The impact of developing navigational aids on improving navigation safety and evaluated the effectiveness of the navigational aids along the Egyptian coast from Alexandria to Damietta

Capt. Mohamed Shendy, Capt. Samy Youssef

Abstract
The recent growth of Egyptian ports, which has resulted in the reception of new generations of ships and the importance of the Suez Canal as a global corridor for ships heading north or south, it is critical to begin developing advanced scientific means to develop navigational aids on the Egyptian coast in order to raise the level of maritime navigation safety in these critical areas. This paper examined evaluation carried out by marine officer on board M/V Aida4 for the navigational aids on the Mediterranean coast during a voyage from Al-Ajami lighthouse in the west to Damietta lighthouse in the east coast of Egypt from 2016 to 2020. This involved the realization of a series of practical experiments involving the use of a Virtual Automatic Identification System (VAIS), as well as virtual navigation lanes and aids With the implementation of a survey of the opinions of a group of navigators during the passage in these locations related to these tests in the ports of Alexandria, Abu Qir, and Damietta, This paper revealed a number of significant findings, including the existence of serious flaws in the efficiency of navigational aids’ operation, with the goal of offering the most practical recommendations for improving the efficiency of this aid through the use of new technology such as VAIS.