Ships navigate freely when in the open sea, but their freedom of movement is reduced in areas with intense traffic, restricted draught or obstacles. In such cases, a traffic separation scheme (TSS) can be established to guide the ship traffic. This paper is based on work performed in connection with a proposed bridge across Fehmarnbelt between Denmark and Germany, and the purpose is to estimate the efficiency of a TSS guiding traffic through the main bridge openings. The efficiency in terms of getting the traffic through the traffic lanes without the TSS hindering traffic flow is an important decision parameter in the bridge design process. In this paper, we present a new “free flow” paradigm based on an innovative, dynamic application of the ship domain theory.

Managing the transit vessel traffic in the Strait of Istanbul is a highly complex operation since vessels, weather and water conditions, and a set of regulations affect its operation significantly. At the present time, the Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) operators manage the traffic based on some fundamental rules. After discussions with the VTS, in this report, we present a mathematical formulation of the scheduling process currently in place and validate it by comparing its results with scheduling decisions made by the operators in some days of 2005. The results are highly promising. The fundamental philosophy of the algorithm is to schedule the vessels with highest waiting time first while giving priority to large vessels carrying dangerous cargo. Our goal has been to incorporate the algorithm into a simulation model designed to be used for risk analysis purposes. The proposed algorithm can be slightly altered and used for traffic scheduling in other waterways as well.