Fintraffic´s Vessel Traffic Services prevented nine groundings in 2020

In 2020, the Fintraffic VTS Centre prevented nine potential groundings and recorded nearly 940 deviations in vessel traffic, as described in the recently completed Fintraffic´s Vessel Traffic Services annual report on deviations.

The purpose of Fintraffic´s Vessel Traffic Services is to ensure safe and smooth shipping along Finland’s coastline, in adjacent international waters and on the Saimaa deep fairway. In 2020, the company prevented nine potential groundings: eight of them along Finland’s coastline and one in a monitoring area in international waters for which Finland has responsibility.

“Our VTS Centres ensure the safe running of vessel traffic, such as cargo ships and passenger ships, on a 24/7 basis. All of the potential groundings that we prevented last year involved a situation where a vessel was heading for shallows but changed course once we notified them of this. On six occasions, the VTS Centre provided navigational assistance to ensure the safe passage of vessels in the fairway,” says Operative Director Sari Talja.

Fintraffic VTS Centres recorded a total of nearly 940 vessel traffic deviations: more than 80% of them along Finland’s coastline and on the Saimaa deep fairway, and fewer than 20% of them in monitoring areas in international waters for which Finland has responsibility.

“The number of deviations increased substantially on the previous year. This was due to further improvement of reporting guidelines and also the lowering of the reporting threshold in certain cases. Engine failures, technical problems and non-compliance with routing instructions are the most common types of deviation, and last year was no exception in this respect,” says Quality Manager Kati Westerlund.

Fintraffic’s Vessel Traffic Services ensures uninterrupted foreign trade activities and domestic waterborne traffic for the Finnish maritime network. At the annual level, the total weight of goods transported by sea is more than 100 million tonnes. Also each year, almost 20 million passengers are transported to and from the ports of Finland and other countries. Fintraffic’s VTS Centres operate 24/7/365, ensuring the safety and smooth, uninterrupted flow of vessel traffic. In addition to vessel traffic services, we provide safety radio and radio navigation services and digital traffic situation and information exchange services, and we also handle the continuous development of these services.