Turkey's new Vessel Traffic Services System in Northern Cyprus will enhance maritime monitoring and protect national interests starting July 20.
Turkey's Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, announced that the system established in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as part of the Eastern Mediterranean Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) Project conducted by the General Directorate of Maritime Affairs will be put into service on July 20. He stated, 'With this project, we will protect our interests in our blue homeland and will be able to continuously monitor ship traffic in the maritime area between the TRNC's surrounding seas and our country.'
Minister Uraloğlu made a written statement regarding the Eastern Mediterranean Vessel Traffic Services Project. He reported that final preparations are underway for the commissioning of the system completed in the TRNC, and that they have completed the construction works, hardware installations, and software integration processes for the project.
'We HAVE ENSURED THE INTEGRATION OF AIS AND RADAR DATA'
Uraloğlu pointed out that Turkey's effectiveness in the Eastern Mediterranean will be further strengthened with the Eastern Mediterranean VTS Project, stating, 'By putting the system into service on July 20, we will begin to effectively monitor ship traffic in the maritime jurisdiction areas of the TRNC. With this project, we will protect our interests in our blue homeland and will be able to continuously monitor ship traffic in the maritime area between the TRNC's surrounding seas and our country. Thanks to the software and critical hardware we developed entirely with domestic and national resources, we will also reinforce our technological independence in this field.'
Uraloğlu noted that the project is carried out by the General Directorate of Maritime Affairs, and that HAVELSAN is the contractor. He stated that the Vessel Traffic Services Center established in Famagusta and the Traffic Monitoring stations in Karpaz, Sadrazamköy, and Çayırova have been integrated into the system. He emphasized that they have also ensured the integration of Automatic Identification System (AIS) data from Selvitepe and AIS and radar data from Kantara, announcing that they have completed the preparation processes and will put the system into service on July 20.
'WE WILL CONDUCT 24-HOUR CONTINUOUS MONITORING'
Uraloğlu emphasized that the Traffic Monitoring Stations are among the main components of the system, continuing: 'Thanks to radars, cameras, communication equipment, AIS systems, and other sensors, we will conduct 24-hour continuous monitoring. Any vessel within the scope of Vessel Traffic Services will be detected instantly, and the data obtained will be transmitted simultaneously to both the center in the TRNC and the Mersin Vessel Traffic Services Center.'
The most important element in our Traffic Monitoring Stations is our radars, which are produced by ASELSAN using domestic and national resources, specifically the SERDAR 7M radars. Providing information about the benefits of the TRNC Vessel Traffic Services System, Uraloğlu stated that many operations will be carried out, including vessel identification, uninterrupted monitoring and regulation of traffic, transmission of navigation information and general alerts, control of special areas, contribution to the tracking of illegal activities, issuance of danger alerts, informing relevant institutions in emergencies such as accidents and fires, and sharing meteorological data.
Source: SeaNews Türkiye
