Study on traffic and probability of collision at navigation channel of the top three ports in Malaysia

Navigational or approach channel to port is essential for port operation. Navigational channel links the port’s jetty with the open sea. This study aims to determine the safety level of navigational channels for the top three top major ports in Malaysia, namely Klang Port, Tanjung Pelepas Port, and Penang Port. The level of safety is determined by using the total probability of collision based on the same time. The AIS data was obtained from the Marine Department Malaysia AIS monitoring system by extracting at strategic points in the navigational channel of each port studied. The data duration is six months period from January to June 2021. The data was then analyzed by IALA IWRAP programmed to produce the Lateral Traffic Distribution and collision probability. Microsoft Excel was used to calculate the frequency and produce graphs. Information on the dimension of the channel was obtained from the electronic navigation chart. PTP total movement frequency is the highest with 8,363, followed by Klang Port 6,900 and Penang Port 1,680. Two types of the collision were identified, namely overtaking and head-on, and combined as total collision. The lowest total collision probability is Penang Port with 19,940 years between incidents, followed by PTP with 1,745, and Klang Port with 1,311 years between incidents. Penang Port also has the smallest width of the channel and the lowest movement frequency of traffic