What is CoastControl?
CoastControl is Tidalis’s Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) platform for coast guards, navies, customs authorities, and critical infrastructure protection agencies. It delivers a real-time, integrated operational picture across radar, AIS, CCTV, and mobile sensors, giving maritime authorities the situational awareness to detect threats, coordinate responses, and protect the assets and waters under their jurisdiction.
CoastControl shares the same core platform as MaritimeControl VTS, the vessel traffic services system deployed in 8 of the world’s top 20 container ports. This means coast guards and surveillance authorities benefit from the same sensor-agnostic, open-architecture, ISO27001-certified platform that has been proven in the world’s most demanding maritime environments.
TRUST
Shares core platform with MaritimeControl – proven in 8 of the world’s top 20 container ports
ISO27001 certified – cyber-secure by design, not by addition
Proven in environmentally critical deployments – Great Barrier Reef ReefVTS
AIS-dark and small fast target detection
Fault-tolerant 24/7 architecture with graceful degradation
Sensor-independent – integrates radar, AIS, CCTV, onboard mobile sensors from any vendor
Full MDA capabilities
AIS-dark and small fast target detection
Not all vessels transmit AIS. Fishing vessels, small craft, and vessels deliberately disabling their transponders to avoid detection create blind spots in AIS-only surveillance. CoastControl fuses radar data with AIS, CCTV, and other sensor feeds to detect, track, and correlate all targets including AIS-dark vessels, giving authorities a complete picture of their maritime domain, not just the portion that has chosen to be visible.
Multi-agency common operational picture
Maritime incidents do not respect organisational boundaries. A search and rescue operation may involve the coast guard, navy, port authority, and civil emergency services simultaneously. CoastControl’s shared operational picture gives every responsible agency access to the same live data, eliminating the communication gaps and coordination delays that cost lives in time-critical operations.
Critical infrastructure protection
Offshore energy platforms, subsea cables, desalination facilities, and port chokepoints are high-value targets in an increasingly complex threat environment. CoastControl’s infrastructure protection capabilities include configurable exclusion zones with staged risk-based alerting, intelligent behavioural analysis that distinguishes routine vessel activity from genuine threats, and full recording and replay capability for post-incident analysis and legal evidence.
Search and rescue coordination
CoastControl supports search and rescue operations with live intercept calculations, vessel position history, drift modelling integration, and coordinated tasking of surface and aerial assets. The shared operational picture ensures every unit involved in a SAR operation works from the same data simultaneously, reducing duplication and improving response efficiency in the critical early hours of an incident.
Environmental protection and monitoring
Environmental enforcement is an increasingly demanding component of maritime authority mandates. CoastControl supports environmental protection with configurable zone monitoring for sensitive areas, vessel behaviour alerting for potential illegal dumping or pollution events, and integration with oceanographic and meteorological data for environmental incident response planning.
Counter-piracy and law enforcement
CoastControl’s sensor fusion, AIS-dark detection, and behavioural alerting capabilities provide the operational foundation for maritime law enforcement and counter-piracy operations. Staged risk alerts give enforcement teams time to assess and position assets before committing to an intercept, improving response precision and reducing risk to personnel.
Extended range through mobile and onboard sensors
Fixed coastal radar and sensor networks have coverage limits. CoastControl extends the operational picture through onboard sensors on patrol vessels and mobile assets, feeding live data back to the control centre and maintaining situational awareness in remote coastal areas and open-water zones beyond fixed infrastructure range.
Built on the same platform as MaritimeControl VTS
CoastControl is not a separate system. It shares the same core platform architecture as MaritimeControl – Tidalis’ Vessel Traffic Services platform deployed in the world’s most demanding ports. This means coast guards and surveillance authorities inherit the same sensor-agnostic open architecture, the same fault-tolerant resilience design, and the same ISO27001-certified cybersecurity framework that powers VTS operations at Rotterdam, Antwerp, and Shanghai.
CoastControl vs defence-sector MDA systems
The Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) market is served primarily by defence contractors — companies where MDA is one division within a large hardware, weapons, and systems integration business. This creates characteristic problems for maritime authority customers: hardware lock-in, high lifecycle costs, slow software evolution tied to hardware upgrade cycles, and vendor relationships governed by defence procurement dynamics rather than maritime operational needs.
CoastControl is software-first and sensor-independent. No hardware to buy, no proprietary radar required, no bundled systems that force you to replace working infrastructure. It integrates with what you already have, and with whatever you choose in the future. When your sensor estate needs to grow or change, the platform grows with it, not against it.
Proven in the world’s most sensitive environments
ReefVTS – Great Barrier Reef, Australia
MaritimeControl powers the ReefVTS system via partner AMS Group, protecting the Great Barrier Reef, one of Earth’s most environmentally sensitive and biodiversity-rich maritime corridors. The system provides continuous vessel surveillance, Maritime Safety Information broadcasting, and incident response support across the environmentally protected shipping lanes of the Reef.
DP World Australia – Cybersecurity Resilience, 2023
During the November 2023 DP World Australia cyber incident, which disrupted port operations handling approximately 40% of Australia’s freight for three days, all Tidalis systems deployed in the affected environment remained fully operational and unaffected. The ISO27001-certified architecture maintained complete service continuity throughout the incident.
Frequently asked questions
FAQ
01 What is Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA)?
02 What software do coast guards use for vessel surveillance?
03 How does AIS-dark vessel detection work?
04 Can CoastControl integrate with our existing radar infrastructure?
05 What is the difference between VTS and MDA software?
06 Is CoastControl ISO27001 certified?
Let’s talk about your waters
Every maritime authority operates under different conditions, different geography, threat environment, sensor estate, and operational mandate. Tell us what you’re protecting, who else is responsible for it, and where the gaps are. Our MDA specialists will help you identify the right configuration for your environment.
