Smarter and safer navigation: new buoy begins operating near the Port of Klaipėda

The Port of Klaipėda is introducing smart navigation technologies, with a new buoy equipped with advanced sensors now operating near the port of Klaipėda. The innovative device will help improve cargo flow management, ensure safer navigation during GPS signal disruptions and contribute to more environmentally friendly port operations.

“The Port of Klaipėda is constantly looking for innovative solutions that can make its operations safer, smoother and more efficient. The smart buoy deployed in the Baltic Sea is already collecting important navigation data and transmitting it to shore. In the future, this information will help us plan vessel arrivals more flexibly, respond quickly to changing conditions and better prepare for vessels entering the port. Being one of the demonstration sites for advanced solutions developed under the MOVEO project gives us an opportunity to test and assess innovations that can improve navigational safety, help manage cargo flows more efficiently and support more environmentally friendly operations,” says Algis Latakas, CEO of the Klaipėda State Seaport Authority.

The buoy has been deployed in the Baltic Sea, four nautical miles from the port entrance. Its sensors collect and transmit real-time data on wave height, direction and period, current speed and direction, water and air temperature, atmospheric pressure, as well as GPS signal interference.

The data is already being stored at the Port Authority’s data centre. In the next stage of the project, MOVEO partner MC Baltics will use this information to develop a hydrometeorological forecasting algorithm based on a machine learning model. By combining real-time measurements with historical data, the system will provide more accurate forecasts of conditions in the Port of Klaipėda and its approaches.

In practical terms, the system will make it possible to adjust logistics plans in real time and optimise cargo and transport flows, helping make vessel traffic smoother and more efficient.

The new buoy and its advanced equipment will also be useful when vessels approaching the port experience GPS signal interference. In such situations, the buoy will serve as a reliable reference point, helping vessels navigate towards the area at sea where they are met by Port Authority pilots. The pilots then use specialised equipment designed to operate despite signal interference to guide vessels safely into and through the port.

The Port of Klaipėda is one of five demonstration sites where technological innovations developed under the MOVEO project are being tested. In total, 18 innovations will be developed and tested in Switzerland, Italy, France and Lithuania. The demonstration sites cover different types of infrastructure, climate conditions and stages of the infrastructure life cycle.

MOVEO is a European research and innovation project funded under the Horizon Europe programme. The project has a total budget of EUR 5,735,250. The budget allocated to the Port of Klaipėda is EUR 395,600, with 70% of the costs covered by project funding.