The Study of Efficiency Problems in the Usage of a Vessel Monitoring System for Fishermen Entrepreneurs in Ranong

Abstract

This research used the qualitative method to study 1) a model of usage of a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) for fishermen entrepreneurs in Ranong 2) costs and expenses from an installation of the VMS 3) the efficiency of the VMS 4) problems and guidelines in improving the VMS. The data were collected using in-depth interviews with 15 people, both fishermen entrepreneurs, fisheries officers, and 3 administrators of the VMS. Moreover, a focus group method was included in the methodology using the same group of participants. The research found that: 1) The model used to track fishing boats in Ranong is the VMS system: 2) the fixed cost is an installation cost of about 20,000 baht. The VMS will last for 10 years and a variable cost is the monthly expenses. The cost of using the satellite system is 900-1,000 baht per month or the cost of using GSM services for locating is a monthly fee of over 200 baht 3) Performance issues found that boats cannot know if the VMS signal is lost in the middle of the sea because there is no alert. If the signal is lost, the VMS center will call the boat back to shore. This causes the operator to suffer economic issues due to the limitations of technology: 4) issues in the use of the VMS are lost GPS signals and off-shore navigation. The way to develop the VMS system is to add an emergency button to get help and the VMS performance measurement to determine the positional accuracy of the vessel.