High-tech sailing on Danube and Sava with navigation buoys

Serbia is the first country in Europe to introduce navigation buoys that are visible to boats in all sailing conditions. This increases the safety of sailing, the assistant minister for water transport, Veljko Kovacevic, told RTS.

Considering that the traffic on rivers is increasing, the question is what the summer brings when it comes to cruise ships, boats or rafts. There were around 3,800 registered vessels last year, and more than 4,000 are expected this year.

Navigation buoys help make sailing safe.

– Navigation buoys help increase the level of safety on rivers considerably, especially when it comes to cargo transport and large passenger cruise ships – Kovacevic said.

According to him, they are now visible to all vessels equipped with electronic navigation maps, which are mandatory for all large ships.

– They are not mandatory for small boats, but are advisable, precisely because of electronic navigation buoys, river information services, all the IT services which have been implemented in inland waterway traffic, primarily to increase safety – Kovacevic said.

He explained that physical navigation buoys are equipped with light signals as well, making them visible at night, in the fog and in all other conditions that make sailing more difficult.

In addition to them, virtual ATONs have been implemented.

– If a buoy is destroyed, a virtual ATON is released, which is visible to electronic navigations systems – Kovacevic says.

At the same time, the capacities of passenger terminals in Belgrade and other cities of Serbia should increase. The Ministry has initiated the construction of an international terminal in Zemun together with the municipality of Zemun and the city of Belgrade.

Kovacevic says that the works on that passenger terminal should be completed in August.

sector for water transport and navigation safety

Veljko Kovacevic

navigation buoys

virtual ATONs