| Title | Panama Canal : a new course for the canal |
|---|---|
| Record ID | 52452 |
| Source | Volpe Journal, Spring 1999, pp. 2-9 |
| Corporate Creator | John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.) |
| Publisher | John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (U.S.) |
| Publication Date | 19990000 |
| Language | English |
| Abstract | While the Panama Canal provides significant time savings, passage through this narrow waterway presents a host of challenges. Soon all canal pilots will have a new tool in their efforts to safely guide vessels through this difficult canal: a Communications, Traffic Management, and Navigation (CTAN) system. This new system makes the canal safer and more efficient by using satellite data to create a real-time display that shows the location of every vessel in the canal. A coordinated system of 120 mobile units communicate with a control center via a shore-based communications network. The mobile units consist of a global positioning system receiver and antenna, a laptop computer, and another radio antenna for communications with the control center. Roughly half of the mobile units are permanently installed on floating resources such as tugboats and dredges. The remaining units are carried by canal pilots onto transiting vessels. The CTAN system gives canal pilots and traffic control staff an entirely new perspective from which to view the complex choreography of 50,000-ton (45,360-Mg) vessels slipping into narrow locks and scooting past one another around tight corners, even if the view from the bridge is obscured by fog or rain |
| Rosap ID | dot:12089 |
| Rosap URL | https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/12089 |
| TRT Terms | Antennas; Crash avoidance systems; Navigation systems; Communication systems; Mobile communication systems; Computers; Dredges; Global Positioning System; Radio receivers; Ship pilotage; Locks (Waterways); Canals; Vessel traffic control |
| General Subjects | Panama Canal |
| Classification | NTL - MARINE/WATERWAYS TRANSPORTATION - MARINE/WATERWAYS TRANSPORTATION; NTL - MARINE/WATERWAYS TRANSPORTATION - Marine Planning and Policy; NTL - MARINE/WATERWAYS TRANSPORTATION - Marine Safety; NTL - MARINE/WATERWAYS TRANSPORTATION - Ships and Vessels; NTL - OPERATIONS AND TRAFFIC CONTROLS - Traffic Flow; NTL - OPERATIONS AND TRAFFIC CONTROLS - Traffic Control Devices; NTL - OPERATIONS AND TRAFFIC CONTROLS - OPERATIONS AND TRAFFIC CONTROLS |
| Geographical Coverage |
Panama |
| ISSN | 0033-8826 |
| Availability | Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, Technical Reference Center |
| Resource type | Tech Report |
| URL | https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/52000/52400/52452/VJ1999_Panama.pdf |
| Format | |
| Database | NTL Digital Repository |