Participants of VTS Zatoka Gdańska

Participants of VTS Zatoka Gdańska

Vessels’ obligations in the VTS Zatoka Gdańska area

1) All vessels in the VTS area are required to comply with the VTS Zatoka Gdańska Regulations contained in Ordinance No. 11 of the Director of the Maritime Office in Gdynia of 17 May 2023 - "Regulations of the Vessel Traffic Control Service (VTS Service)" (with later amendments). Additional information can be found in nautical publications, e.g. sailing directions; Locja Bałtyku   - Wybrzeże Polskie, 502.

2) The VTS reporting system is obligatory for all vessels entering the VTS area and located in the VTS area. Moreover, the notified vessels (i.e. all passenger vessels, cargo vessels with a gross tonnage of 150 and more and all vessels engaged in towage, regardless of the tonnage) are required to submit reports in accordance with the GDANREP system.

3) The vessels listed below may not enter the VTS area or leave the berth or anchorage in the VTS area without a traffic permit issued by the VTS centre:

• notified vessels;
• vessels posing a threat (a vessel that poses a direct and serious threat to the safety of the port or other water users of the VTS area due to e.g. the risk of loss of buoyancy, limited maneuverability, lack of positive stability, failure of navigation equipment or anchoring devices, creating a risk of spillage or release of dangerous substances into the water or atmosphere);
• vessels banned to enter the ports of states-parties of the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (Paris MOU) by decision of the port state inspection authority.

4) Other vessels equipped with VHF communication devices may participate voluntarily in the reporting system.

Duties of captains:

In the VTS Zatoka Gdańska area:

• the vessel's master is responsible all time for the correctness of the actions taken, for compliance with the provisions of the above-mentioned Ordinance No. 11 of 17 may 2023 - Regulations of the Vessel Traffic Control Service (VTS Service) (with later amendments) and for compliance with the regulations of the port state.
• prior to entering the VTS area, the master of the notified vessel should have an appropriate sailing plan in the VTS area, from the reporting line to the quay and back, hereinafter referred to as the VTS sailing plan.
• the master of each vessel operating in the VTS area is obliged to ensure that his vessel is manned with sufficient crew with appropriate qualifications, in accordance with the requirements of the vessel's flag administration.
• the master of each notified vessel should ensure that, prior to entering the VTS area from the sea or leaving any port or anchorage within the VTS area, the vessel is seaworthy in all aspects for the entire sea voyage and that its navigational equipment is fully operational, in accordance with the requirements of the administration of the vessel's flag state and international or Polish maritime safety regulations.
• the master of each vessel is obliged to report immediately to the VTS centre all facts known to him that may cause his vessel to be considered hazardous, and about any event or accident that may affect the safety of human life, safety and security of navigation, environmental protection or organization of maritime traffic.
• the master of each notified vessel in the VTS area is obliged to follow the instructions for the organization of traffic for the vessel received from the VTS centre. Such instructions will indicate the outcome of the action the vessel should take, leaving it to the master of the vessel as to how to execute them.
• the master of a vessel in the VTS area committing an offense specified in art. 56 of the Act of 21 March 1991 on maritime areas of the Republic of Poland and maritime administration is subject to a financial penalty imposed by the Main Operator of VTS Zatoka Gdańska by way of an administrative decision.