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Commercial shipping activity plays a crucial role in the unintentional primary and secondary introduction of aquatic Non-Indigenous species (NIS), with ballast water (BW) and hull biofouling being the two major vectors of NIS transportation. The aim of this study is to identify potential high-risk donor port areas that may act as pools for NIS introduction in Saronikos Gulf, Greece. For the purpose of the study, we conducted a regional risk assessment and produced a NIS watch list based on the commercial vessel arrivals at the major ports of the Saronikos Gulf (Piraeus and Elefsis) for the period 2020–2022. In our risk analysis, we used the two most important factors for ship-mediated species introductions identified in the literature: salinity and biogeographic region of the voyage last origin ports. Then, combined with data on vessel arrivals, based on marine traffic data collected from the Marine Traffic online platform, we produced a NIS watch list for the study area. The most highrisk ports for primary introductions were found to be in the Temperate Northern Atlantic (e.g. Gemlik, Ambarli, Asyaport and Derince in Türkiye, Sines in Portugal), Western Indo-Pacific (e.g. Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Aqaba in Jordan) and the Central Indo-Pacific (e.g. Singapore). For secondary introduction, the most high-risk voyage origin ports are located in the Levantine Sea (e.g. Limassol in Cyprus, Alexandria and Port Said in Egypt, Haifa and Ashdod in Israel, Iskenderun, Mersin and Nemrut in Türkiye), the Aegean Sea (e.g. Izmir in Türkiye) and the Ionian Sea (e.g. Marsaxlokk in Malta). Our watch list included 44 high risk and 13 medium risk NIS to be transferred to Saronikos Gulf. Of these, 38 high-risk species are already present in the Mediterranean, 6 high-risk species are absent from the Mediterranean and 18 species pose a high risk for both primary and secondary introduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Global shipping has accelerated the spread of non-native species. Factors such as environmental filtering and interactions with local biota can affect invasion likelihood, yet their relative contribution to predicting invasion risk remains unresolved. To test how abiotic filters and an experimentally-derived measure of biotic resistance interact with propagule pressure, we developed an integratedmodel to evaluate their relative effects on invasion risk of marine biofouling organisms to different focal port regions. We predicted that environmental filtering impacts invasion risk when fewer but stronger connections are part of the network. Further, predation is a mechanism of biotic resistance, which can reduce invasion risk, with most pronounced effects predicted in the tropics that decline at higher latitudes. Methods: We examined shipping traffic and predation impact at three coastal bioregions spanning 47-degrees of latitude al range in the Northeast Pacific (Alaska, California, and Panama). We used vessel traffic databases to characterize propagule pressure and construct a worldwide port network of marine shipping routes and ports. Environmental resistance was estimated using temperature and salinity data from donor and recipient regions. We further used standardized predator exposure experiments to quantify predation impact on fouling community biomass as an estimate of potential for biotic resistance. We then expanded on existing models of relative invasion risk to incorporate the probability that propagules will survive predation by local predators and overcome environmental filtering to generate a predicted invasion risk for each port. Results: Environmental filtering in all regions and predation pressure in the tropics worked to reduce the invasion risk, resulting in markedly different cumulative risk profiles over time among regions. Discussion: In an increasingly connected world withmore vessel traffic, our results highlight thatwhile the number and distribution of shipping routes are important to understand risk, abiotic and biotic filters can modify model predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arctic shipping activities are increasing in the context of sea ice decline. However, research gaps persist in studying recent Arctic shipping activities across various vessel types and their connection with sea ice conditions. Utilizing Automatic Identification System (AIS) data and sea ice satellite observations between 2015 and 2020, these matters are delved into this study. A discernible overall growth trend in Arctic traffic occupancy occurs from 2015 to 2020 during summer and autumn. Excluding passenger ships, the traffic occupancy trend for each ship type closely parallels that for all ships. Variations in traffic occupancy along the Northeast Passage dominate that in the entire Arctic. As sea ice diminishes, both Arctic traffic occupancy and its variability noticeably increase. Further examination of the relationship between shipping activities and ice conditions reveals that increased traffic occupancy corresponds significantly to diminishing sea ice extent, and the constraint imposed by sea ice on Arctic traffic occupancy weakens, while the 6-year AIS data could lead to uncertainties. In summary, as the Arctic sea ice declines continuously, not only sea ice but also additional social, military, and environmental factors constraining marine activities should be considered in the future operation of Arctic shipping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionGlobal shipping has accelerated the spread of non-native species. Factors such as environmental filtering and interactions with local biota can affect invasion likelihood, yet their relative contribution to predicting invasion risk remains unresolved. To test how abiotic filters and an experimentally-derived measure of biotic resistance interact with propagule pressure, we developed an integrated model to evaluate their relative effects on invasion risk of marine biofouling organisms to different focal port regions. We predicted that environmental filtering impacts invasion risk when fewer but stronger connections are part of the network. Further, predation is a mechanism of biotic resistance, which can reduce invasion risk, with most pronounced effects predicted in the tropics that decline at higher latitudes.MethodsWe examined shipping traffic and predation impact at three coastal bioregions spanning 47-degrees of latitude al range in the Northeast Pacific (Alaska, California, and Panama). We used vessel traffic databases to characterize propagule pressure and construct a worldwide port network of marine shipping routes and ports. Environmental resistance was estimated using temperature and salinity data from donor and recipient regions. We further used standardized predator exposure experiments to quantify predation impact on fouling community biomass as an estimate of potential for biotic resistance. We then expanded on existing models of relative invasion risk to incorporate the probability that propagules will survive predation by local predators and overcome environmental filtering to generate a predicted invasion risk for each port.ResultsEnvironmental filtering in all regions and predation pressure in the tropics worked to reduce the invasion risk, resulting in markedly different cumulative risk profiles over time among regions.DiscussionIn an increasingly connected world with more vessel traffic, our results highlight that while the number and distribution of shipping routes are important to understand risk, abiotic and biotic filters can modify model predictions.

Maritime transport helps the development of the economy of countries. Improving the current situation in this type of transport requires the application of modern software tools for assessment, analysis and forecasting.

With the continuous intensification of marine traffic worldwide, whale-vessel collisions at sea (or “ship strikes”) have become one of the primary causes of mortality for cetaceans and a widely recognised cause of concern for human safety and economic losses. The Mediterranean Sea is a global hotspot for whale-vessel collisions, with one of the highest rates involving large cetaceans, especially the endangered fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus). Evidence indicates that both species are experiencing higher chances of a fatal collision than what predictions have estimated so far, with ship strikes being the main human-induced threat in the area. Regional and international organisations have stressed the need to address the issue by investigating the projected impacts of ship strikes on whale populations and by identifying possible mitigation measures to reduce chances of collision. Amongst the most popular and feasible options, there is the improvement of animal detection during navigation. Here, we present SEADETECT, a LIFE project that aims at developing an automated detection system to reduce vessel collision risk with marine mammals and unidentified floating objects (UFOs), combining state-of-the-art and novel technologies with existing approaches in the study of large whale ecology. This detection system consists of three elements; an automated onboard detection system composed of several sensors, a real-time passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) network at sea and a real-time detection-sharing and alert system (REPCET®). In this paper, we propose the development of a mitigation measure framework tailored for the issue of collision with fin and sperm whales in the north-western Mediterranean Sea, but that has the transferability features necessary for its application in other high-risk areas for ship strikes worldwide.

The accurate detection of seafarers' unsafe behaviors is of great significance to improve the ship navigation safety. This study proposes an improved deep learning framework with a self-made dataset to detect the unsafe behavior of seafarers on duty. In order to increase the detection speed, the improved Cross Stage Partial connections (CSP) module is proposed to replace the original CSP module in the neck network of traditional algorithm. The efficient channel attention (ECA) module is also introduced to the backbone network of conventional algorithm as the attention mechanism network. In addition, the learning and representation capacities of the improved deep learning framework are promoted by redesigning the sizes of anchor boxes. The experiment results show that the proposed framework outperforms traditional object detection algorithms (e.g., YOLOv5s, R-CNN) in detecting seafarers' unsafe behaviors because of the much higher detection speed and detection accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous intensification of marine traffic worldwide, whale-vessel collisions at sea (or "ship strikes") have become one of the primary causes of mortality for cetaceans and a widely recognised cause of concern for human safety and economic losses. The Mediterranean Sea is a global hotspot for whale-vessel collisions, with one of the highest rates involving large cetaceans, especially the endangered fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus). Evidence indicates that both species are experiencing higher chances of a fatal collision than what predictions have estimated so far, with ship strikes being the main human-induced threat in the area. Regional and international organisations have stressed the need to address the issue by investigating the projected impacts of ship strikes on whale populations and by identifying possible mitigation measures to reduce chances of collision. Amongst the most popular and feasible options, there is the improvement of animal detection during navigation. Here, we present SEADETECT, a LIFE project that aims at developing an automated detection system to reduce vessel collision risk with marine mammals and unidentified floating objects (UFOs), combining state-of-the-art and novel technologies with existing approaches in the study of large whale ecology. This detection system consists of three elements; an automated onboard detection system composed of several sensors, a realtime passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) network at sea and a real-time detection-sharing and alert system (REPCET®). In this paper, we propose the development of a mitigation measure framework tailored for the issue of collision with fin and sperm whales in the north-western Mediterranean Sea, but that has the transferability features necessary for its application in other high-risk areas for ship strikes worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the convenience and connectedness of the oceans in recent years, there has been an increase in naval traffic, which has prompted maritime surveillance to attract special attention due to its significant application in marine operations. Ships, because of their uneven and rugged design, appear as a brighter patch, which aids in their identification by the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), an active remote sensing technique. In this study, Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 datasets are used to detect vessels in the Gulf of Suez in order to examine the increasing maritime traffic induced by the Suez Canal blockage caused by the Ever Given ship becoming stranded in the canal on 23 March 2021 and being freed after 6 days on 29 March 2021. The usefulness of dual-pol spaceborne SAR datasets in ship detection is also determined. The analysis was performed within a time window spanning before, during, and after the blockage event. On the basis of the experimental results, Sentinel-1 images proved to be more effective compared to Sentinel-2 images for ship detection due to the all-weather capability of the Sentinel-1 dataset. Furthermore, the ship detection results obtained in dual polarization were substantially more accurate than the results obtained in a single polarization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arctic shipping activities are increasing in the context of sea ice decline. However, research gaps persist in studying recent Arctic shipping activities across various vessel types and their connection with sea ice conditions. Utilizing Automatic Identification System (AIS) data and sea ice satellite observations between 2015 and 2020, these matters are delved into this study. A discernible overall growth trend in Arctic traffic occupancy occurs from 2015 to 2020 during summer and autumn. Excluding passenger ships, the traffic occupancy trend for each ship type closely parallels that for all ships. Variations in traffic occupancy along the Northeast Passage dominate that in the entire Arctic. As sea ice diminishes, both Arctic traffic occupancy and its variability noticeably increase. Further examination of the relationship between shipping activities and ice conditions reveals that increased traffic occupancy corresponds significantly to diminishing sea ice extent, and the constraint imposed by sea ice on Arctic traffic occupancy weakens, while the 6-year AIS data could lead to uncertainties. In summary, as the Arctic sea ice declines continuously, not only sea ice but also additional social, military, and environmental factors constraining marine activities should be considered in the future operation of Arctic shipping.

Safe navigation at sea is more important than ever. Cargo is usually transported by vessel because it makes economic sense. However, marine accidents can cause huge losses of people, cargo, and the vessel itself, as well as irreversible ecological disasters. These are the reasons to strive for safe vessel navigation. The navigator shall ensure safe vessel navigation. He must plan every maneuver and act safely. At the same time, he must evaluate and predict the actions of other vessels in dense maritime traffic. This is a complicated process and requires constant human concentration. It is a very tiring and long-lasting duty. Therefore, human error is the main reason of collisions between vessels. In this paper, different reinforcement learning strategies have been explored in order to find the most appropriate one for the real-life problem of ensuring safe maneuvring in maritime traffic. An experiment using different algorithms was conducted to discover a suitable method for autonomous vessel navigation. The experiments indicate that the most effective algorithm (Deep SARSA) allows reaching 92.08% accuracy. The efficiency of the proposed model is demonstrated through a real-life collision between two vessels and how it could have been avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of the shipping industry in recent years, the increasing volume of ship traffic makes marine traffic much busier and more crowded, especially in the waterway off the coast. This leads to the increment of the complexity level of marine traffic and poses more threats to marine traffic safety. In order to study marine traffic safety under the conditions of increasing complexity, this article proposed a marine traffic complexity model based on the method in molecular dynamics. The model converted ship traffic to a particle system and identified the traffic complexity by analyzing the radial distribution of dynamic and spatial parameters of ships in a Euclid plane. The effectiveness of the proposed model had been validated by the case studies in the waters of Bohai Strait with real AIS (Automatic Identification System) data and simulated data. The results show that the proposed model can evaluate the marine traffic complexity more sufficiently and accurately. The proposed model is helpful for marine surveillance operators to monitor and organize marine traffic under complex situations so as to improve marine traffic safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many marine megafauna taxa are tied to the sea surface for breathing which makes them vulnerable to vessel collisions. Sea turtles have developed efficient mechanisms to reduce surface time for breathing to a few seconds, but they can extend their surface periods to rest or to rewarm after diving into deep and colder waters. However, knowledge of collision occurrences is limited to data of turtles stranded along the coastline worldwide, whereas events occurring offshore go likely underestimated due to the sinking of carcasses. Here we performed a spatially explicit assessment to identify, for the first time, oceanic areas of higher exposure for sea turtles from maritime traffic in the Tyrrhenian Sea, Western Mediterranean. Satellite-tracking data were used to estimate utilization distributions of loggerhead turtles using Brownian bridge kernel density estimation. Maritime traffic density maps based on Automatic Identification System (AIS) data were extracted from open-access data layers, provided by the European Maritime Safety Agency, summarized, and used for the exposure analysis. Turtle occurrences were also investigated in response to vessel densities and seasonal patterns by fitting a generalized additive model to the data. Our results demonstrated that loggerhead turtles are potentially exposed to maritime traffic across the entire basin, especially in the easternmost part. The exposure varies among spring/summer and autumn/winter months. Highest turtle occurrences were found in regions primarily subjected to cargo, tanker, and passenger transportation. This study represents the first-ever effort to characterize the exposure of oceanic loggerhead turtles to maritime traffic and highlights oceanic areas of higher exposure where research and conservation efforts should be directed to understand the effective impact of this stressor on the species.

Marine traffic has been identified as a serious threat to Mediterranean cetaceans with few mitigation strategies in place. With only limited research effort within the Eastern Basin, neither baseline species knowledge nor the magnitude of threats have been comprehensively assessed. Delineating the extent of overlap between marine traffic and cetaceans provides decision makers with important information to facilitate management. The current study employed the first seasonal boat surveys within the Eastern Mediterranean Sea of Turkey, incorporating visual and acoustic survey techniques between 2018 and 2020 to understand the spatial distribution of cetacean species. Additionally, marine traffic density data were retrieved to assess the overlap with marine traffic. Encounter rates of cetaceans and marine traffic density were recorded for each 100 km2 cell within a grid. Subsequently, encounter and marine traffic density data were used to create a potential risk index to establish where the potential for marine traffic and cetacean overlap was high. Overall, eight surveys were undertaken with a survey coverage of 21,899 km2 between the Rhodes and Antalya Basins. Deep diving cetaceans (sperm and beaked whales) were detected on 28 occasions, with 166 encounters of delphinids of which bottlenose, striped and common dolphins were visually confirmed. Spatially, delphinids were distributed throughout the survey area but encounter rates for both deep diving cetaceans and delphinids were highest between the Rhodes and Finike Basins. While sperm whales were generally detected around the 1000m contour, delphinids were encountered at varying depths. Overall, two years of monthly marine traffic density were retrieved with an average density of 0.37 hours of monthly vessel activity per square kilometer during the study period. The mean density of vessels was 0.32 and 1.03 hours of monthly vessel activity per square kilometer in non-coastal and coastal waters respectively. The Eastern Mediterranean Sea has several important shipping lanes within the study area. Two priority areas for deep diving cetacean and a large priority area for cetaceans were identified in the waters between Marmaris and Finike where high cetacean encounters and dense marine traffic overlapped. The current study revealed important habitats for cetaceans within the data deficient Eastern Mediterranean Sea and delineated potential risk area where marine traffic should be limited.

In this study, changes in maritime traffic flow due to the installation of virtual buoys were analysed from the perspective of collision, based on the obstacle zone by target (OZT) method. The existence of an OZT within ±2° in the bow direction is considered to be dangerous; all the OZTs that a vessel encountered at the time when this orientation prevailed were subjected to analysis. For the calculation of the OZT model, an SD3 model was used. The estimated OZT was used to calculate the OZT density, and the positions of the ships that were encountering the OZT were used for the analysis. It was found that the OZT density at the locations where collisions had occurred in the past was approximately 0.01 [times/km2]. After the installation of virtual buoys, most places around there were reduced to around approximately 0.005 [times/km2]. The results imply that the installation of virtual buoys has reduced the risk of collisions. In contrast, the OZT density in the southern region of Buoy 1 increased from approximately 0.005 [times/km2] to approximately 0.01 [times/km2], suggesting that a more detailed analysis of this area is required.

Cetaceans inhabit oceans worldwide, coexisting amidst the growing intensity of human activities in the aquatic environment, particularly motorized vessel traffic. Understanding spatial correlations is essential for devising appropriate responses to these impacts. Hence, this project delved into the spatial relationship between cetacean distribution and marine traffic activities in the Santos Basin, Brazil. Data from two different databases were collected: one detailing cetacean distribution and the other to documenting various types of marine traffic in general. A total of 2352 cetacean records and 718777 vessel records were obtained. Subsequently, Structural Similarity analyses were carried out to identify niche overlap, yielding a result of 0.88. Addition, analysis utilizing the Nearest Neighbor method and Kernel density were employed, to pinpoint overlapping records of marine traffic with cetaceans, generating heat maps. These findings facilitated the identification of the areas where marine traffic intersects with cetacean habitats, leading to the proposal of both mandatory and voluntary conservation strategies. Key recommendations include speed reduction and voluntary exclusion zones. It is anticipated that the implementation of these strategies in the study area will aid in the conservation of cetaceans and the broader biodiversity of Brazilian Marine Protected Areas. • P. blainvillei , M. novaeangliae , and T. truncatus showed high correlation with vessel distribution in the Santos Basin • Marine Protected Areas can use Management Plans to support cetacean conservation amid vessel conflicts. • Reducing vessel speed and adopting Voluntary Exclusion Zones (VEZs) are key strategies for cetacean conservation. • Conservation strategies should be discussed in the context of legal and penal considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to determine air pollution over the sea surface (North Sea and Baltic Sea) comparing to concentration in the closest land areas to examine the impact of ships on the level of PM concentration. The analysis is based on the measurements made during the two weeks cruise of the tall ship Fryderyk Chopin from Edinburg to Kołobrzeg. The highest pollution levels were observed in locations distant from the coast, especially over Baltic Sea, with increasing concentrations when other ships approaching. The article attempts to assess the possibility of migration of pollutants to these areas from land-based sources, and thus indicate the degree of their participation in the level of pollution present at sea.

Ship strikes are a widespread conservation issue for many cetacean species globally. Population level impacts depend on the occurrence and severity of collisions, which may lead to life altering injuries or fatalities. Such impacts are a major concern for large, long-lived, and reproductively slow species like the fin whale. Since 2014, a seasonal feeding aggregation of fin whales has been monitored from February to June off the Catalan coast (Spain), in the northwest Mediterranean Sea. Oceanographical factors influence the occurrence and high density of krill within submarine canyons along the continental shelf, resulting in high whale abundance within a small spatial area. The study area extends 37 km offshore across a 1,944 km2 marine strip situated between the towns of Torredembarra and Castelldefels. This fin whale feeding ground is exposed to high density marine vessel traffic, given its location between the northern Mediterranean shipping lane, which links Barcelona and Tarragona Ports to the Atlantic Ocean and wider Mediterranean Basin. Ship strikes represent the greatest conservation threat for fin whales in the Mediterranean Sea. At least four fin whales have been found dead in Barcelona Port since 1986 due to ship strikes and seven live whales have been documented with injuries in the study area since 2018. Fin whale distribution was mapped with known high-risk marine vessels’ (cargo, tanker and passenger vessels) shipping lanes. Vessel density and shipping lanes characterised by speed were considered. Collision risk was estimated monthly based on the predicted fin whale occurrence and traffic density. Several shipping lanes crossed the fin whale feeding habitat every month with an average speed of 15 kn. Cargo vessels displayed the highest ship-strike risk during April, overlapping with the peak of fin whale sightings in the critical feeding area. Slower vessel speeds (8 kn) in waters

When conducting accident analysis, the assessment of risk is one of the important links. Moreover, with regards to crew training, risk cognition is also an important training subject. However, most of the existing researches only rely on a single or a few data sources. It is necessary to fuse the collected multi-source data to obtain a more comprehensive risk evaluation model. There are few studies on the three-dimensional (3D) multi-modal data-fusion-based trajectory risk cognition. In this paper, a fuzzy logic-based trajectory risk cognition method is proposed based on multi-model spatial data fusion and accident data mining. First, the necessity of multi-model spatial data fusion is analysed and a data-fusion-based scene map is constructed. Second, a risk cognition model fused by multiple factors, multi-dimensional spatial calculations as well as data mining results is proposed, including a novel ship boundary calculation approach and newly constructed factors. Finally, a radar chart is used to illustrate the risk, and a risk cognition system is developed. Experiment results confirm the effectiveness of the method. It can be applied to train human operators of unmanned ship systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to analyse the length of time that ships spend in the Port of Gdansk. It is based on the examination of the time when ships come into and leave the port. Source of data used in the study is public web platform - Marine Traffic. Analysis which was conducted, enables to get information about duration of ships servicing in the port with a division into dimension, load capacity and type of the ship. Due to that information, it is possible to observe the duration of complete service for each vessel, including entering the harbour, reloading and the departure. Gained knowledge would allow to forecast, plan and model future development operations more properly. In addition, due to the method based on counting the number of hours that ships spend in the harbour, it is possible to estimate the amount of pollution emitted to the air.

The development of coastal infrastructure and related maritime transport necessitatesthe intensification of vessel traffic monitoring. Navigation systems used in this research are traditionally based on the information transmitted by radio waves. Marine traffic safety requires constant supervision carried out by dedicated systems, the operation of which may be limitedby difficult environmental conditions. The possibilities of supporting navigation systems with underwater observation systems are explored here. The research was carried out using an underwater measurement system. Local disturbances of the hydroacoustic and hydrodynamic field from the moving vessels were analysed. The potential for identifying a moving vessel, for example for offshore infrastructure security purposes, is demonstrated.

This paper will give an intro into the technical backbone of the EMSN and derive necessary specifications to allow for objective testing in large scale. Further, it will demonstrate the potential of EMSN as a maritime safety test-bed on the STM case. Therefore, the simulations executed within the EMSN are evaluated regarding their safety level in order to demonstrate the effects of various measures to improve safety. Based on a fuzzy logic approach, numerical Data from the EMSN Data-Tracker is used as an input to assess a present traffic situation from the perspective of a specific ship and outputs a comprehensive safety index developed by expert opinions. The safety index is used to further analyze navigators’ behavior and decisions in different maritime traffic scenarios that are executed within the EMSN.

Traffic congestion is a wide problem in many tourist destinations. Airports are usually distant from the city centers. Hence, road and rail traffic are widely used to connect airports and city centers. In this paper, we propose zero-emission solution for connection between airport and the center at the example of Croatian city Split. Since Split has become a popular tourist destination, the number of vehicles during summer season increases. As a measure to decrease air pollution, in this paper the marine traffic by electric vessels is proposed for the route Split – airport. Seven all-electrical vessels are presented with their technical characteristics. The idea is to have zero emission transfers by sea from the center of the Split to the airport. The criteria for minimum cruising speed is set to 13 knots, which ensures that one crossing takes 30 minutes and makes it competitive with other forms of transport.

The influence of shipping on air quality over the Southern Baltic Sea was investigated by characterizing the horizontal and vertical distribution of aerosols and trace gases using airborne measurements in the summer of 2015. Generally, continental and anthropogenic emissions affected the vertical distribution of atmospheric pollutants, leading to pronounced stratification in and above the marine boundary layer and controlling the aerosol extinction. Marine traffic along the shipping corridor “Kadet Fairway” in the Arkona Basin is shown to influence the presence and properties of both trace gases and aerosol particles in the lowest atmospheric layer. Total particle number concentration and NOy mixing ratio increased in the corridor plumes, relative to background, by a factor 1.55 and 3.45, respectively. Titration, triggered by the enhanced presence of nitrogen compounds, led to a median ozone depletion of 19% in the corridor plumes. The enforcement of the Sulphur Emission Control Area (SECA) might be responsible for the minor sulphur dioxide increase (20%) in the corridor plumes. Ship traffic caused a minor enhancement of black carbon mass concentration, estimated to be around 10%. The study of individual ship plumes indicated that ship emitted aerosol was substantially different from background aerosol: fresh ship exhaust was preferentially enriched in aerosol particles with diameters below 100 nm and in black carbon particles with core diameters above 300-400 nm. With the present work the impact of marine traffic on the concentration and properties of atmospheric components within the marine boundary layer over the open water of the Southern Baltic Sea is assessed with airborne observations for the first time. Due to the high uncertainty affecting the estimations of ship emissions, this dataset represents a valuable reference for the assessment of ship emission inventories and related environmental-climatic impacts on the Southern Baltic Sea.

With the rapid development of the shipping industry in recent years, the increasing volume of ship traffic makes marine traffic much busier and more crowded, especially in the waterway off the coast. This leads to the increment of the complexity level of marine traffic and poses more threats to marine traffic safety. In order to study marine traffic safety under the conditions of increasing complexity, this article proposed a marine traffic complexity model based on the method in molecular dynamics. The model converted ship traffic to a particle system and identified the traffic complexity by analyzing the radial distribution of dynamic and spatial parameters of ships in a Euclid plane. The effectiveness of the proposed model had been validated by the case studies in the waters of Bohai Strait with real AIS (Automatic Identification System) data and simulated data. The results show that the proposed model can evaluate the marine traffic complexity more sufficiently and accurately. The proposed model is helpful for marine surveillance operators to monitor and organize marine traffic under complex situations so as to improve marine traffic safety.

Ship route planning is one of the key issues in enhancing traffic safety and efficiency. Many route planning methods have been developed, but most of them are based on the information from charts. This paper proposes a method to generate shipping routes based on historical ship tracks. The ship's historical route information was obtained by processing the AIS data. From which the ship turning point was extracted and clustered as nodes. The ant colony algorithm was used to generate the optimize route. The ship AIS data of the Three Gorges dam area was selected as a case study. The ships’ optimized route was generated, and further compared with the actual ship's navigation trajectory. The results indicate that there is space of improvement for some of the trajectories, especially near the turning areas.

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic halted human activities globally in multiple sectors including tourism. As a result, nations with heavy tourism, such as Belize, experienced improvements in water quality. Remote sensing technologies can detect impacts of “anthropauses” on coastal water quality. In this study, moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite data were employed along the Belizean coast to investigate impacts of the COVID-19 shutdown on water quality. The attenuation coefficient at 490 nm, Kd(490), was used as an indicator of water quality, with a lower Kd(490) indicating increased water clarity. Four Coastal Management Zones were characterized by marine traffic as high traffic areas (HTAs) and two as low traffic areas (LTAs). Monthly composites for two periods, 2002–2019 (baseline) and 2020 were examined for Kd(490). For months prior to the COVID-19 shutdown in Belize, there was generally no significant difference in Kd(490) (p > 0.05) between 2020 and baseline period in HTAs and LTAs. Through the shutdown, Kd was lower in 2020 at HTAs, but not for LTAs. At the LTAs, the Kd(490)s observed in 2020 were similar to previous years through October. In November, an unusually active hurricane season in 2020 was associated with decreased water clarity along the entire coast of Belize. This study provides proof of concept that satellite-based monitoring of water quality can complement in situ data and provide evidence of significant water quality improvements due to the COVID-19 shutdown, likely due to reduced marine traffic. However, these improvements were no longer observed following an active hurricane season.

Automatic Identification System (AIS) data is used for monitoring the movements of vessels live movements through instant transmission of vessel information while, at the same time, historical AIS data is used for marine traffic analysis by researchers. There are several methods and computer programs developed for the analysis of marine traffic by the use of AIS data. Combining the intersection algorithm proposed by Antonio (1992) and distance calculation method, this study develops a method to analyse vessel distribution on a selected cross sectional line (SCS) in the Northern Aegean Sea. As a complementary to the new methods proposed, a desktop application is developed in C# programming language to visualize the vessel distribution on the SCS line. SQL server is used for AIS data storage and analysis. The study is conducted over 7-day AIS data, specifically 2.382.469 rows and 42.884.442 data in total, belonging to the Northern Aegean Sea marine traffic. As a result, the mapping of the movements of different types of vessels in the Northern Aegean Sea is effectively performed and Frequency-Distance, Draught-Distance, SOG-Distance, SOG-COG distributions on the SCS line are successfully analysed by the new method introduced.

The influence of shipping on air quality over the Southern Baltic Sea was investigated by characterizing the horizontal and vertical distribution of aerosols and trace gases using airborne measurements in the summer of 2015. Generally, continental and anthropogenic emissions affected the vertical distribution of atmospheric pollutants, leading to pronounced stratification in and above the marine boundary layer and controlling the aerosol extinction. Marine traffic along the shipping corridor "Kadet Fairway" in the Arkona Basin is shown to influence the presence and properties of both trace gases and aerosol particles in the lowest atmospheric layer. Total particle number concentration and NOy mixing ratio increased in the corridor plumes, relative to background, by a factor 1.55 and 3.45, respectively. Titration, triggered by the enhanced presence of nitrogen compounds, led to a median ozone depletion of 19% in the corridor plumes. The enforcement of the Sulphur Emission Control Area (SECA) might be responsible for the minor sulphur dioxide increase (20%) in the corridor plumes. Ship traffic caused a minor enhancement of black carbon mass concentration, estimated to be around 10%. The study of individual ship plumes indicated that ship emitted aerosol was substantially different from background aerosol: fresh ship exhaust was preferentially enriched in aerosol particles with diameters below 100 nm and in black carbon particles with core diameters above 300-400 nm. With the present work the impact of marine traffic on the concentration and properties of atmospheric components within the marine boundary layer over the open water of the Southern Baltic Sea is assessed with airborne observations for the first time. Due to the high uncertainty affecting the estimations of ship emissions, this dataset represents a valuable reference for the assessment of ship emission inventories and related environmental-climatic impacts on the Southern Baltic Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper estimates the exhaust emissions of marine traffic in the Port of Rijeka based on the ship’s data obtained from the pilot company. The Port of Rijeka is the largest port in Croatia that includes several berthing locations with different terminals. The estimation is made for each of them respecting carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx) and particulate matter (PM) as well as for the amount of total emissions for the area. The aim is to prepare basic records for estimation and further monitoring with respect to changes in the ongoing environmental regulation and restrictions. This paper will contribute to the overall national strategy of preparing shipping emission inventories for the Republic of Croatia. The estimation method is based on the bottom– up approach widely used in such research that starts with ship characteristics and activities when approaching the port. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has set limits on sulphur content in fuels for marine transport. However, vessels continue to use these residual high-sulphur fuels in combination with exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGCS or scrubbers). Next to high sulphur, combustion of these fuels also results in higher emissions of contaminants including metals and PAHs. In scrubbers, exhaust gases are sprayed with water in order to remove SOx, resulting in acidic washwater with elevated contaminant concentrations discharged in the aquatic ecosystem. The number of vessels with scrubbers is increasing rapidly, but knowledge on washwater quality and impact are limited. Results: The scrubber washwater is found to be acidic with elevated concentrations of, e.g. zinc, vanadium, copper, nickel, phenanthrene, naphthalene, fluorene and fluoranthene. Model calculations on the effects of scrubber discharge under scenario HIGH (20% of vessels, 90th percentile concentrations) on the water quality in harbour docks showed a decrease in pH of 0.015 units and an increase in surface water concentrations for e.g. naphthalene (189% increase) and vanadium (46% increase). Conclusions: The IMO established sulphur regulations to mitigate the impact of high sulphur emissions of the maritime sector. However, the use of open-loop scrubbers as an abatement technology will not reduce their contribution to ocean acidification. In addition, different types of scrubbers discharge washwater that is acutely toxic for aquatic organisms. However, washwater is diluted and the compounds for which a large increase in surface water concentrations was calculated in the Antwerp (Belgium) harbour docks (naphthalene > phenanthrene > fluorene > acenaphthene > vanadium) were not the compounds that already exceed their respective Water Quality Standards (WQS). Nevertheless, the WQS of several 'priority hazardous substances' (Water Framework Directive) are already exceeded in the docks and the Scheldt estuary. Since these hazardous substances are also identified in the washwater, scrubber washwater discharge should be discouraged in coastal waters and estuaries with large ecological value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last years, marine traffic dramatically increases. Marine traffic safety highly depends on the mariner's decisions and particular situations. The watch officer must continuously observe the marine traffic for anomalies because the anomaly detection is crucial to predict dangerous situations and to make a decision in time for safe marine navigation. In this paper, we present marine traffic anomaly detection by the combination of the DBSCAN clustering algorithm (Density- Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise) with k-nearest neighbors analysis among the clusters and particular vessels. The clustering algorithm is applied to the historic marine traffic data - a set of vessel turn points. In our experiments, the total number of turn points was about 3 million, and about 160 megabytes of computer store was used. A formal numerical criterion to com-pare anomaly with normal traffic flow case has been proposed. It gives us a possibility to detect the vessels outside the typical traffic pattern. The proposed meth-od ensures the right decisions in different oceanic scale or hydro meteorology conditions in the detection of anomaly situation of the vessel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study developed a new methodology for analyzing the risk level of marine spill accidents from two perspectives, namely, marine traffic density and sensitive resources. Through a case study conducted in Busan, South Korea, detailed procedures of the methodology were proposed and its scalability was confirmed. To analyze the risk from a more detailed and microscopic viewpoint, vessel routes as hazard sources were delineated on the basis of automated identification system (AIS) big data. The outliers and errors of AIS big data were removed using the density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise algorithm, and a marine traffic density map was evaluated by combining all of the gridded routes. Vulnerability of marine environment was identified on the basis of the sensitive resource map constructed by the Korea Coast Guard in a similar manner to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration environmental sensitivity index approach. In this study, aquaculture sites, water intake facilities of power plants, and beach/resort areas were selected as representative indicators for each category. The vulnerability values of neighboring cells decreased according to the Euclidean distance from the resource cells. Two resulting maps were aggregated to construct a final sensitive resource and traffic density (SRTD) risk analysis map of the Busan–Ulsan sea areas. We confirmed the effectiveness of SRTD risk analysis by comparing it with the actual marine spill accident records. Results show that all of the marine spill accidents in 2018 occurred within 2 km of high-risk cells (level 6 and above). Thus, if accident management and monitoring capabilities are concentrated on high-risk cells, which account for only 6.45% of the total study area, then it is expected that it will be possible to cope with most marine spill accidents effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on optimal foraging theory, animals are expected to maximize foraging benefits whilst minimizing risks. Despite risking being subjected to anthropogenic impacts such as water contamination, marine traffic, and underwater noise, estuaries have been identified as the preferred habitat of the Indo‐Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis, IPHD). However, it remains unclear why this vulnerable species favours such risky habitats.Here, an exploratory case study in Zhanjiang estuary, China, was conducted to test the hypothesis that IPHDs select estuarine habitats as a trade‐off that maximizes foraging opportunities whilst minimizing the risk of mortality.The results showed that IPHDs accept greater mortality risks for higher food rewards but select habitats with lower risks when food rewards are similar between two locations.Although this type of information is important for underpinning models for individual dolphins, its principal role is to show environmental protection agencies why IPHDs favour estuaries despite the increased mortality risks.Habitat conservation plans should carefully consider prey stocks, possibly through the presence of marine protected areas near estuaries, as local overfishing may lead vulnerable cetacean populations to take greater risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anthropogenic noise is a pollutant of global concern. While the effects of underwater noise pollution have been frequently studied in fish and mammals, our understanding of how this anthropogenic stressor affects marine reptiles is scant. Using a multichannel data logger equipped with a camera and hydrophone, we quantified behavioural responses of a free-ranging green turtle (Chelonia mydas) to vessel noise in the Galapagos Archipelago, an important nesting site in the eastern Pacific. We found that while travelling the turtle increased its vigilance with increasing vessel noise. However, when on the seabed the turtle did not increase its vigilance with increasing noise levels. Our findings illustrate that noise pollution has the potential to alter overall time budgets of animals. Identifying real-time responses of wild animals illustrate how in situ approaches allow to assess the effects of human activities on marine systems. • Underwater noise pollution around the Galapagos archipelago increases. • Real-time data are needed to assess potential impacts on the unique fauna. • Increasing noise levels predict changes in sea turtle behaviour. • Reducing noise at this UNESCO world heritage site is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tourist attraction of a cruise itinerary is composed of the on board experience plus the shore-based experience. Due to the positive dynamism of the cruise industry since the beginning of the twenty-first century, cruise lines are driven to innovate to create new experiences that help maintain high demand rates. From the point of view of creating new experiences on land, cruise lines move their vessels from one destination region to another to maximise the vessel's occupancy and to offer itineraries with a wider variety of shore-based attractions. These new itinerary designs lead to alterations in the seasonality patterns of the neighbouring regions. In this work, the 17 most important cruise ports located in the northeast quadrant of the Atlantic Ocean are analysed to find groups of ports with homogeneous seasonality patterns using clustering techniques. The analysis showed two different seasonality patterns. Consequently, some implications to improve the use of the ports of both clusters are included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to reduce accidents at the port of entry that may be due to weather factors, it is necessary to not only improve navigation skills but also use current advanced nautical technology to provide inbound vessels with the necessary information and establish a safety assessment model for inbound vessels to assist port authorities in effective control. Therefore, this study plans to use automatic identification system data collected around Keelung Harbor as a basis, coupled with meteorological data with time, and then to use a geographic information system and a decision tree algorithm in big data analytics. This enables analysis of the navigation characteristics of all types of vessels that have entered Keelung Harbor under different meteorological conditions, thereby establishing a safety assessment model for the port of entry in Keelung Harbor. The model can not only provide the vessel traffic service control personnel with real-time analysis on whether the behavior of an inbound vessel at a given time has abnormalities but also be used to establish an operation model for port traffic flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to discover information underlying the historical records of marine incidents in order to develop an effective marine traffic management system and rescue resource allocation system in the harbours and waters surrounding Taiwan. Data were collected from the official records of the Taiwanese Ministry of Transportation and Communications and the Coast Guard Administration of Taiwan. Data analysis and Google Earth were utilized to determine the locations of the occurred incidents. The results revealed that on an annual basis, the proportion of marine incidents outside of harbours was much higher than the incidents that took place within harbours. The results also showed that the rate of increase for marine incidents significantly decreased outside of harbours, but increased within harbours, both for commercial vessels and fishing boats from 2005 to 2009. Certain events, such as collisions/contacts, groundings/standings, mechanical malfunctions/failures, and fires/explosions accounted for more than half of the occurred accidents. Finally, the identification of incident locations provides visual evidence to elucidate precisely where the problems are and where rescue resources should be optimally allocated. Recommendations and implications for marine traffic management policy were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Istanbul Strait is an important cetacean habitat that is intensely used by humans. Yet little is known about their spatial-temporal distribution. To understand the encounter rates and residency patterns of bottlenose dolphins, photo-identification data were collected between 2011 and 2016 in the Istanbul Strait. The study showed that bottlenose dolphins are a regular, year-round component of the strait. The encounter rate was estimated to be four groups (22 individuals) per 10 km. The adjacent waters of Marmara Sea and Black Sea, that host relatively less marine traffic, had the highest number of encounters in the area. Conversely, the middle sections had the lowest number of encounters but the highest marine vessel density. Further, the encounter rates dropped to zero in the fishing zones, where the number of purse seines reached up to 100 per day. Additionally, dolphins showed varying degrees of residency patterns, with multi-year re-sightings. Maximum re-sighting distance was up to 35 km, which is more than the total length of the strait. This movement pattern should be investigated as it might reveal possible migration between local populations. This study finds that the Istanbul Strait serves as a critical habitat for the regional bottlenose dolphin populations and they are likely to be a part of a resident local population with a home range extending the length of the strait. Dedicated surveys with inter-regional collaborations are needed to evaluate the home range and population status of this endangered species for their effective conservation in one of the busiest waterways of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Originally designed as a mode of telecommunication, the network of French sémaphore is now dedicated to the continuous monitoring and recording of marine traffic along the entire French coast. Although the observation data collected by sémaphores cover 7/7 days and 24/24 h and could provide precious information regarding marine traffic, they remain underexploited. Indeed, these data concern all types of traffic, including leisure boating and smaller craft that are not usually recorded by the most common means of observation, such as AIS, radar and satellite. Based on sémaphore data, traffic pressure and its spatiotemporal distribution can be fully measured to better analyze its interactions with human activities and the environment. One drawback of these data is their initially semantic nature, which requires the development of an original processing method. The protocol developed to analyze the marine traffic of the Iroise Sea and its first results are presented in this article. It is based on a semi-automatic method aimed to clean the original data and quantify the marine traffic along synthetic routes. It includes a procedure that takes into account the temporal evolution of the traffic based on the Allen’s time framework. The results proved interesting as they provide an overview of marine traffic, including all types of vessels, and may be defined for different time periods and granularity. A description of the numerical and geographic instruments created is given; all the written code is released as Open Source software and freely available for download and testing.

With the continuous growth of international trade and the number of ships, the pressure on marine safety is increasing. To strengthen the efficiency and pertinence of accident prevention and control measures, in-depth research on the characteristics of marine traffic accidents is of great significance. This study uses a Weighted Association Rule Mining (WARM) approach to investigate the association between marine traffic accidents characteristics. The Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea play a crucial role in global maritime transportation. The marine traffic accidents in the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea region from 2006 to 2020 are collected from the Lloyd's List Intelligence (LLI) database. Then, WARM is applied to obtain the characteristics of marine traffic accidents. The findings show that Flag of Convenience (FOC) vessels in the Mediterranean have a lower accident rate than non-FOC vessels do. Moreover, the results reveal a strong relationship between accidents and the age, gross tonnage, and ship type. Older general cargo ships with a gross tonnage between 500 and 3000 tons are more prone to accidents. This research provides insights for authorities to develop targeted measures for preventing specific types of accidents and enhancing marine safety. • In this study, the main objective was to investigate maritime accident characteristics and improve navigation safety. • It is fully considered that in the association rule approach, different accidents may have their own weights. • The weighted association rule approach is employed to mine the causal characteristics of ship traffic accidents. • The results of the study reveal a strong relationship between the age, gross tonnage, and ship type of the accidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is essential to evaluate safety of marine traffic for the improvement of efficiency and safety of marine traffic. Spread of AIS makes observation of actual marine traffic more easily and faster than before. Besides, description of collision avoidance behaviours of ships are indispensable to simulate a realistic marine traffic. It is important to develop and implement an algorithm of collision avoidance corresponding to a target traffic or target area into the marine traffic simulation because actual actions for collision avoidance depend on circumstances where ships are sailing. The authors developed an automated marine traffic simulation system with AIS data. And in this paper, we proposed a series of systematic procedures for marine traffic simulation including analysing for collision avoidance behaviours using AIS data.

The ability to detect and monitor oil spills at sea is becoming increasingly important due to the high demand of oil-based products. Remote sensing frameworks have been proven to give accurate results in case of major events; nonetheless, also medium and micro oil spills have their own importance, especially in protected areas that deserve special attention. In this paper, we propose a monitoring framework based on the collection of in situ observations and on their integration with remote sensing in order to fill out existing observational gaps. In particular, besides the data collected by special monitoring devices, in situ observations include volunteered geographical information as an additional source of valuable data. Oil spill sights, notified by volunteers through a specially-designed app, are integrated in the monitoring system and therein processed together with remote sensing data in order to proactively detect anomalous events and produce alerts. Field operational tests in two areas demonstrate the technical validity of the approach, while users' reception testifies to its potential in raising people's awareness on marine pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ship grounding is a major maritime hazard that poses great consequences. Risk and sustainability associated with ship grounding need to be rationally assessed for a safe and sustainable maritime traffic. This paper presents a probabilistic risk analysis of ship grounding hazard considering damage caused by bottom penetration. Sustainability is introduced for ship grounding risk analysis for a synthesized assessment of the damage consequences. Sustainability indicators assess the economic, social, and environmental performance following a hazard event. In terms of ship grounding incident this includes the ship damage repair, operational delay, cargo loss, injury or fatality of crew, and environmental impact such as clean-up of oil spill. The economical, social, and environmental metrics are evaluated separately and then converted into an integrated monetary metric. Utility function that can incorporate attitude towards risk taking is used in the analysis for decision making purposes in risk control. The proposed approach is illustrated using a hypothetical oil tanker grounding in the Delaware Bay region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine traffic poses a growing threat to wildlife in the marine environment, including Arctic seabirds, which are exposed to high vessel densities when breeding in coastal areas. However, little is known about the magnitude of the problem. Here, we utilized underwater acoustic monitoring to quantify marine traffic and above-water disturbances at two thick-billed murre colonies in Greenland in 2016. We detected a total of 307 vessels, and only 4 % was known from automatic monitoring systems. Based on proximity, noise emission, and boating behavior, we classified 11 vessels as disturbing and an additional 12 as potentially disturbing for the seabirds. One colony facing population decline was located closest to the main boating route and experienced 2–5 times more disturbances than the other (increasing) colony, suggesting a negative impact of marine traffic. Our study shows that underwater acoustics can be a useful method to quantify above-water disturbances of seabird colonies. • Marine traffic in the coastal areas can be a problem for seabird colonies. • Automatic vessel monitoring systems (AIS or VMS) underestimates marine traffic. • Underwater acoustics is useful to quantify vessel activity around seabird colonies. • In this study, 96 % of the vessels went undetected by AIS and VMS systems. • Proximity of seabird colonies to boating routes may predict disturbance levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reflect the safety degree of marine traffic in real-time and intuitively, this paper put forward a concept of real-time safety index of marine traffic, established marine traffic real-time safety index system, and constructed a real-time safety index evaluation model by using vessel traffic and navigation environmental data provided by shore-based AIS base station network, and quantifying a variety of data which impacts the safety of marine traffic such as ships’ real-time dynamic data, weather changes and so on. A continuous real-time evaluation to a specific area was carried out in the form of real-time index curve, taking the Waigaoqiao Channel of Port Shanghai as an example, to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of marine traffic real-time safety index.

A watch officer in sailing a ship uses many kinds of navigational information to prevent marine disasters. Especially in coastal sea area such as narrow bay or port, many ships crowds and marine disasters tend to occur more often. In these regions, effective presentation of variety navigational information is very important. On other hand, a car navigation is very effective in road traffic, However, it is not used almost in sea traffic. Our objective in this paper is to apply a car navigation to ship sailing. Also, a marine navigation system proposed by us was compared with a car navigation system. In this study, authors tried some ways of utilizing car navigation technology for the sea. To improve navigational security and safety, we investigated whether car navigation systems could be applied to marine traffic. The applicability was evaluated through several comparisons of our navigation assistance device using GIS.