The first VTS system in Cirebon in Indonesia was inaugurated in the beginning of 2020. The system was delivered by KONGBERG Norcontrol with IHM as subcontractor on the radio communication solution. With the opening of this system, the Indonesian Government has taken another step toward fulfilling it’s vision of establishing a Sea highway. When all 19 VTS systems are completed in the near future, the High Seaway will contribute to higher safety for ships but also to contribute to the local areas’ economy.
State-of-the-art VTS system
The task for the Cirebon project was to establish a radar station and upgrade the existing system. Thus, the capacity has been increased from 2 to 3 base station as well as enabled dual work 24/7. In the future, this control room will be a part of a national VTS system, whereby surveillance and radio coverage of the total Indonesian Sea Highway are accomplished.
IHM radio communication system is a part of VTS system (IALA compliant) delivered by KONGSBERG, whereby operators in the control room manage the communication of the three base stations via all-in-one touch screens PCs. Hence, the operators obtain a more efficient operation of the communication because of the one operation panel.
IHM's out-of-the-box radio communication system
‘The IHM solution for the Cirebon project is based on our ‘out-of-the box’ radio communication solution, IHM IP Flexible, which where adapted to the special requirements for the project,’ explains Hardy Mortensen, CEO at IHM. ‘IHM IP Flexible is a product in our Plug N Play communication product line which is solutions that are easy to deploy due to an embedded setup program. However, for this project, we did some adjustments as the radio communication had to be a part of a larger VTS system. We also needed to upgrade the existing Danphone radios.’
‘A couple of years ago, we decided to produce standard maritime radio communication system, in order to provide a radio system for small organization with the need of only a couple of radios, and still provide the functionalities needed in a modern communication,’ expresses Hardy Mortensen. ‘Now we see an increase in the demand for such cost-efficient radio communication systems that are easy to deploy, too.’
Reasons for choosing IHM equipment
Björn Coster, Managing Director of KONGSBERG Norcontrol, says: ‘It’s a great pleasure to contribute to the Indonesian vision. We delivered a system that fits the needs of today as well as for the future.’ He emphasizes that it was important that the radio communication, too, were scalable and could be a part of a larger system in the future.
Besides this, Björn Coster, adds: ‘We also chose the IHM equipment because of the ability to interface to 3rd party products, to integrate with the KONGSBERG VTS and because it’s reliability.’
‘IHM and KONGSBERG have a long-lasting relationship, and together, we have delivered several successful projects. We knew that IHM were able to meet the requirements of upgrading the system, hereunder updating the existing base stations - and in a very cost-efficient way,’ Björn Coster ends.