TOP Software Technology

V I I A 
Vessel Information Integrating Application

VIIA is a Web-based application designed and developed by TOP Software Technology  in close collaboration with the Dutch Coast guard.

VIIA runs on a server and administrated end-users can simply login on any platform using any HTML-5 compatible browser.

One can view and inspect live tracking information, but also go back in time to view situations in the past, since all information is stored. 



VIIA users can automatically be warned when certain user-defined situations occur or has occured, for instance when a vessel is at risk (e.g. collision) or poses a risk (e.g. piracy, smuggling). 

VIIA can be used to help guarding coasts, ports, windmill area's on sea, offshore platforms and the like. 

VIIA may be used e.g. by coast guards, customs, police, security departments, intelligence departments, windmill park owners, planning agencies, vessel fleet owners, and the like.

VIIA can be fine-tuned, modified or extended by TOP Software Technology to meet your special needs. 

  • Each day, millions of AIS transponder position reports are sent by ships and received by satellite and radar stations (S-AIS and T-AIS).

  • VIIA can process, integrate and store tens of millions AIS  positions on daily base .
  • VIIA can also handle real-time Radar information to detect vessels without transponders, which is important in certain situations, e.g. when vessels are to close to windmill farms at sea or unwanted Vessel manouvres take place.

VIIA's Smart Vessel Information Integration Technique

VIIA can handle different types of Vessel Information tracking streams (S-AIS, T-AIS, radar) and uses a smart algorithm to fuse these information to identify Vessels, their properties and calculate their Tracks . 

VIIA's  smart fusion techniques detects that 3 different streams (T-AIS EMSA, T-AIS Maritime Control, Local Radar) actually refers to one and the same vessel (pictures 1 - 3), but can also detect that the same identification is being used by two different vessels (last picture).

  • Reliability of Data Sources

    Data from one source may contradict data from another.

    Relevant information, such as position, heading, speed, cargo, destination and port of departure, cannot always be trusted from a single source of information.

    Some sources are reliable but incomplete and not up-to-date, while others are up-to-date but not yet verified.

    VIIA combines streams of information from several real-time sources, e.g. Radar, Satellite-AIS, Terrestrial-AIS, EMSA, VMS, LRIT, ...

    This real-time information is combined with static information about ships, ports, cargo's and companies, e.g. from IHS Fairplay, Dirkzwager ..

  • VIIA presents a clear overview of the reliability of the different data sources. 

  • The end users than can make a judgement whether further action is required based on a clear overview of the trustworthyness of the different sources.   

User-definable Filters (Views), Risk Profiling and Alerts

  • End-users  can specify what kind of vessel properties they are interested in, in terms of Vessel properties (there are hundreds), geographical properties (user-defined area's, countries, harbours), tracking behaviour over time, over any time interval;
  • VIIA's specification language reads like a natural language;

  • VIIA’s user interface is very user-friendly and intuitive, it has been developed in close collaboration with end-users and domain experts;

  • VIIA's specification language is one of the most powerful in the field and actively helps users to formulate meaningful queries, filters, views and / or risk profiles;
  • Using dropdown menu's an end-user can only specify meaningful properties (it is type safe), given the choices made so far.

  • VIIA supports information-driven situation awareness: end-users can precisely define which kind of situations require attention;

  • VIIA can automatically Alert end-users (e.g. via email) on the basis of fully customizable criteria (business rules) or risk profiles;

  • VIIA's  underlying Task-Oriented-Programming concept can be used to  assist end-users with the actions that need to be done to handle an alert;

Risk Views

  • User-definable Risk Factors can be combined in Risks Categories;

  • One can define how much a Risk Factor is contributing to a risks of a certain Category; 

  • When a Risk Category is chosen, VIIA replaces the standard view (left picture) by a risk view to show which vessels impose a low, medium or high-risk (right picture) for the chosen Risk Category;

New VIIA Features Are Under Development

  • VIIA is developed by TOP Software Technology with iTasks Task-Oriented Programming  ( TOP ) using the pure functional language Clean .
  • iTasks is specifically designed for the development of distributed, web-based, multi-user applications. 

    It allows us to rapidly add new functionality.

    We work in close collaboration with you to add new functionality to VIIA based on your exact needs. 

If you are interested in VIIA, please contact us at info@top-software.nl