The Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) in Vardø monitors all vessel traffic in the Barents Sea and along the coast of Norway. Information is received from two Norwegian AIS (Automatic Identification System) satellites in orbit around earth, through a ground station on Svalbard.
From April 2015 a new ground station in Vardø will start downloading directly from the satellites, Norway’s Coastal Administration writes on its website. Groundwork on the site has already started, and the plant should be operational from 2015.
The ground station in Vardø will also be receiving data from Norway’s third AIS satellite, which is planned to be launched in 2015.
Norway plans to launch its third AIS satellite in 2015.