Splash247: Klaipėda deploys smart buoy to tackle GPS disruption

Published by Splash247

Lithuania’s Klaipėda Port has put a sensor-equipped smart buoy into operation outside its entrance as part of a digitalisation project aimed at improving vessel planning and keeping navigation safer during GPS disruption.

The buoy has been installed about four nautical miles from the port entrance and is transmitting live data covering wave height and direction, currents, water and air temperature, atmospheric pressure and GPS signal interference to the port authority’s data centre.

The next stage will see MOVEO project partner MC Baltics use the information to develop a machine-learning hydrometeorological forecasting model combining live measurements with historical data.

Klaipėda said the system should allow the port to adjust logistics plans in real time, improve vessel arrival planning and optimise cargo and transport flows.

The buoy will also provide an external reference point when ships approaching Klaipėda encounter satellite-navigation interference. Port pilots can then take over using specialist equipment designed to operate despite disruption to GPS signals.

Klaipėda is one of five demonstration sites in the EU-backed MOVEO programme, which has a total budget of EUR5.74m ($6.7m). The port authority has been allocated EUR395,600 ($460,000), with the programme covering 70% of its costs.

The deployment comes as Klaipėda handles rising container volumes. Splash Ports reported in August that the Lithuanian gateway moved close to 700,000 teu in the first half of 2026, maintaining its lead among the Baltic states.