In 2025, General Fishing Boats Will Also Use Safety Information and Remote Medical Services... 'Bada Navi' Improvement

The 1st Basic Plan for Intelligent Maritime Traffic Information Service... Aiming for '24-Hour Global Service'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government will advance the currently implemented intelligent maritime traffic information service called 'Bada Navigation' (e-Navigation). By 2025, it will provide safety information such as wave height and weather changes to fishing vessels and recreational fishing boats, and apply remote medical services to general fishing vessels as well.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 29th the '1st Basic Plan for Intelligent Maritime Traffic Information Service (2021?2025)' and this year's implementation plan, which include significant improvements to the Bada Navigation service.

The Ministry will first develop technology to enable Bada Navigation to provide detailed safety-related information such as wave height, weather changes, and water depth changes for vessels vulnerable to accidents, including fishing vessels, yachts, and recreational fishing boats. It will analyze areas where accidents frequently occur and provide real-time maritime traffic density information. In particular, customized maritime traffic information will be provided by sea areas divided according to purpose and function, such as traffic separation schemes, traffic safety special sea areas, oil tanker traffic prohibited areas, and traffic-dense areas around ports.

For coastal passenger ships, technology will be developed by 2024 to enable Bada Navigation to automatically detect ship stability status and fire occurrences. The Ministry plans to invest 26.4 billion KRW in these efforts by 2025. Remote medical services supporting seafarers suffering from illness or injury while at sea will be prioritized for the navy and government vessels by 2023, and later expanded to general vessels such as fishing and cargo ships. For small vessels without installed ship position transmitters, a system to monitor illegal immigration using radar information and mobile app technology will be established by 2023.

In the event of a disaster, procedures for response through base stations will be established within this year to utilize the ultra-high-speed maritime wireless communication network (LTE-M) applied to Bada Navigation as an emergency communication means. By next year, a system will be created using the LTE-M network to enable cooperation among the Coast Guard, Fire Agency, and local governments in maritime accidents.

The Ministry will support the commercialization of maritime traffic big data such as marine accident occurrence information and fishing vessel operation information by providing it to private companies by 2024, so that Bada Navigation and the LTE-M network can be more widely used in the private sector. Furthermore, to capture the global market in the digital maritime traffic information service industry, competitive technologies such as next-generation electronic chart equipment, next-generation digital communication equipment, and maritime traffic safety management platforms will be selected and supported for research and development (R&D).

The Ministry will establish an international cooperation office in Sejong City starting this year to ensure that Bada Navigation operates 24/7 without interruption across all global waters without border restrictions, and will begin technology development to implement the Maritime Connectivity Platform (MCP) for international information sharing. Through this, the Ministry aims for the Bada Navigation service usage rate to reach 80% of all registered domestic vessels (97,000 ships) by 2025.

According to the Ministry, the introduction of Bada Navigation is expected to grow the digital maritime traffic information market to a scale of 290 trillion KRW over the next decade.