(NEWS) WMU Participates in the INTEREG Project ACCSEAS

November

2012

WMU Participates in the INTEREG Project ACCSEAS

For the purpose of promoting transnational cooperation, the European Union has established several Programs, such as the North Sea Region Program, aiming at making regions a better place to live, to work, and to invest. The ACCSEAS project is an example of a transnational cooperation project and is funded by the INTERREG IVb North Sea Region program. The General Lighthouse Authorities of the UK and Ireland is the lead organization and 11 partners working together on the project come from Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Improving maritime accessibility of congested and remote North Sea ports is the project objective, to enhance the safety of maritime navigation, environmental protection, and the efficiency of sustainable berth-to-berth operations. The project will run for three years until February 2015 with a total value of €5,5 million. Of the overall value, €2,8 million is funded by the EU of which WMU will receive €77,000.

The project aims at exploring e-Navigation services taking into account IMO frameworks, investigations into dynamic exchange of vessels’ routes, as well as ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore interaction with VTS and further operational aspects. It is intended to develop a prototype for harmonization of information portrayal on the ECDIS and to evaluate decision support applications. WMU is specifically dealing with investigations into the needs for potential modifications and further developments of training programs for onboard and shore-based personnel that will be faced with e-Navigation applications in the future. The principal investigator at WMU is Associate Professor Michael Baldauf.

Within the framework of the ACCSEAS project, WMU is conducting a series of simulation trials researching the impact of potential changes to existing navigation procedures and regimes. In early November an evaluation was conducted in collaboration with the Fraunhofer FKIE Institute, Wachtberg. The goal was to investigate the integration and presentation of information received via communication equipment into navigational systems, within the framework of a FKIE research project funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs, Germany. The conduction of the trials was supported by members of the MaRiSa research group utilizing the simulation laboratory to implement a number of scenarios. The trial scenarios took place in the sea area of the Öresund, which was modeled by WMU Research Associate Dietmar Aumann. The scenarios included the receipt of, and integration of, route information while underway and improvements to MSI delivery. The scenarios were designed to include typical traffic situations and to focus on the decision making and information requirements for safe and efficient navigation. The scenarios utilized a think-aloud protocol and augmented these findings with semi-structured interviews to investigate aspects of user requirements and user acceptance regarding potential future e-Navigation applications and to identify basic training aspects that may be relevant for maritime training and education in the future. Experienced captains and navigating officers who are presently students in the M.Sc. programs at WMU actively participated in the trials and interviews. Additional trials in collaboration with Fraunhofer FKIE are planned for the future.

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