The chosen safety aspects of maximum size vessels passing in the presence of pleasure crafts at the Świnoujście Port entrance area

Approaches to the port are usually considered high traffic areas. Not only deep draft vessels pass through this limited manoeuvring space, but also intensive pleasure craft traffic, especially during the summer season. Crossing of both commercial ships and pleasure craft traffic may generate dangerous situations for navigation. The aim of the following article is to present solutions to the aforementioned safety problem. The article focuses on the navigation safety aspects at the Świnoujście seaport entrance. Currently, Świnoujście-Szczecin Port Regulations take only large ships into consideration while specifying the safety passing at this area, at the same time, belittling the presence of small crafts up to 20 m in length. In order to prove the need for change, one should first present the necessary research concerning the evaluation of the safety level of maximum sized ships navigating at the Świnoujście entrance area in the presence or absence of small pleasure crafts. The surveys were conducted on a group of pilots and captains possessing pilot exemption certificates. The research findings clearly show that the traffic of small crafts and large ships should be separated due to safety concerns. Thus, marine traffic engineering solution is suggested in order to eliminate the most plausible dangers.