Adriatic-Ionian joint approach for development and harmonisation of procedures and regulations in the field of navigation safety
Maritime accidents leave catastrophic effects on the environment and economy, most of all on tourism, so their prevention is crucial for countries in AI region. Each of the national maritime administrations in the region has the responsibility of surveilling the maritime transport on their own territory and watch over its safety. Thus, it is of utmost importance to coordinate maritime safety at the regional level. Even today, ADRIREP functions as a mandatory ship reporting system, but its procedures do not meet the current requirements and technical achievements. Maritime administrations mutually cooperate, but not in a sufficiently systematic and coordinated way. The overall objective of the project is to increase the level of maritime safety in AI region by introducing systematic cooperation and coordination of maritime administrations of all countries of the region. Specific objectives are to develop systematic coordination, harmonize the legal basis for cooperation, increase the level of data exchange, harmonize and standardize the VTS service, and develop a common education system for VTS operators. The project results include the establishment of the Maritime Safety Permanent Transnational Network that will continuously improve all the areas of regional maritime safety, coordination, and cooperation through the activity of its thematic working groups. The main contribution of the project is: (a) the modernization of ADRIREP, the system which will, through the proposal of new IMO Resolution, analyze different possibilities, develop new procedures, test and legally regulate, (b) harmonization and standardization of VTSs in AI region, (c) analysis, development and piloting of the harmonized training for VTS operators, including the standard of competences, and (d) introduction of the Sea Traffic Management Service system, which is innovative in AI region and which definitely contributes to the optimization of logistical processes in maritime transport and ports.