Designing Solutions - finding and filtering ideas to respond to the problem or opportunity
Innovation provided by:
Media:
Date Published:
20 January 2021