Vessel Traffic Services projected as Oceanic VTS beyond the Territorial Sea

Resumen

The study of the evolution of Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) reveals that there are new challenges to face, in light of the fact that they are, currently, not only part of the dynamics of commercial ports but also of the control and surveillance of other maritime areas. New technologies, concurrent with growing concern for protecting the oceans, generate legislation, surveillance systems and maritime traffic organisation accordingly. From their inception to the present, the scope has been increasing, and, to facilitate this dimension, new regulations and supporting technology have been required. Whilst, 77 years ago, port control was through visualisation equipment of maritime traffic through the radar (Radio Detection and Ranging) screen and voice communication through Very High Frequency (VHF) radio communications, without the protection of any international regulation, the surveillance area now extends through the territorial sea and utilises digital and satellite technology. The applicability of VTS has become increasingly widespread in coastal areas throughout the world. By focusing, on the one hand, on recent regulations, both national and international, and, on the other hand, on modern technologies that use satellites, a new dimension of VTS has been recognised, with powers projected beyond the territorial sea. This is a further step towards the recognition of the VTS that will monitor the world's oceans.