Unified Tokyo Bay traffic control center begins operations

January 31, 2018

Yokohama- A unified traffic control center that oversees shipping routes in Tokyo Bay started operations on Wednesday.

The Tokyo Wan Vessel Traffic Service Center in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo, was created through the integration of four control facilities and one traffic center that had been located around the bay.

The new center is expected to help ease traffic congestion in Tokyo Bay, one of the world's busiest waterways, used by some 500 vessels a day on average. Its creation is also intended to enable better responses in times of large-scale disasters.

At the opening ceremony for the new center, Kiyoshi One, commander of the Japan Coast Guard's third regional headquarters in Yokohama, said, "With the start of operations, we'd like to renew our resolve to ensure the safety of traffic in Tokyo Bay and contribute to our country's development."

Following the March 2011 major earthquake and tsunami, many ships evacuated to Tokyo Bay. During the peak period, as many as 410 vessels were in the bay, posing a danger of collisions and presenting a major challenge in terms of traffic control.

Located in the same building as the regional coast guard headquarters, the unified control center is tasked with keeping tabs on the moves of vessels in Tokyo Bay, using sophisticated radars and surveillance cameras.

Thanks to a revision of a related law, the new center has greater authority than the previous facilities. It is entitled to restrict the entry of ships to the bay and order vessels in the bay to move to safe waters or exit the bay.

Congestion in Tokyo Bay is expected to ease as port entry procedures in normal times have been simplified and the new center will unify traffic control from the mouth of the bay to ports. Jiji Press