On the possibility of COLREGS/STM integration

Abstract

In the shipping industry, Sea Traffic Management (STM) system aims to represent a new paradigm in maritime safety. The idea of the STM implementation is to share information between all stakeholders, making shipping more efficient, safe, and environmentally friendly. With the growing market and related increase in marine transport and traffic, the risk of marine accidents is increasing as well. The STM provides numerous features for personnel on-board and shore to support decisions for safe navigation and operation based on real-time data. One of the services is the ship-to-ship route exchange, providing prediction of potentially dangerous situations and planning the vessel’s movement in advance. Analyses of marine accidents show that ship collisions are one of the most frequent types of marine accidents, the reason of which among all others, questions human error related to the knowledge of collision avoidance. This paper elaborates on the possibility of COLREGs/STM integration based on the use of STM ship-to-ship route exchange system. The decision model for COLREGs/STM integration procedure is presented in a way which enables suggestion on appropriate COLREG rule application in advance. Further system development is proposed as well, such as machine learning algorithms in COLREGs/STM integration, with the function of reducing the risks of marine accidents and increasing safety at sea.