News & Accolades

Outstanding Maritime R&D and Technology Award 2019 (IMA 2019)

ASTAR I2R ST IMA2019 Award

A*STAR I2R's Satellite team, together with ST Engineering, won the Outstanding Maritime R&D and Technology Award for the Singapore International Maritime Awards 2019 (IMA 2019) on the VDES project.

The Guest-of-Honour, Dr Lam Pin Min, Senior Minister of State for Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Health presented this award during the award ceremony dinner held on 8 April 2019.

Through a joint effort between ST Engineering's Electronics and A*Star's Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), a Very High Frequency (VHF) Data Exchange System (VDES) for safe navigation at sea was developed, a first for Singapore's maritime sector.

The VDES provides a robust communication system supporting the safety and efficiency of both ship and shore operations.

In particular, the system facilitates collision avoidance and real-time maritime communications applications such as search and rescue, marine safety information and notices, automated reporting and vessel traffic information services.

The system is capable of digital transmission at higher data rates of 32 times the current Automatic Identification System - a tracking system that uses transponders on ships and is used by vessel traffic services - and a long-range coverage of up to 100 kilometres.

VDES is one of several technologies that Singapore has adopted as part of its efforts to enhance safety at sea and at its port.

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