AIS has been a revolutionary product and, regardless of your opinion on its use, has changed the way mates handle heavy traffic situations. Jotron, makers of various SOLAS compliant marine safety electronics, is looking to bring this revolution to Search And Rescue operations with the introduction of an AIS enabled Search And Rescue Transponder (SART).
The device will work similar to traditional SARTs but, rather than show the position of a lifeboat on your 3cm radar, will transmit the exact GPS coordinates to all AIS enabled devices within VHF range.
We are excited not only by the product itself but the advancement of new ideas for sharing of data among the AIS network. gCaptain recently discussed the topic with the Coast Guard’s office for marine safety and is working with them to outline ideas to take AIS and data sharing from a point-to-point system to a web of collaborative sharing. Here is a basic summary of our question to marine safety: [Continue Reading →]
Shown above, AIS provider VT Explorer plots the cruise ship Louis Majesty’s path as it encountered rough sea’s on March 3rd, 2010 (click image for high resolution). VT Explorer tells us:
An abnormally high waves (6-8 m) hit the cruise ship “Louis Majesty” (former “Norwegian Majesty”) carrying 2000 people in the Mediterranean sea on March 3rd, 2010. The waves have smashed glass windshields killed two and wounded fourteen passengers according to the official news reports. The killed passengers were identified as a German and an Italian man.
“Louis Majesty” was sailing from Barcelona to Genoa.According to our archive records the accident has happened on March 3rd, 14:20 UTC around the following location.
Latitude: 41°55′ N Longitude: 3°47′ E
As you can see from video of the incident below, weather was the likely cause of the high waves. Buoy data off the French coast reported winds reaching 45 mph.
Ok your entering the fairway at Galveston and your radar goes out, what is plan B?
How about handing the mate a plotting sheet and sending him to the AIS? Before the look of confusion leaves his (or your) face here’s what he needs to do:
1) Remember his grease pencil plotting skills.
2) Identify the critical targets, get their bearing off the gyro repeater along with an approximate range.
3) Find the targets on the AIS, get their actual range / bearing and plot them on your plotting sheet ( or maneuvering board ).
Kongsberg Simrad announced a partnership with Norway to bring Automatic Identification System, AIS, ship tracking beyond its current line of sight (approximately 40 mile) range. With a target date of 2009 this capability will extend government and shipowner’s capabilities to manage ships in the region. Kongsberg tells us: [Continue Reading →]
ORBCOMM has successfully launched six AIS-equipped satellites (a Coast Guard Concept Demonstration satellite and five Quick Launch satellites) after the Cosmos 3M rocket carrying the company’s payload blasted off at 10:36am Moscow time (06:36 GMT) from Kapustin Yar, in the Astrakhan Region, on June 19. The satellites are equipped with Automatic Identification System (AIS) technology to receive and report transmissions from AIS-equipped maritime vessels from anywhere within the satellite coverage area, information which is expected to be of major interest to authorities interested in Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) in the marine domain. ORBCOMM says it intends to market this AIS data to US and international coast guards and government agencies, as well as to companies whose businesses require ship tracking and other navigational activities. These satellites represent the first stage of a multi-year satellite upgrade plan, which ORBCOMM says now makes it the only satellite company providing worldwide commercial AIS data services.
You can read more about this and other ship technology articles by subscribing to Digital Ship’s free monthly newsletter which can also be viewed on their website.
In related news INMARST has launched their third INMARSAT-4 satellite. Maritime Executive tells us:
The satellite was launched on a Proton Breeze M rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11.43pm BST on 18th August (4.43am 19th August, local time). Inmarsat’s tracking station in Fucino, Italy was able to track the satellite while it was still coupled to the Breeze M launch vehicle. Launch provider ILS confirmed successful spacecraft separation at 8.46am BST on 19th August.
The satellite is the third in the I-4 constellation, concluding a decade of development and a $1.5 billion investment. The current constellation of two Inmarsat-4 satellites delivers mobile broadband services to 85 per cent of the world’s landmass, covering 98 per cent of the world’s population. The third I-4 will complete the global coverage for Inmarsat’s broadband services.
Andrew Sukawaty, CEO and Chairman of Inmarsat, said: “The Inmarsat-4s are the world’s most sophisticated commercial network for mobile voice and data services, and the successful launch of the third I-4 allows us to complete the global coverage for our broadband services. Once the third I-4 is operational, Inmarsat will have the only fully-funded next-generation network for mobile satellite services.”
The Maritime Executive also has an excellent newsletter which goes out weekly via email. You can subscribe to it free by following this LINK.
A big gCaptain welcome to the 2,000+ new visitors that have stopped by gCaptain.com this week. The reason for the influx? Our CEO, Captain John Konrad, wrote an article on AIS technology for the venerable magize SAIL. To read the article you will have to visit your local newstand and flip to page 64 of the magazine’s May 2008 Issue… but if it’s the information you’re after, John has shared most of it already with Panbo.com’s editor Ben Ellison, click HERE to read that post now.
HD-SF.com has this chart of ships transiting San Francisco harbor on April 2nd. They write:
Animation of ship traffic on San Francisco bay, April 2nd 2008. You can clearly see the tourist boats making round trips to the Golden Gate Bridge and ferries bouncing back and forth from the city. You can also view a real time map of the ships on the bay and a cumulative map of 30 days ship traffic.
Ok your entering the fairway at Galveston and your radar goes out, what is plan B?
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