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VTS Centres
The Norwegian Coastal Administration operates five Vessel Traffic Service Centres that monitor and regulate vessel traffic along the Norwegian coast.
Fedje VTS
Fedje VTS is located on the island municipality of Fedje in North Hordaland and covers the area from Sognesjøen in the north to Hjeltefjorden in the south and to Bergen in the east. The VTS Centre was established in 1992 and its main duties are related to oil shipments from the Sture and Mongstad terminals, in addition to traffic control centre tasks in an area with high traffic density.
Kvitsøy VTS
Kvitsøy VTS was established in 2003 and is located in Kvitsøy Municipality in Rogaland. The VTS Centre covers the area from Bømla Fjord in the north to the Jæren Reef in the south. The centre's main duties include traffic monitoring in connection with shipments from the gas terminal at Kårstø, in addition to general monitoring of coastal traffic in an area with a relatively high traffic density.
Brevik VTS
Brevik VTS is located at Brevikstrømmen in Porsgrunn Municipality. It covers the approaches to the major industrial area in Grenland, where a large portion of the ship traffic consists of gas carriers and vessels with other hazardous cargo. The Brevik VTS Centre is the Norwegian Coastal Administration's oldest centre and was established in 1978 as a result of the petrochemical development at Rafnes.
Horten VTS
Horten VTS is located in the port of Horten. It was established in 1999, and its area of responsibility is to monitor and regulate shipping in the waters from Færder to Spro/Steilene at Nesodden. The waters in this area are the responsibility of the Oslo Port Traffic Control Centre.
Vardø VTS
Vardø VTS became operational on 1 January 2007. The VTS Centre, which has NOR VTS as it call name, covers traffic monitoring in the northern areas, from the Barents Sea to Lofoten by means of radar monitoring, ship reporting and AIS.
Vardø VTS also administers the state tugboat emergency preparedness scheme in Northern Norway. From 1 July 2008 the Vardø VTS Centre was made responsible for monitoring all tankers and other hazardous traffic along the entire coast and the sea area around Svalbard, with the exception of the areas of operation for the Norwegian Coastal Administration's other four VTS centres.
Latest news
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New AIS basestations strengthen maritime traffic monitoring on Svalbard
On September 13, 2019, the Norwegian Coastal Administration deployed a new AIS (Automatic Identification System) basestation on the island of Prins Karls Forland, west of Spitsbergen. This basestation is powered by solar and wind energy, and is the first of its kind in an area without infrastructure.
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Digital Route Service is available from Sandefjord to Haugesund
From June 3, 2019, routes and route information will be available for vessels arriving ports in Skagerrak and Rogaland. This is an extension of the Digital Route Service that was launched in the Oslofjord in 2018.
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Russian nuclear power plant without fuel to be transported along the Norwegian coastline
The transport of the Russian floating nuclear power plant "Akademik Lomonosov" started Friday the 27th of April from St. Petersburg heading to Murmansk. The nuclear power plant will not have nuclear fuel on board during transport, but the Norwegian Coastal Administration and the Norwegian Radiation Protection Agency will nevertheless follow the transport closely along the Norwegian coast.
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Introducing New Regulations for Pilot Bookings
On April 3, 2018, the Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA) will introduce new booking regulations for requesting marine pilots. The regulations will thus be formalized and merged into one set ‒ Regulations on Compulsory Pilotage.
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See Current Conditions in Saltstraumen live on Web Camera
The NCA has established a web camera that transmits live images from Saltstraumen – one of the strongest maelstroms in the world. Live video transmission is an additional service to the automated current forecast, established in September 2017.
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