In many countries, the network of aids to navigation has been built up over a considerable time, in some cases, centuries. It should be recognised that the nature of shipping is continually changing and this means that the aids to navigation infrastructure49 should be reviewed periodically. The rate of
change varies from place to place, but it would be reasonable to adopt a review process using one of the change management tools that provides:
• a Strategic Plan (Navigation Plan) with a suggested minimum 10 year outlook, and; • an Operational Plan with a suggested rolling 5 year work program.
The increasing availability of AIS-derived ship data (type, position, speed, cargo etc) is proving to be a very useful tool in reviewing the relevance of existing aids to navigation and identifying new requirements. Effective use of AIS data requires a data management strategy and appropriate technology to efficiently store and manipulate very large amounts of data and be able to integrated with other electronic data, for example electronic nautical charts to display shipping patterns.
User Consultancy
The SOLAS Convention Chapter V Regulation 13 requires that contracting governments undertake to arrange (AtoN) as, in their opinion the volume of traffic justifies and the degree of risk requires, and 48This is the same definition as “mission reliability”.
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Provision, Design and Management of Aids to Navigation Provision, Design and Management of Aids to Navigation
to arrange for information in relation to these AtoN to be made available to all concerned. Competent Authorities are guided by IALA to establish and conduct user consultation with stakeholders when planning all types of new AtoN or changes to their existing provision of AtoN. Consultation should also be a means to monitor these services.
Consultations, while often integral to many decision-making processes, can have various meanings for different practitioners and participants. In some cases, consultations are defined in legislation or agreements. Consultations can be ad hoc or regularised. Sometimes they are undertaken extensively, on broad issues with a wide-range of participants; other times, consultations are more intensive, with a narrower focus and specifically-targeted participants. A stakeholder is a person, group or agency that has a direct interest in an issue for which the Competent Authority has a mandate or legal responsibility, and may or may not be directly affected by the Authority’s programs and activities, and also non-governmental organisations.
8.5.2 Strategic Plans
A Strategic Plan is the result of an informed and consultative process that sets the long term goals and objectives for an organization. For a Competent Authority it would include:
• the role of the authority, for example:
– to promote a high standard of maritime safety; and
– to provide infrastructure and information services to support the safety of navigation in a particular area.
• how the authority will go about discharging its responsibilities, for example: – outline of the corporate values of the authority;
– corporate governance arrangements; – funding arrangements;
– reviews of industry trends; and
• an understanding of the users and navigation requirements.
Because of its importance and its effect on the mariners, any strategic plan should be developed as much as possible in full consultation with the mariners and other stakeholders.
8.5.3 Operational Plans The Operational Plan might cover:
a) The implementation of the strategic plan, and may include statements on current policy issues such as:
• maintenance;
• current and new technology; • the design life of new infrastructure • remote monitoring and control; • historic lighthouses;
• environmental culture and safety;
• the program for aids to navigation reviews; • contract services (core and non-core); • transport services;
Provision, Design and Management of Aids to Navigation
Provision, Design and Management of Aids to Navigation
• external relationships50;
• information, communication and consultation management.
b) a list of changes to individual aids to navigation, including any new facilities. The list would reflect: • decisions resulting from user and stakeholder consultations;
• reviews, including those that use:
– risk analysis, risk management procedures (see section 0); or – a level of service process, (see section 3.2); or
– the authority’s quality management procedures (see section 8.7); – the authority’s technical and maintenance policies etc.
c) project schedules that reflect known priorities, such as: • government policies;
• user requirements; • available resources;
• budget (revenue) forecasts and constraints.
8.5.4 Use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in AtoN Planning
The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) may assist in effective AtoN planning, including evaluation and validation; ensuring that money is invested wisely in new technology.
Coastal waterways are becoming increasingly congested with vessel traffic and developments such as offshore wind farms, tidal turbines and aquaculture sites, which require to be marked. In addition, light pollution through coastal development, the advent of larger and faster ships and the continued growth in small craft usage means that designing suitable AtoN systems becomes ever more complex. Using GIS, accurate design and provision of AtoN systems as well as suitable simulation can prove very useful and may reduce the chance of costly mistakes being made.
AtoN are distinctly linked to physical locations and their use by mariners invariably involves the use of more than one AtoN at a time, that is, AtoN networks or systems. These single and interdependent linkages between AtoN and their physical locations mean that GIS technology can provide AtoN authorities with enhancements in many areas of their business, which may ultimately lead to benefits for mariners.
A GIS captures, displays, stores, analyses and manages spatially referenced data. A key feature of GIS is its analytical functionality, which allows a user to interact with spatial data to determine relationships between different types of data and to produce qualitative (diagrammatic/graphical) and quantitative (numeric/tabular) results.
Refer to IAlA publications:
IALA Recommendation O-138 on the Use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Simulation by Aids to Navigation Authorities.
IALA Guideline O-1057 on the Use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) by Aids to Navigation Authorities.
IALA Guideline O-1058 on the Use of Simulation as a Tool for Waterway Design and AtoN Planning. IALA Guideline No. 1079 on Establishing and Conducting User Consultancy by Aids to Navigation Authorities.