Queens Group pioneers in VTMS in Sri Lanka

The Colombo Port recently received the latest Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS) from Queens Group, pioneers in the field of Marine Electronics since 1956

This specialised VTMS is the first and only one of its kind in the country from Signalis of France an Airbus Defense and Space company; owners of Airbus Industries of France and Cassidian Oy Finland.
“This state of the art radar and AIS based system with digitisers will enable Sri Lanka Ports Authority to manage and monitor vessel traffic efficiently and effectively,” said Queens Group Managing Director Dinesh Motha.
“This system will undoubtedly increase the productivity and drastically reduce the operating costs for the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.”
The project was undertaken at a cost of 6.0 million euro on a Turn Key basis by Signalis partners in Sri Lanka the Queens Group. “The advanced networking system has the capability to easily network with other ports in Sri Lanka and is a fully expandable system that can meet the future demands and challenges of the shipping industry,” added Motha.
This Vessel Traffic Management System is operational in the world’s leading ports including China, Korea, Bulgaria, India, Denmark, Kuwait, Germany, Qatar, France, Taiwan and Malaysia to name a few. Some of the advantages of using this system includes vessel management and safety provision in large-scale and high-density ports; improved quality of port services and resource utilisation (compliant with ISPS Code); large scale planning and traffic coordination in regional or national areas; easy detection of illegal activity; greater safety of life and property and reduced risk associated with marine operations.
Apart from what has already been mentioned, this system provides primary support for collision avoidance and mitigates consequences of incidents, environmental protection, it distributes VTS-related information to interested parties, stores VTS data for administrative purposes and incident analysis and provides assistance in search and rescue operations.
The Queens Group is a well established group of companies headed by the third generation Dinesh Motha and has been in operation since 1956; in diverse fields such as Marine Electronics, Aviation Electronics, Railway, and Water and Automotive sectors. The company is an ISO 9001:2008 Group certified by DNV and is a Dunn & Bradstreet rated company.
Cassidian Oy of Finland a manufacturer of Mission Critical communication solutions (another Airbus Defense and Space company) together with their local partners Queens Group are the suppliers of the first and only TETRA Trunk Radio communication systems on a turnkey basis in Sri Lanka to the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) and Mattala Rajapakse International Airport (MRIA) which are fully owned and operated by the Airport & Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Limited. This has made airport communications more secure and safer while providing a colossal savings in terms of costs and dependence on third party services. The system is fully expandable and widely used in Europe, Asia and the USA by Airports, Public Security companies, Railways and the Military services.
Motha firmly believes that it is vital to have the right product at the right place and at the right price. “I believe our core strength has been our constant investments in improvement of skill levels of our staff, after sales service levels and close customer interaction. The Group as a whole has diversified considerably over the past eight years, and has been responsible for numerous projects both in Sri Lanka and internationally in the field of Marine and Aviation electronics sectors.”
It is noteworthy to mention that the Queens Group has supplied Instrument Landing Systems (ILS) and High Frequency Transmitters for air traffic communication to the Bandaranaike International Airport and Athidiya transmitting station respectively.
In addition to above the Queens Group also supply on a turnkey basis specialised Ship Navigational equipment packages including GMDSS (Global Maritime Distress Search Signal) equipment to Colombo Dockyard Plc. and local boat builders from their partner manufactures in Japan, UK, Norway, USA and Denmark.
The Queens Group have supplied Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport – MRIA on a turnkey basis critical safety equipment viz complete Air Navigation Package, Communication Systems, Aircraft Fire Fighting Vehicles and Rapid Intervention Vehicles.
The Group has been earmarked for similar projects in the Marine, Aviation and Infrastructure sectors tied to European funding agencies.