Marine Safety

Currently, the U.S. Coast Guard and private entities operate radar-based vessel traffic service (VTS) in several U.S. ports. A VTS system employs remote surveillance sensors, such as radar or closed-circuit television, that relay information on maritime traffic conditions to VTS personnel, who pass it on to mariners and the maritime industry by radio. The purpose of these systems is to improve the safe and efficient movement of ships around ports and to protect the environment. The Coast Guard is considering installing VTS systems in as many as 17 ports. The federal government will spend as much as $310 million to build the proposed expansion, known as VTS 2000, and about $42 million annually to operate it. The report answers the following four questions: What is the status of the Coast Guard's development of VTS 2000? At ports being considered for VTS 2000, to what extent do major stakeholders support acquiring and funding it? If major stakeholders do not support VTS 2000, to what extent are they interested in acquiring and funding other VTS systems? What other issues could affect the establishment of VTS systems that are privately funded? GAO summarized this report in testimony before Congress; see: Marine Safety: Current Status of the VTS 2000 Program and Key Stakeholders' Views on It, by Gerald L. Dillingham, Associate Director for Transportation and Telecommunications Issues, before the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. GAO/T-RCED-96-129, Apr. 25 (10 pages).

GAO found that: (1) VTS 2000 presents large-scale uncertainties as to the demand for the system or how much it will cost because the Coast Guard does not have adequate information on how many ports will operate VTS 2000; (2) VTS 2000 development plans have not reached the stage where specific components have been selected for ports; (3) at many proposed locations, the economic benefits of installing VTS 2000 are unclear; (4) VTS 2000 stakeholders stated that they have had no involvement with the program; (5) support for VTS 2000 is mixed because potential stakeholders believe that it will be too expensive for their ports and users would be unfairly targeted; (6) supporters of other VTS systems believed that alternate systems would be less expensive or existing systems were sufficient; (7) ports without VTS favor adding some form of VTS capability, but are reluctant to fund it; and (8) the privatization of VTS depends on the private sector's ability to fund the system, exposure to liability, and the Coast Guard's ability to oversee the transition.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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