EMSA’s Maritime Support Services (MSS)
EMSA’s Maritime Support Services (MSS)
Telephone
+351 211 209 415
Fax
+351 211 209 480
Email
MaritimeSupportServices@emsa.europa.eu
3.01 Central Geographical Database (CGD)
Agency responsible
Data group
03. EMSA Central Reference Databases
Coast Guard Functions with access
Maritime Safety Including Vessel Traffic Management
Fisheries Inspection & Control
Status of implementation
Available
Dissemination channels
Agency web interface
Point(s) of contact
Last reviewed on
Last saved on
Description
The Central Geographical Database (CGD) is a repository of reference areas used by various IMS-based applications and operations.
Data elements
Area attributes:
- Unique identifier - Unique identifying number of the area.
- Name - Name of the geographical area.
- Description - Description of the geographical area.
- Area Category/ Type - Category of the geographical area (e.g. IMDatE; CSN area) - see Table 1.
- Definition/ Geometry type- Definition of the area - Bounding Box (rectangle), Polygon, and Circle.
- Country - Country or countries within the area.
- Organisation (Authority) - Organisation managing the area in question (authority).
- Two additional attributes will be added to the CGD:
- Operation - Current operation in the area (e.g. EFCA Atlantic operation). When a specific attribute is set to an operation, only the users belonging to the operation will be able to access it. If the attribute is not defined all users can access the area.
- Active - Areas registered in CGD may either be active (e.g. EFCA fishing area open) or Non-Active - (e.g. EFCA fishing area is closed).
Table 1 - Overview of CGD Areas Categories
| Area Category | Description |
|---|---|
| EO_Act_Alerting_Area | Earth Observation Action Alerting Area |
| EO_Sensitive_Area | Earth Observation Sensitive Area |
| EO_Coverage_Requirements | Earth Observation Coverage Requirements |
| EO_Tasking_Areas | Earth Observation Tasking Area |
| LRIT_DDP | Area of the Long-Range Identification and Tracking System Data Distribution Plan |
| LRIT Sensitive Area Monitoring | Sensitive Area (Horn of Africa) monitored via LRIT System (currently for EU NAVFOR only) |
| Marine_Natural_Reserve | Areas of Marine Natural Reserves |
| Access_Rights_Area | Area with specific access rights |
| Service_Area | For specific EMSA services, e.g. EFCA Atlantic, EUNAVFOR/ATALANTA, SAFEMED, TRACECA |
| LRIT EUDC for Frontex - Med and the North Africa/ Canarias/ Iberian Peninsula Waters | LRIT EU DC data available for Frontex |
| Global | Global Area |
| Anomaly Detection Service Areas on Request | Specific areas covering areas of interest for anomaly detection service |
| Vessel Track Reporting | Specific areas covering areas of interest |
| PSSA | Particularly Sensitive Sea Area |
| MRS | Mandatory Reporting System |
| VTS | Vessel Traffic Service |
| Place of Refuge Alerting Area | Place of refuge alerting area |
| Maritime Assistance Services | Maritime assistance services area |
| Place of Refuge | Place of Refuge |
| Areas for Receiving Incident Reports on Ships Posing a Potential Hazard | Incident report areas |
| AIS Base Station Coverage | Area describing the coverage of AIS Base Stations |
| Anchorage | Anchorage Area |
| Inshore Traffic Zone | Inshore traffic zone area |
| Recommended Route | Area highlighting a recommended route |
| Area Closed for Navigation | Area which has been closed for navigation |
| Countries | Countries |
| Port Areas | Port areas |
| Sea /Ocean Basins | Geographical area containing sea/ocean basins |
| General Purpose Area | Geographical area for general purposes |
| EU Boundary Area | Geographical area corresponding to EU boundaries |
| Regional Agreements | Geographical area associated to a specific Regional Agreement |
| Customised Areas/Lines (Accessibility Level Private and Public) | Custom areas created by users |
| International Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) | Navy-patrolled route through the Gulf of Aden measuring 490 NM long and 20 NM wide. All ships passing through the IRTC are recommended to register with the Maritime Security Centre - Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) |
| High-Risk Area (HRA) | All ships passing through the High-Risk Area (an area bounded by Suez and the Strait of Hormuz to the North, 10°S and 78°E) are recommended to register with MSCHOA |
| UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Voluntary Reporting Area | On entering the UKMTO Voluntary Reporting Area - area bounded by Suez to the North, 10°S and 78°E - ships are advised to send a UKMTO “Vessel Position Reporting Form - Initial Report” |
| Patrol Areas | Geographical Areas for Patrolling Purposes |
Legal basis
VTMIS Directive 2002/59/EC, as emended by the Directive 2014/100/EU (Annex III - 2.3); SSN Interface and Functionalities Control Document - sections: 2.4 Additional system functionalities; 2.4.2 Integrated Maritime Services (IMS) Functionalities.
Scope and source of data
The CGD contains:
· The areas of responsibility for the organisations/authorities registered in the Central Organisation Database (COD).
· Areas for Earth Observation - CleanSeaNet service-related alerting.
· Fishing and other specific areas provided by European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA).
· Specific areas requested by IMS Member States, for instance, Ballast water exchange areas (OSPAR[1]), own operational areas, EEZ, SRR, etc.
The CGD is partially fed by the EFCA Maritime Boundaries and Fishing Area Repository. The data scope as well as the access rights are defined by the data owners. CGD areas are provided to EMSA by the end-uses and uploaded by the EMSA CGD admin. Changes are planned in CGD to allow end-users to access the information available in the CGD with a read-only type of access.
[1] OSPAR is the mechanism by which 15 Governments & the EU cooperate to protect the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic. It combines and up-dates the 1972 Oslo Convention on dumping waste at sea and the 1974 Paris Convention on land-based sources of marine pollution. More information is available here: https://www.ospar.org/
Technical implementation
Central Geographical Database (CGD) makes part of the IMDatE (IMS) technical platform.
The CGD implements the OGC Web Feature Service (WFS) that can be used to retrieve and update geospatial data, e.g. polygons.
Conditions of access
In accordance with the Interface and Functionalities Control Document (IFCD), 2.4.2, access rights and functional roles within the boundaries are defined by the data owner.
The IMS specific functionalities are described in the form of [service] agreements, Service Level Agreements (SLA) or the Operational Level Agreements (OLA) which, inter alia, should cover: user requirements, the availability, continuity, reliability, access rights, testing, change management and monitoring requirements.