Tag: AIS

MarineTraffic has started supplying geographical positioning data to the Equasis project.

Practical tips on how to avoid incidents with West African pirates The UK P&I Club issued a practical guidance in relation to piracy in West Africa.Stuart Edmonston, Head of Loss Prevention, says: We have seen a sizable shift in pirate activity, from Somali to West Africa, and are witnessing an increase in incidents particularly offshore Nigeria.The UK Club provides practical tips on how to avoid incidents with West African pirates:The ship should be operating at a heightened state of security throughout, including additional watch-keeping, roving patrols and fire hoses rigged at the railings; outside doors of the accommodation closed and locked from the inside and temporary barriers erected around the outside stairwells risk of attack is particularly high when the ship is at anchor or is drifting off a port e.g. close to pilot station or when carrying out Ship-to-Ship (STS) transfer operations.For the purposes of identifying suitable measures of prevention, mitigation and recovery in case of piracy, it is imperative that a ship and voyage-specific risk assessment is performed well in advance as recommended in Section 3 of the Best Management Practices Volume 4 (BMP4).Limit the use of lighting at night and reduce the power or turn off the ...

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore kicked off the 2nd Maritime Safety Forum

Assisting mariners in the proper entry of AIS data The US Coast Guard (USCG) issued an AIS Encoding Guide to assist mariners in the proper entry of AIS data.AIS is a valuable navigation safety radio communication tool. However, its usefulness is undermined by the broadcast of inaccurate, improper or outdated data.Mariners are reminded that U.S. regulation requires that each AIS be maintained in effective operating condition, which includes accurate input and upkeep of AIS data parameters. Continual failure to do so may subject a vessel to civil penalties; to avoid such action AIS users should ensure their system is up-to-date and encoded according to the guide.Things to be notedDynamic Data should be provided via systems that are type-certified, properly installed, maintained and operational.Safety-Related Text Messaging should be short, concise, and used only to exchange pertinent navigation safety-related information.Static Data should reflect the vessels official radio license or documentation, be inputted at installation, and be password protected.Voyage Related Data should be inputted as necessary to always indicate up to date conditions.You may view the guide by clicking below:Source: USCG Navigation Center

ESA authorised the delivery of KONGSBERGs fourth generation SAT-AIS Receiver flight models, to the Norwegian Space Centre

AMSA issues Marine Notice AMSA has identified a number of instances where deep draught vessels may have transited very close to the charted position of OG Rock in the Prince of Wales Channel.For deep draught vessels the practice of transiting close to, or over, the charted position of OG Rock may increase risk, lead to a breach of AMSA's stipulated under keel clearance limit or, in the worst case scenario, lead to a vessel grounding.To assist deep draught vessels navigate in and around this area, AMSA has established a virtual' AIS Aid to Navigation (AtoN). A virtual AIS AtoN is an AtoN that can be displayed on vessel's navigation displays for a location where no actual physical aid to navigation exists.The virtual AIS AtoN readily and clearly indicates the charted position of OG Rock on navigational displays to assist Mariners keep deep draught vessels well clear of OG Rock and to avoid accidental breaches of Under Keel Clearance limits as stipulated in Marine Order 54.The virtual AIS AtoN appears in position (WGS84) 10 degrees 29.865 South; 142 degrees 20.753 East. This should display on vessels' ECDIS / Minimum Keyboard Displays / AIS equipment as a virtual Special Mark. The AIS ...

A Cambridge firm that uses satellites to monitor ships has formed an alliance to provide real-time tracking of maritime vessels

The General Lighthouse Authorities for the UK and Ireland have now completed their review of AtoN requirements

Japan P&I Club LP Bulletin The Japan P&I Club has recently issued a loss prevention bulletin to advice on how to avoid collisions with analysis on the use of ARPA and AIS, the information they give the navigator and what it means and with some reminders of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972 (COLREGs) and guidelines which should be followed.The introduction of ARPA provided a significant advance in collision avoidance because any risk of collision with any of the other ships in the area is constantly assessed by computer technology and the results are displayed for the navigator to use. That is, of course, provided they are plotted or automatically detected. This technology has brought into focus the fact that it is necessary to determine the distance off at the closest point of approach (CPA) of another ship in order to establish whether or not there is a risk of collision with that other ship. The Japan P&I Club highlights that the belief that an ARPA can tell the navigator that no risk of collision exists is entirely false.Guidelines for successful watchkeeping with ARPAAppreciate that the ARPA display cannot tell you that there is no risk of ...

Users of the world's leading AIS vessel tracking service MarineTraffic.com now have access to a number of newly released notification features