An apparatus for vessel traffic management mounted in a vessel creates vessel sailing information including a current location and an identifier of the vessel in accordance with a navigation plan to a destination of the vessel; calculates an estimated time for arriving at the destination based on a distance between the current location and the destination and a sailing speed; and calculates an estimated entry time of entering a target area within the destination based on a distance between the current location and the destination and the sailing speed. The vessel sailing information, the estimated arrival time, and the estimated entry time are transmitted to a local control center, and the sailing of the vessel is controlled using a vessel traffic condition at the target area, provided from the local control center.