SMART-C Traffic : SMART-C Projects

Development of a SMART- Maritime Traffic Management System based on E-navigation Services and Improvement of Related Operational Capability in a Developing Country (Philippines)

Supporting Maritime Safety in the Philippines

Piloting web-based e-navigation services to support maritime safety across the Asia-Pacific region.

As part of the IMO-Republic of Korea SMART-C Framework, the SMART-C Traffic Project supports the Philippines in the implementation of relevant regulations under the SOLAS Convention through the development and operation of a web-based e-navigation service that can efficiently analyse and manage maritime safety information and search and rescue related information in an internet-based environment.

Contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals:

Project goal

This initiative supports the development of digital maritime safety systems in the Asia-Pacific region by establishing a testbed for web-based e-navigation services in the Philippines. The project contributes to marine accident prevention and marine environment protection, while delivering targeted capacity-building programs for maritime professionals.

The Issue

Philippine maritime context

The Philippines is one of the world’s most sea-dependent nations — an archipelago of over 7,000 islands where maritime transport plays a vital role in domestic connectivity, trade, and economic activity. As maritime traffic continues to increase, the expansion and improvement of marine safety and pollution prevention management infrastructures to support the prevention of marine accidents are major concerns of the Philippine government.

Under the SMART-C Traffic Project, the Philippines serves as a pilot for the development and testing of web-based e-navigation services aimed at supporting safer and more digitally enabled maritime operations across the Asia-Pacific region.

Initial Pilot Area

Cebu

Other Ports to Be Trialed

Manila · Batangas · Iloilo

Initial testing will be conducted in Cebu; subject to successful implementation, services will be trialed in other key ports (Manila, Batangas, and Iloilo).

Identification of requirements and design for the development of web-based e-Navigation system

Assessing the status of current maritime safety information management systems and current aids to navigation facilities, maintenance and operation management.

To lay the groundwork for digital maritime safety services, the SMART-C Traffic project conducted a technical assessment in the Philippines to evaluate the national maritime safety environment and define identify requirements for web-based e-navigation.

From 28 March to 4 April 2025, representatives from IMO and the Republic of Korea held technical consultations in Manila with key maritime authorities, including MARINA, PCG, NAMRIA, PAGASA, and NTC. As part of the mission, an inception workshop on 2 April 2025 brought stakeholders together to align national and regional priorities and pathways for introducing S-100-based digital maritime services, alongside field visits to NAMRIA and the Maritime Safety Services Command (MSSC) to examine maritime safety information (MSI), hydrographic, and aids-to-navigation (AtoN) operations.

Establishment of a web-based e-navigation service platform in the Philippines as a Testbed for the Asia-Pacific Region

Establishing a web-based e-navigation platform in the Philippines to manage maritime safety, vessel traffic and search-and-rescue information in a single internet-based environment. The project tests S-100 digital maritime services in Philippine waters, as a model for the wider Asia-Pacific region.

At the core of the project is a web-based e-navigation platform integrating maritime safety information, vessel traffic, and search-and-rescue data into a single internet-based environment. Set within IMO’s E-Navigation Strategy Implementation Plan (MSC.1/Circ.1595), the initiative tests S-100 digital maritime products under operational conditions to enhance situational awareness, navigational safety, and efficiency in the Philippines.

The pilot tests a set of S-100-based products: electronic navigational charts, bathymetry, water levels, surface currents, navigational warnings and under-keel clearance management, to assess whether an S-100-capable system can ingest, display, update and support mariner decision-making compared to legacy S-57 ENCs and paper charts. The trial is undertaken with NAMRIA, the PCG and other agencies to evaluate functionality, interoperability and institutional readiness for scaling.

The pilot covers major Philippine ports beginning with Cebu, testing across MARINA-identified vessels: domestic passenger ferries, PCG patrol vessels, and NAMRIA hydrographic vessels. The pilot progresses from controlled shore-based testing (bridge simulators and laboratory systems) to live sea trials across 2026–2027 — contributing to global e-navigation efforts while aligning Philippine maritime operations with international standards.

IT competency education and training workshops

Strengthening the technical capacity of Philippine maritime authorities to deliver and sustain digital maritime services through targeted education and training.

The first major training milestone was the SMART-C Traffic S-100 Workshop, held on 22 October 2025 in Seoul during the Korea Maritime Week. It brought together 16 officials from five Philippine maritime authorities, MARINA, NAMRIA, PCG, PAGASA and NTC, to strengthen national capacity for digital maritime services under the SMART-C Traffic Project.

Through interactive sessions led by IMO, participants examined the latest international developments in the S-100 framework, its alignment with IMO’s Common Maritime Data Structure (CMDS), and its role in enhancing navigation safety, digital maritime traffic management and search-and-rescue coordination.

Building on the project’s technical mission to the Philippines in April 2025, the workshop strengthened institutional capacity to support the country’s transition towards e-navigation. Further IT competency education and training is planned as the platform develops.

System maintenance and operational capacity

Ensuring the e-navigation platform can be operated, maintained and sustained by Philippine maritime authorities beyond the pilot phase.

The final component focuses on the long-term sustainability of the e-navigation platform, ensuring it can be operated and maintained by Philippine maritime authorities once the pilot is complete.

This includes the transition of the platform to MARINA, supported by complete technical documentation, user manuals and operational guidelines, together with the technical architecture and administrative credentials needed to manage the platform independently.

Designated personnel will receive competency-based training to manage, update and maintain the service without continued reliance on external support. Activities under this pillar will take place as the platform moves from trials towards operational handover.