To increase navigational safety within its port waters and further minimize vessel collision risk, Port of Hualien installed a new LED notice board (see image 1) serially connected through a smart grid at the entrance to Hualien Fishing Harbor in 2023. When a commercial ship is in the process of entering or exiting inner port waters, the notice board automatically shows the message (in Chinese) “Attention: Commercial Ship Entering (Exiting) Ahead, Please Avoid”. The warning makes fishing vessels departing the fishing harbor area aware in advance of the current status of the port navigational channel ahead, allowing for measures to be taken in advance to avoid the potential for collision.

Port of Hualien, located on Taiwan’s Pacific Coast, is the only international commercial port on the nation’s eastern seaboard. The fishing harbor is within the main port, which means large commercial vessels share main port navigation channels with fishing, pleasure, and other smaller vessels. In 2010, port officials installed paired red and green lights on both sides of the narrows that were controlled by VTS staff to notify transiting fishing vessels of traffic in the adjacent navigation channel. The new LED notice board installed last year at the seawall entrance to the fishing harbor is linked to a smart grid network that should both further increase vessel safety within port waters and expand the scope of smart systems being used at Port of Hualien. Port officials look forward to increasingly leveraging advanced smart technology systems in the interests of overall port safety.