The Klaipėda State Seaport Authority has put a sensor-equipped navigation buoy into operation four nautical miles off the port entrance, the first Lithuanian demonstration under the Horizon Europe project MOVEO. The buoy transmits real-time sea and weather data to shore and is designed to act as a fixed reference point for vessels whose GPS signal is being disrupted.
The unit measures wave height, direction and period, current speed and direction, water and air temperature, atmospheric pressure, and the level of GPS interference in the approach channel. The readings are stored at the Port Authority’s data centre. In the next phase, project partner MC Baltics will combine live measurements with historical records to train a machine-learning model that forecasts hydrometeorological conditions in the port and its approaches.
The GPS function is the part with the clearest security bearing. Satellite navigation interference in the eastern Baltic has become routine for shipping since 2024, and Klaipėda handles Lithuania’s LNG terminal traffic as well as offshore wind logistics. When a ship’s positioning degrades, the buoy is meant to mark the rendezvous area where Port Authority pilots board; the pilots then use equipment built to work despite jamming to bring the vessel through the port.
“The smart buoy deployed in the Baltic Sea is already collecting important navigation data and transmitting it to shore. In the future, this information will help us plan vessel arrivals more flexibly, respond quickly to changing conditions and better prepare for vessels entering the port,” said Algis Latakas, chief executive of the Klaipėda State Seaport Authority.
Klaipėda is one of five MOVEO demonstration sites; the project will develop and test 18 innovations across Switzerland, Italy, France and Lithuania on different types of infrastructure, climate conditions and life-cycle stages. The project’s total budget is EUR 5,735,250, of which EUR 395,600 is allocated to the Port of Klaipėda, with 70 per cent of the port’s costs covered by EU funding. The port authority said the forecasting system should eventually allow logistics plans to be adjusted in real time and cargo flows to be optimised.
