Budapest pilot aims to increase the efficiency and safety of passenger vessel traffic in Budapest. It has two major parts related to each other according to the following:
Support for the departure and arrival of ships from the port, as well as route planning
In the frame of the Budapest pilot the collision and collision-risk situations of ships are identified by analysing raw data of the inland AIS signals of the last 10 years safety-critical periods on the Budapest Danube section. Based on these, a collision avoidance algorithm is developed, which takes into account the actual and expected waterway traffic, the characteristics of ships, the hydro-meteorological conditions, and the available (planned) ship schedules. Using the analysis of AIS data and situations with collision hazards, an onboard application is being created by using the collision avoidance algorithm and taking into account the own speed and heading of the vessel. This shows the zones with different collision risk level around the vessel on the same screen of ECDIS chart.
Real-time ship schedule and accurate departure and arrival time information
The Budapest pilot also introduce another IoT application. This provides information on the exact time of departure and arrival of the city sightseeing and excursion vessels depending on the planned schedule of the shipping company. This information that should be uploaded by themselves, would then be available for all (other) vessels (registered to the app) which can dynamically plan their shipping route and, if necessary, communicate with other ships, taking into account collision avoidance. Innovations implemented in the pilot result in reduced number of collision-risk situations, avoiding unnecessary (even emergency) manoeuvres, increase of passenger satisfaction, passengers can schedule their land programs and public transport route planning more efficiently, travel service providers can also make their work more efficient in organizing transport mode change of their clients (tourists).