New maritime traffic technologies in the works to cut risk of collisions

Ilyda Chua Straits Times 16 Apr 18;

SINGAPORE - With the Singapore port being a busy one where a ship arrives or leaves every two to three minutes, new technologies are being developed to improve congestion forecasts and minimise collisions.

The goal is to enhance navigational safety, for instance, through technologies that can predict and issue early warnings on the risk of collision, using technologies such as prediction or risk calculation models.

On Monday (April 16), technology firm Fujitsu Limited, Singapore Management University (SMU) and the Institute of High Performance Computing at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) announced that they are collaborating on innovative new technologies for vessel traffic management.

The technologies will utilise artificial intelligence and big data analysis to better manage Singapore's port and its surrounding waters in the Straits of Singapore and Malacca, they said in a press statement.

According to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), there are about 1,000 vessels in the Port of Singapore port at any given moment.

The project on vessel traffic management technologies is being done under the Urban Computing and Engineering Centre of Excellence, set up in 2014 by A*Star, SMU, and Fujitsu. The initiative is supported by the MPA.

In the statement, Captain M Segar, assistant chief executive of operations at MPA, said: "As Singapore develops future capabilities that will enhance our port operations, research and innovation will remain key to the maritime industry."