Companhia Docas do Rio de Janeiro (CDRJ) announced, on Wednesday (8), that the Port of Rio de Janeiro has obtained the approval of the Automatic Identification System for Vessels with Navigation Aids (AIS AtoN) of buoys articulated submersibles newly installed in the Cotunduba Canal, main access to the port for large ships. With this, the Port of Rio de Janeiro will have nautical signaling with this device duly approved before the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel).
This and other advances were presented during a monthly meeting of the Working Group (WG) that discusses projects to improve waterway access to the Port of Rio de Janeiro, coordinated by CDRJ and also composed of representatives of the Brazilian Navy (MB), da Praticagem-RJ and the companies leasing the port terminals (MultiRio, ICTSI Rio and Triunfo Logística).
According to the Vessel Traffic Management and Information System Manager (VTMIS) of the ports of Rio de Janeiro and Niterói, Marcelo Villas-Bôas, "in possession of the certificate of technical compliance, the next step will be the activation of the transceivers with the codes assigned by Anatel to each of the buoy transceivers in the new buoy so that they can integrate the maritime mobile service". Also according to Villas-Bôas, "the AIS AtoN devices will increase navigation security, as they will transmit virtual markers that will indicate to the ships their exact positioning, facilitating their maneuvers".
Another subject discussed during the meeting was the start of the second phase of the night experimental maneuvers in the Cotunduba Canal, authorized by the Captaincy of the Ports of Rio de Janeiro (CPRJ) and scheduled to be resumed next week. In this phase of the "ramp up", three outbound and three inbound maneuvers will be carried out with vessels between 286 to 306 meters in length. These tests are necessary since the Canal recently gained a new nautical signaling, in order to allow the safe navigation of large ships at night.
The meeting's agenda was extensive and included the progress of the implementation of the 1st Phase of the VTMIS Project until the 1st Quarter of 2021, which provides for the operationalization of a Local Port Service (LPS) in the Ports managed by CDRJ. In this sense, the ongoing actions involving the installation of two CCTV cameras in Morro da Urca, the passage of fiber optic cable connecting CDRJ to Edifício Alte, were shown. Tamandaré (EAT), headquarters of the Naval Operations Command (ComOpNav), and the installation of radio links at the top of the Barão de Ladário Building (EBL), also belonging to the MB and which will serve as a central node for the data generated by the VTMIS sensors.
According to the Director of Port Management at CDRJ, Shalon Charles da Silva Gomes, "this is another great achievement, the result of the joint work of the most diverse areas of the Company, with special thanks to the IT team, which comes giving all the necessary support so that the Port of Rio de Janeiro Superintendence can implement the various technology projects that are being developed for the port."