Keywords

1 River Information Services in the International Context

In 2005 the European Parliament and the European Council adopted Directive 2005/44/EC, dealing with harmonized River Information Services (RIS) on Inland Waterways of the Community. The definition of RIS, as stated in the RIS Directive (2005/44), is the following: “River information services means that the harmonized information services to support traffic and transport management in inland navigation, including, wherever technically feasible, interfaces with other transport modes”.

A challenge in the port of Seville and the Guadalquivir is that RIS is implemented in an inland river with maritime traffic and transport. In this environment apart from the EU directive on River Information Services also maritime directives on monitoring and reporting of maritime vessels must be taken in account.

The RIS Guidelines are published by the European Commission as Commission Regulation nº. 2007/414/EC and contain guidelines on the development, implementation, and operation of River Information Services. The Guidelines and recommendations for river information services have been used in the AIRIS-PS project as guidance for the development of services and technologies for the Port of Seville and the Guadalquivir. The RIS guidelines define also the objectives of RIS and the information needs based on the objectives of the stakeholders. The RIS guidelines further provide an overview of the services as the essential core-principal of RIS and as given in the Fig. 1.

Fig. 1.
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River information services for transportation and traffic control

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The RIS Guidelines provide a functional decomposition of RIS services into RIS information. RIS key technologies and RIS systems/applications are relevant for understanding the RIS concept and the implementation of the key technologies and systems and application in Seville and the Guadalquivir.

2 Implementation Strategy of RIS in the Seville

The study on applicability of RIS key technologies and RIS systems and applications in the port of Seville and the Guadalquivir was performed as a best practices paper-study. The structured approach of the AIRIS-PS implementation plan was based on the decomposition of the RIS services into RIS technologies and systems as specified in the RIS Guidelines.

The structured implementation of RIS contributes to the strategic target for safe, efficient in the Guadalquivir and the port and competitive transport through the Port of Seville by:

  • Better understanding of the waterway: i.e., accurate bathymetry, accurate model of tidal, accurate measurement of the height of the water surface and waves, etc.,

  • Better traffic information on the waterway and in the port: vessel characteristics - size and draft -, cargo characteristics, etc.,

  • Better traffic management in the Guadalquivir Euroway: optimization of human (e.g., navigation pilots) and material resources, of anchorage areas, optimization of convoys entering and leaving the Euroway, etc.,

  • Better management of emergencies,

  • Better coordination of port operations, etc.

  • Better transport information in a multimodal environment – maritime and inland waterway transport, rail and road transport.

The implementation plan takes in account the actual and predicted:

  • Traffic intensity and complexity,

  • The geographic infrastructural conditions and

  • The transport performance and transport requirements.

3 River Information Services Implementation

The functional systems architecture as the basis for the AIRIS-PS implementation plan and implementation strategy was defined and three RIS pilots were defined, implemented and deployed in the Port of Seville and in the Guadalquivir Euroway, in order to demonstrate the feasibility of the solutions adopted in AIRIS-PS for RIS implementation:

  • FIS - Fairway Information Services

  • TIS – Traffic Information Services

  • TMS – Traffic Management Services.

3.1 FIS-Fairway Information Services

3.1.1 Fiware IoT Platform

The following figure depicts the whole architecture of the AIRIS project where the different RIS services are interconnected and fully integrated through an advanced IoT Platform for service integration. This platform provides also access to IoT network deployed along the river and other external sources relevant to the domain (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2.
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Architecture of the AIRIS project

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The Fiware IoT Platform constitutes the core of the project since it is the component that allows the integration of the different subsystems that are part of the functional architecture: sensor and actuator networks, the FIS web portal, TIS & TMS pilots. The platform provides a shared database for all RIS services that rely on it as a fundamental structural component. The platform has been developed with open-source technologies based on Fiware technical components The following figure depicts the components of the Fiware platform (Fig. 3):

Fig. 3.
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Logical architecture of the FIS system solution

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3.1.2 Meteorological and Hydrological Sensorization and Intelligent Maritime Signaling

The monitoring of the hydrological conditions of the channel allows obtaining information on water quality, turbidity, PH as well as detecting the presence of chemical and/or bacteriological discharges. In addition to water quality parameters, the hydrological monitoring of the channel also covers the measurement of quantities whose values are useful, such as real-time water level measurement, alteration of the sea surface or waves, or the speed and direction of flows of marine currents. On the other hand, access to real-time measurements or predictions of meteorological data allows to provide information on visibility, adverse weather conditions and other relevant data of interest in river navigation.

The signaling system allows creating warnings and alarms in cases of poor visibility on the waterway or dangerous magnitude and direction of the water current or flooding. The signaling luminous intensity does depend on the proximity of a ship and the luminosity existing in the environment. It also incorporates a siren that reinforces the functional operation by adding an alarm in the most critical case. This system was implemented in a zone where the change of currents between calm waters by the exit of the lock and the normal current of the river downstream, makes this environment a critical point in the navigation of the ships.

3.1.3 FIS Web Portal

The FIS Portal is a portal to provide in an integrated way the Fairway Information Services of the port of Seville and the Guadalquivir and the geography of the navigation area and their updates. The FIS Portal provides the stakeholders in a structured way information on:

  • Static port and waterway information as with the main functions proposed in the RIS guidelines like:

    • Navigation aids and traffic signs

    • Status of the Guadalquivir, the lock in the port area

    • Physical limitations of the Guadalquivir and the lock

    • Lock operating times and opening hours of port facilities

    • Navigational rules and regulations

  • (Semi) dynamic port and waterway information in accordance with the RIS guidelines like:

    • Water depths in the Guadalquivir and the port

    • Actual hydrological and meteorological information

    • Water levels at gauges, present water level info for a certain stretch

    • Actual and predicted restrictions caused by “flood”

  • As Notices to Mariners the following information is provided:

    • Actual and long-time term obstructions in the fairway

    • Malfunctions of aids to navigation.

This Web Portal consists in an accessible webpage from the official website of the APS that allows the centralized publication of all the relevant FIS information of the channel so that all interested parties can easily consult public information. In addition, after authenticating and logging into the page, the user (portal administrator) can generate FIS information to publish it on the portal and access the user interface that interacts with the service platform in order to perform certain actions (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4.
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FIS web portal

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3.1.4 Port Information Guide

The Port Information Guide is a detailed document available in the FIS Web Portal for all the users to provide them, in a harmonized way, reliable and accurate information about the Guadalquivir and the Port of Seville, ensuring that all information related to navigation, port and freight transport management is concentrated and off-line available.

3.2 TIS – Traffic Information Services

3.2.1 Vessel Traffic Monitoring

The Vessel Traffic Monitoring or ‘Port Monitor’, is a particularized VTS-system for the Port of Seville and the Guadalquivir Euroway. It provides the operator a complete overview on a real-time tactical traffic image of the operation area of the Seville Port Authority on top of a Bathymetric electronic nautical chart (bENC) and allows displaying AIS information of the vessels inside the VTS area.

The Port Monitor has been configured to visualize the waterway as a whole and as different key sections. For AIRIS project, a specific screen layout has been chosen. In the upper part, the entire stretch of the Guadalquivir is displayed. In the lower part, two detail views are placed. The area displayed in these views can be switch to different preconfigured sections of the river by pressing hotkeys. The figure below shows an area near the estuary (left side) and the port of Seville (right side) (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5.
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Port Monitor’s screen display with Guadalquivir overview map and detail views

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The Port Monitor enables the operator to have special features for alarming and signaling of specific vessels within predefined rules. For example, in case of the local regulation states a maximum speed in an area, the Port Monitor can signal or even alarm at higher speed. Different types of alerting and signaling features are available, like speed and illegal anchoring alerts. The port monitor will also facilitate the operator with measuring tools like: CPA and TCPA (Time to Closest Point of Approach) between vessels and between vessel and shore, and SoG and CoG (speed and course over ground).

The Port monitor tool has been implemented in AIRIS project in two ways: as an internal application (inDTS), a fat client running on a dedicated workstation that will be used by the lock operators of the Port of Seville, and as a web application (inDTSweb) used for external/remote access to the traffic image. In addition, inDTSweb features two additional modules also developed in the AIRIS project and described below: Trip Planner and Trip Monitor.

3.2.2 Voyage Plan Tracking Application

The Voyage plan tracking application or ‘Trip Monitor’ shares the same graphical user interface as the ‘Voyage Planner’ (described below) but adds the AIS information in 2D representation to compare the planned voyage created with the ‘Trip Planner’, and the real one in order to see possible deviations or delays in the entry to the lock of Seville.

For each sailing plan the places or stretches with risk should be minimized to an acceptable level in order to get the agreed sailing plan. Based on an agreed sailing plan the pilot/vessel can execute the voyage. The agreed voyage plan is available for presentation on the pilot’s PPU and the Port Monitor graphically in a time-way-diagram that represents the passage of the vessels through the Guadalquivir.

During the trip the AIS position of the vessels is represented over this time-way-diagram of the voyage plan in order to provide the pilot on the PPU-screen and the operator on the port Monitor Screen the facility to follow the progress and the deviations of the sailing plan.

The user can monitor that the course and duration of the actual itinerary carried out by the vessel correspond to the planned one. In this way, if needed measures can be taken on the basis of these deviation.

3.2.3 Bathymetric Chart Generation System

The Bathymetric chart generation system developed is based in a software application that enables the Port Authority to generate a bathymetric ENC, upload it to a cloud-based module to which different systems (PPUs and the VTS) can access to download the bENC.

The process of generating the bathymetric chart takes as input a standard nautical chart and the most recent bathymetry file generated by the port authority. The system is able to integrate the information content in a standardized nautical chart from these two data sources (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6.
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Generation of bathymetric ENC’s

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The generated bathymetric chart complies with the international standards of nautical charts, so it is compatible with the navigation software installed in the navigation aid devices (Portable Pilot Units), that pilots use during river navigation and, as it was mentioned before, with the Port Monitor that shows the traffic image in real time of the Guadalquivir over the bathymetric nautical chart generated and available in the system.

3.2.4 Portable Pilot Units (PPUs)

AIRIS project has included the acquisition of navigation aid devices that pilots will use during river navigation. This Portable Pilot Units (PPUs), provided with the navigation software and the AIRIS tools developed, allow:

  • To improve the safety and efficiency of waterborne traffic.

  • To improve the fairway usability and accessibility for vessels with dimensions that are going to reach the minimum limits of the fairway by collecting, processing, and employing dynamic parameters of the vessel and the environment.

  • Integration of the safety and efficiency related information exchange between the Port Monitor and the pilots.

  • The preparation and exchange of the voyage plan with the ship master, the bridge team and port authorities, to reach a complete and transparent overview of all factors regarding the safety and efficiency of the intended passage.

The PPUs can be operated in:

  • Information mode, where the PPU is using the pilot plug as information source for the navigation information. In this mode of use the traffic image presented on the PPU is for creating awareness of the traffic and navigation situation.

  • Navigation Mode, where the PPU is connected to high precision positioning information and the pilot can use the PPU as a high qualified navigation and information system.

The PPU provides the pilot on board a navigation assistance tool during the work of piloting, docking and undocking the ship. During navigation tasks, the help consists of representing dynamic information of the navigable channel, of the vessel itself and of traffic around it through a traffic image overlaying the bENC. In the maneuvers of berthing and undocking of the ship, the PPU provides a medium-term view of the position of the vessel after starting the maneuver, allowing the pilot and the captain to take corrective measures in case of danger.

The PPU is also able to present the voyage planed for the individual ship allowing the pilot to compare the predict voyage with the actual one in order to allow the pilot to make decisions so that the expected plan is followed. The PPUs have installed a specific module used to provide the Trip Monitor to the pilots. During their voyage on the Guadalquivir, the Trip Monitor is disconnected from the VTS and receives AIS and GPS data from the PPU sensors, and allows to get monitor, measuring and alerting tools like already mentioned for the Port Monitor, as well as the logging of the complete traffic image and related information of a complete pilots-voyage (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7.
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Portable pilot units

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3.3 TMS – Traffic Management Services Included

3.3.1 Voyage Planner with Tidal Window Prediction

In the Guadalquivir the period in which a vessel with a large draft can sail inward or outward bound is restricted by the tide. The tidal window for a vessel depends on the height of the tide and the ship’s draft. Extending the tidal window or predicting in a more precise way increases the navigational safety of the Guadalquivir and the port of Seville more attractive for deep draft vessels or for vessels to carry more cargo. In addition, the avoidance of ship encounters or passings for inward bound and outward-bound vessels in critical areas of the river will improve the safety and efficiency of traffic in the Guadalquivir and thus the image of the port of Seville.

These two topics – the accurate prediction of a tidal window for vessels entering and leaving the port of Seville as well as avoiding encounters of vessels in the Guadalquivir – were the principal objective for the development and implementation of the voyage planner (or ‘Trip Planner’). This software tool includes the tidal window planning for the development of sailing plans for the visiting vessels from sea to quay vice versa.

Principal stakeholders for this voyage planner are of course the vessels visiting the port of Seville, but the principal users of the voyage planner are going to be the pilots and the port authority APS. APS is the authority authorized to give permission to visiting vessels when they comply with the rules for entering or leaving the port.

The voyage planner takes in account:

  • Fairway characteristics and information like:

    • Maximum speed allowed in sections of the fairway.

    • Sections where encounters of vessels are not allowed or not advisable.

    • Measured depths and thresholds of fairway.

    • Anchoring restrictions.

  • Environmental conditions like:

    • Actual and predicted meteo information.

    • Actual and predicted tidal information.

  • Ship characteristics like:

    • Ship details.

    • Place of destination/departure.

    • ETA for arriving. Vessels, ETD for departing vessels.

    • Actual draught.

With respect to the tidal information the University of Malaga has performed a study on the hydrographical model for the Guadalquivir. The results of this study have been used as input on the tidal prediction information on different positions in the Guadalquivir. The voyage planner calculates in an iterative process the sailing plan of each vessel that is heading for the port of Seville or is planned to departure from the port of Seville based on above mentioned information and characteristics. The resulting sailing plan of a vessel in addition complies with:

  • Safety margin between 2 consecutive vessels.

  • Required time of arrival at the lock for each vessel.

  • Vessel passing and encounter restrictions.

As depicted below, the right part of the graphical user interface corresponds to the menu to configure the vessels available in a certain time whilst the left window provides the graphic image of the vessels entering/departing the port, the crossing areas and the tidal information represented in blue. The green vertical squares indicate areas where the crossing of vessels is safe (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8.
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Trip Planner graphical user interface

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The Voyage Planner is a web-based application which enables the APS to enhance the planification of the vessels considering the best timeslot of the tidal conditions in the Guadalquivir estuary. The combination of the sailing plans of all vessels is presented in an overall voyage plan time-way-diagram that results in an integral and optimized voyage planification of all vessels that will sail through the Guadalquivir inward or outward bound of the Port area.

3.3.2 Digital Waterway Network

In special for the Voyage planner there is a need for a digitized waterway network. The Digital Waterway Network (DWN) is a set of logical objects that contain the topological, bathymetric, topographic, functional and operational information of the waterway (waterway). It consists of a logical abstraction of the waterway by fragmenting it into a set of finite segments joining certain reference nodes.

The segmentation of the river should be based on the characterizing conditions of a certain part of the river. So called nodes are connecting segments of the DWN, the nodes will be located in those locations in which there is a change in any of the features or attributes of the waterway. For the development of the DWN the RIS index with the ISRS code have been used as coding principle. By doing so the experience with the RIS index in the rest of Europe can be used and it results in a practical usable and consistent coding format.

For the voyage planner the segments characterize the topology of the waterway with respect to:

  • Topography of the estuary.

  • Areas with specific depth of the waterway.

  • Areas with specific width of the waterway (e.g., area’s where encounters are forbidden).

  • Areas with speed restrictions.

  • Location of specific infrastructure influencing navigation (Lock, Quays, and docks).

  • Anchoring areas, etc.

4 Strategic View of the AIRIS Project’s Results

The AIRIS Project is of high technological value and of a high impact on the port activities of the port of Seville and has allowed bringing the first steps to digitization of the Guadalquivir Euroway in order to monitor the entire estuary with sensors to obtain real time information about the state of the river, monitor and manage the vessel’s traffic along the river. The substantial improvement of the services provided in the Guadalquivir Euroway through the RIS services implemented makes it possible to improve the traffic information and the management of the traffic of ships that use the Guadalquivir River as a waterway with origin or destination Seville. Applied technologies, such as that of the hydrological information service that can predict the height of the tide and the amount of water available throughout the route, jointly with traffic monitoring and travel’s planification tools, allow the entry of ships with greater drafts and/or dimensions so that can perform their maneuvers safely. Also, another tool that helps to better understand the waterway is the one that integrates information on the bathymetries, giving exact results that allow a better performance in the dredging of the river or that can facilitate the ideal location to allow the passage of two or more ships simultaneously without putting the ship itself or the congestion that may arise in the Euroway itself at risk. All this become in a tool in decision-making and port management that favors the correct maneuverability of ships along the river and the prediction and correct management of hydrological and climatic conditions presented by the Euroway.

The implementation of this Project also supposes a reduction in the costs derived from the transport, since, by allowing the passage through the Euroway del Guadalquivir of ships of greater dimensions and drafts, it is allowing the passage to a greater capacity of movement of the load because said ships will have greater transport capacities, which means a reduction in the cost of transporting the merchandise.

The impact that this Project generates is high, as it allows improving coordination between different actors in the port community on the exchange of data and generating direct impact on the end customer of the port. Apart from these good results obtained, the AIRIS Project is an excellent example for Europe as the implementation of the intelligent RIS services and technologies will bring the port of Seville in the coming years to a higher performance level through:

  • Optimize port resources (pilots, stevedores, moorings, tugboats).

  • Improve under-keel-clearance predictions and real-time monitoring, the prediction of tides and windows, including some additional phenomena such as meteorological tides (storms and spring tides), river discharges, etc.

  • Improve the identification and detection of the position of vessels in critical sections of the river.

  • Improve ETA predictions by integrating with eNavigation developments.

  • Improve cross-planning and real-time control of operations (Synchronization) between the water side (ships) and the land side (rail and road).

  • Optimizing the speeds allowed in the waterway, as well as redefining the limitations for the crossing of vessels in the sections of the waterway and improve real-time control of joint operations (ship-train; ship-road).

  • Improve document transfer by digitizing port processes. The FIS platform has a great capacity to interoperate both with systems - internal and external - as well as with physical devices.

  • Optimize billing processes as the FIS platform allows the improvement of the quality of data mainly related to ship fees and, in the future, to the pricing of port services.

The strategic objective of the Port of Seville is to become the reference port in southern Spain for the management of intermodal traffic, mainly between the Canary Islands and the interior of the peninsula. This objective is part of a strategy aimed at guaranteeing sustainable growth to make the Port of Seville a key player in increasing economic activity and generating high-quality jobs in its immediate surroundings, especially in Seville and its area of influence. The application of RIS services allows to satisfy the strategic objectives that the port of Seville has proposed:

  • Increase in domestic profits: this will be achieved through the AIRIS-PS project thanks to cost savings in transport, derived mainly from an improvement in relation to the ship (larger dimensions, load capacity), an improvement in relation to the state of the inland waterway (state of bathymetry, management of the passage of ships, greater control of incoming and outgoing ships), an improvement in the optimization of the navigation pilots (practical).

  • Improvement in the management of emergencies (number of accidents, response time and resolution of the accident).

  • Increase in social benefits, by reducing externalities on other types of transport and reinforcing its role as an accelerator of innovation in the region, being able to offer other value-added services such as: streamlining intermodality through the synchronization between modes of transport (reduction of waiting times for ships, merchandise on esplanades, etc.), and greater traceability of operations and services related to the ship and the merchandise (ETA/ATA, ETD/ATD, Improvement in the stay times of ships in the navigation channel and port, quality levels of basic port services, etc.).

  • Increase in the capacity and competitiveness of the companies that operate in the port.

5 Conclusions

The substantial improvement of the services provided in the Eurovía del Guadalquivir with the RIS services implemented makes it possible to improve the management of the traffic of ships that use the Guadalquivir River as a waterway with origin or destination Seville. This means that certain applied technologies, such as that of the hydrological information service, can predict the height of the tide and the amount of water available throughout the route, allowing the entry of ships with greater drafts and / or dimensions so that can perform their maneuvers safely. Another tool that helps to better understand the waterway is the one that integrates information on the bathymetries, giving exact results that allow a better performance in the dredging of the Eurovía or that can facilitate the ideal location to allow the passage of two or more ships simultaneously without putting the ship itself or the congestion that may arise in the Eurovía itself at risk.

All this supposes a reduction in the costs derived from the transport, since, by allowing the passage through the Eurovía del Guadalquivir of ships of greater dimensions and drafts, it is allowing the passage to a greater capacity of movement of the load because said ships will have greater transport capacities, which means a reduction in the cost of transporting the merchandise.

In the future, services may be implemented that allow the ship operator to calculate optimal arrival times at the port of Seville, according to the conditions of the tide that will allow them to have a reduction of emissions in fuel consumption, or, from the point of view of accidents at sea, incidents can be detected and communicated more easily in order to respond as quickly as possible.

The implementation of the different RIS services generates and is expected to have a direct impact on the port management of the port of Seville. This impact is reflected at the European level, positioning Seville as a port that digitizes the entrance and exit channel of its port through sensors and technological tools that help to optimally manage the passage of ships from or to the sea, to the city of Seville, through its digital twin integrated into the FIS platform.

Based on the evaluation study it can be deducted that a great advance has been achieved in the digitization of the Guadalquivir Eurovía, from the physical point of view and applied in port management through the RIS services.

In the medium term, it is recommended to integrate information and services related to operations in the ship-port interface and towards intermodality, integrating data and processes related to other initiatives that the APS has currently underway or has planned in the near future.

Related with proposals for the evolution towards integrated management, the Port of Seville aims to evolve towards a benchmark multimodal node in the European transport network and become the engine of the main logistics and industrial cluster in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, as a valuable asset for Seville and a promoter of the Guadalquivir estuary.

To sum up, the RIS services generates and has a direct impact on the port management of the port of Seville. This impact is reflected at the European level, positioning Seville as a port that digitizes the entrance and exit channel of its port through technological tools that help to optimally manage the passage of ships from or to the sea, to the city of Seville. As the next step, after AIRIS I, APS is also involved in the AIRIS II Project, which addresses the implementation of RIS services associated with transport and intermodality management, through the development of real-time control and planning tools in order to improve the management of synchronization in the transport chain, considering the different modes of transport (rail, maritime and road trucks).