Vessel traffic management brings together information, communication and operational coordination to support vessel movements. For a Harbour Master, a useful traffic picture helps answer two connected questions: where is the vessel, and is the port ready for its next movement?
An AIS position helps with the first question. The second also depends on the vessel’s visit, its berth and the pilots, tugs or other services required. Connecting those views gives planners more context when a vessel’s expected arrival changes.
This guide explains how AIS vessel tracking supports port-call and berth decisions, where it differs from Vessel Traffic Services, and how marineM Traffic App connects voyage visibility with marine service updates.
What is a vessel traffic management system?
The term vessel traffic management system is often used for technology that supports monitoring and coordination of vessel movements. When evaluating a system, define the operational scope: an AIS display, a planning application and the systems supporting a formal Vessel Traffic Service have different responsibilities.
IMO describes Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) as shore-side services ranging from information provision to wider management of traffic in a port or waterway. VTS can communicate directly with participating ships as situations develop. Read IMO’s VTS overview.
The IMO’s VTS guidelines place the service within an authorised organisational framework, with defined responsibilities and appropriately trained personnel. The ship’s master retains ultimate responsibility for the ship’s operation and safe navigation. A software purchase alone does not establish that service. See IMO Resolution A.1158(32).
For procurement, start with the work your team needs to perform. Finding a vessel and reviewing its voyage is one requirement; delivering an authorised traffic service is a broader one.
AIS tracking, VTS and port planning: how the roles differ
The capabilities can complement one another, but they should be specified separately.
Capability | Main operational question | What to establish when scoping it |
|---|---|---|
AIS vessel tracking | Where is an AIS-reporting vessel, and what movement information is available? | Data coverage, timeliness, vessel identification and available history. |
Vessel Traffic Services | What information and traffic interaction are needed within the declared VTS area? | The authorised service, personnel, procedures, communications and supporting systems. |
Berth planning | Which suitable berth and time window can accommodate the visit? | Vessel requirements, berth availability and operational constraints. |
Marine services planning | Are the required pilots, tugs and supporting resources available for the movement? | Qualifications, rest, tug capability, resource availability and transfer logistics. |
marineM Traffic App focuses on AIS vessel tracking, geofencing, playback and voyage visibility, including pilot and tug task updates from Marine Services Planner. Requirements for a full VTS solution, radar integration or collision-avoidance functions need a separate scope assessment.
A useful connection between tracking and planning preserves the meaning of each piece of information. A reported vessel position describes movement. An assignment describes planned work. A task update describes reported service progress. One should not silently stand in for another.
What AIS information can—and cannot—tell a planner
AIS can provide vessel identity, position, course, speed and other transmitted information. It supports finding and following vessels, but it is not a complete record of everything happening in the port. See IMO’s explanation of AIS.
IMO’s operational guidelines identify important limitations: some vessels may not carry or transmit AIS, transmitted data can be wrong, and faulty or poorly configured sensors can affect the information received. AIS should therefore be used with the other information relevant to the decision. Read the AIS limitations in Resolution A.1106(29), paragraphs 32–43.
For the planning desk, turn those limits into practical checks:
Confirm that the vessel identity matches the visit being reviewed.
Establish how current and complete the available movement data is.
Keep an observed movement separate from a planned or confirmed arrival time.
Check service progress using the relevant pilot or tug task updates.
Resolve discrepancies through the port’s agreed operational channels.
For example, a vessel close to a berth does not establish that a pilotage task has finished. Similarly, an apparent pause in a track does not, by itself, explain whether the cause is a berth delay, a service constraint or a data gap.
A worked example: from vessel position to a planning check
Illustrative scenario—not a customer result or a product screenshot. The fictional vessel MV Meridian has a planned berth arrival at 14:00. The operations team receives a revised arrival estimate and needs to review the supporting service plan.
The sequence below shows how the confirmed Traffic App capabilities can support that review. The example does not imply that a geofence event automatically changes the schedule or dispatches a resource.
Step | Information to review | Operational follow-up |
|---|---|---|
Find the vessel | Locate MV Meridian on the map and review its position, speed and heading. | Confirm that the selected vessel is the one associated with the visit. |
Review the voyage | Open the vessel’s voyage details and inspect the available visit context. | Compare the new arrival information with the movement the team is preparing for. |
Review geofence activity | Use AIS movement detection in a defined area of interest. | Check whether the observed activity warrants a review of the current plan. |
Use playback | Trace the vessel’s available historical movements. | Understand the track leading up to the review; investigate gaps rather than assuming uninterrupted coverage. |
Check supporting tasks | Review pilot and tug task updates from Marine Services Planner in the voyage details. | Confirm the latest reported service progress before deciding what needs to change. |
In this example, movement detection prompts the team to look more closely. It is not proof that the berth is free, the pilot is available or a tug has completed another job.
Geofence event definitions, how those events are presented, any notification rules and the available playback period should be agreed for the implementation. The operational example deliberately avoids assuming a particular alert channel, status label or retention period.
Use the traffic picture to test a workable berth and service plan
When an arrival estimate changes, moving a vessel block on a berth timeline is only part of the decision. A later berth window may overlap another call or fall outside the availability of a required marine service.
Where both are in scope, marineM Berth Planner and Marine Services Planner bring berth allocation and nautical resource scheduling into connected planning. The team can consider the berth alongside pilot qualifications and rest requirements, tug availability and capability, and supporting transfers.
Marine Services Planner generates assignment recommendations around the required vessel timing. Planners can accept the recommendations or make manual overrides. Traffic App adds vessel and voyage context, including service task updates, to help the team understand the movement being planned.
For MV Meridian, the next step is to check the proposed arrival against the actual constraints and coordinate any revised plan through the responsible teams. A clearer traffic picture supports that discussion; it does not remove the need to confirm readiness.
Our operational story, When the berth plan changes, can the vessel still move?, explores that integrated planning decision in more detail.
Frequently asked questions
Is AIS vessel tracking the same as VTS?
No. AIS is a source of vessel information. A tracking application helps users view and interpret that information. VTS is an authorised service with a wider operational role, personnel and procedures. Traffic App’s confirmed scope is AIS tracking and voyage visibility with marine service updates; a full VTS requirement should be assessed separately.
What does AIS geofencing add to vessel tracking?
Geofencing defines an area of interest so vessel movements can be detected from AIS data in that area. In Traffic App, this helps focus attention on selected port areas. Agree the event definitions and any notification behaviour for your operation; a detected movement does not itself confirm service completion.
What can vessel playback show?
Playback lets a user select a vessel and trace its past movements using the available history. It can help review how a voyage progressed. Its usefulness depends on the available data and coverage, so confirm the history period and investigate gaps before drawing conclusions.
How do pilot and tug updates connect with voyage details?
Traffic App integrates with Marine Services Planner to show pilot and tug task updates in the vessel’s voyage details. This brings reported service progress alongside the vessel’s movement. Planners can review both while keeping task status, observed positions and planned times distinct.
Bring vessel visibility into the planning conversation
A traffic display becomes more useful to port operations when the team can connect a vessel’s movement with the visit and services behind it. Start with a representative vessel arrival, define the information needed at each handover, and test how the team would respond when the timing changes.
Explore marineM Traffic App or request a demonstration to review vessel search, AIS geofencing, playback and voyage details with pilot and tug task updates.