The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras researchers are going to develop an indigenous Vessel Traffic Software (VTS) to monitor maritime traffic, the institute said. The project will be a collaboration between IIT Madras and VO Chidambaranar (VOC) Port Trust in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, for which a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed recently.
The technology will cater to the increasing maritime traffic and help keep pace with global technological developments in the domain, the institute said.
National Technology Centre for Ports Waterways and Coasts (NTCPWC), a Centre of Excellence at IIT Madras, will lead the research project. NTCPWC works as the technology arm of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
Elaborating on the MoU, TK Ramachandran, Chairman, VO Chidambaranar Port Trust, said, “VOC Port is the first Indian Major Port of India to sign MoU with NTCPWC for development of Indigenous software for VTS System. The development of indigenous system by NTCPWC, as per VOC Port's recruitment, instead of relying on proprietary and costly foreign made software solutions, will be a game changer in Indian Maritime Industry.”
“The Indigenous VTS software system will open up the pathway for India to develop other indigenous technology solutions that maritime severely depends on overseas solutions.,” said Prof K Murali, Professor in-charge, NTCPWC-IIT Madras.
“The cooperation will help to build partnerships with all other major ports for providing technology solutions to address their problems,” Prof Murali added.