AIS network dedicated in India
74 AIS sensors on lighthouses along the entire Indian coastline have been connected Union Minister of Shipping, Shri G.K. Vasan dedicated to the nation the Automatic Identification System (AIS) Network today in Chennai at an estimated cost of Rs. 132 crore. It is a set up connecting 74 AIS sensors installed on lighthouses along the entire coastline. The system will be able to track vessels up to a distance of 50 kilometres from the coast. It is intended to help different users like DG Shipping, Ports, Navy, and Coast Guard in tracking, surveillance, search and rescue, and management of aids to navigation.The Network also has a provision to track small fishing vessels with customised transponders which will be helpful in search and rescue and also in extending help in case of any eventuality. There are about two lakh fishing vessels in Indian waters which are required to be equipped with such transponders. The Ministry of Shipping has approved a pilot project for Directorate General, Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL) to provide transponders to 1,000 fishing vessels off the coast of Gujarat and Maharashtra at an estimated cost of Rs. 6 crore. In the next phase, it would be extended to other ...
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