Safety of Navigation in the Baltic Sea by Sea Traffic Management

January 2019 -
December 2021

Uncompleted

3. Transport 3.3 Maritime safety

STM BALT SAFE

Narrow passages and very high traffic density on shipping routes makes the Baltic Sea vulnerable to accidents at sea. At the same time, efficient exchange of information between ships, and between ships and shore is still missing. The STM BALT SAFE project aims to increase the safety of navigation by introducing common Sea Traffic Management (STM) which enables maritime services to digitally exchange voyage plans of tanker traffic in the Baltic Sea.

Summary

Tanker safety

The Baltic Sea experiences one of densest sea traffic in the world. With many tanker and passengers crossing routes as well as narrow passages, the risk of accidents is high. Following HELCOM recommendations, and in order to increase the safety of navigation, the project STM BALT SAFE provides Sea Traffic Management (STM) services to the tanker traffic. The services enable the exchange of voyage plans between ships, and between ships and shore.

Shore support

The exchange of information and integration of STM functionalities improves an overall situational awareness of traffic among tankers and shore centres around the Baltic Sea. The shore centres develop and test new digital services, for example automated reporting, which additionally improve speed and accuracy of ship-shore information exchange.

Part of the Sea Traffic Management initiative

The project provides an infrastructure and support for ships from other projects with existing or new STM functions. The STM BALT SAFE project is implemented by a Baltic Sea wide partnership of public administrations from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Estonia.