India has launched a Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) and Vessels Traffic Monitoring Systems (VTMS) software solution, the Ministry of Shipping said on Tuesday.

The software solution developed by the Indian Institute of Technology at Chennai, 347 km East of Bengaluru, will determine vessel positions, meteorological hazard warnings and extensively manage the traffic within a port or waterway.

India has approximately 15 VTS systems operational along the Indian Coast and there is no uniformity of VTS software as each system has its own VTS software.

It is expected that a prototype system will be developed in 10-month time and till then a parallel system will test and operate for day-to-day operation, the ministry said in a statement.

VTMS is mandatory under IMO Convention SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) as it integrates all of the information into a single operator working environment for ease of use and in order to allow for effective traffic organization and communication.