We have already proclaimed our love of AIS, the technology that helps watchkeepers identify surrounding vessel traffic, but currently this technology only lets us track large ships. This is about to change. Panbo reports that the USCG has asked the FCC to expedite approval of AIS-B systems for use on boats.
What is AIS-B? The U.S. Coast Guard says;
Class B (AIS) is nearly identical to the Class A, except the Class B:
Has a reporting rate less than a Class A (e.g. every 30 sec. when under 14 knots, as opposed to every 10 sec. for Class A)
Does not transmit the vessel’s IMO number or call sign
Does not transmit ETA or destination
Does not transmit navigational status
Is only required to receive, not transmit, text safety messages
Is only required to receive, not transmit, application identifiers (binary messages)
Does not transmit rate of turn information
Does not transmit maximum present static draught
Got that?
You may have picked up on some Class B chatter over at Navagear or at Panbo questioning how effective these units will be in helping ships avoid small boats. Well Ben Ellison, electronics editor at Power & Motoryacht, Sail Magazine and Panbo.com has some questions for the ProMariner readers of gCaptain. He writes;
The bigger question is how much are they using AIS on their bridges?
Do they have good AIS target displays?
Are the displays getting too crowded as is, i.e. would there be a temptation to filter out Class B targets if they proliferate?
So with the goal of safer inland waterways for all we ask all professional mariners to answer the following poll questions then add your answers to Ben’s questions in our comments section.
The San Francisco Chronicle has published the Pilot’s Report on the Cosco Busan Incident. Here are the parts of interest to mariners;
Meadows said problems also cropped up in “bridge management,” the communication between the pilot, who had years of experience on the bay, and the ship’s officers, who had never navigated the bay in the Cosco Busan. All were supposed to work together and exchange information on how to successfully navigate the harbor.
“While some information was exchanged, perhaps it could be said it wasn’t a full transfer of information. It was enough for the pilot to work with the master and get the ship ready for sea,” Meadows said.
We have previously reported on bridge management also know as Bridge Team Management or BRM.
The Cosco Busan’s radar “conked out” twice – first before departure and again as the ship was near the lighthouse on Yerba Buena Island.
Cota was forced to rely on an electronic chart display, showing the track of the vessel and its speed, plus charts of San Francisco Bay. Meadows said the pilot told him he was “not familiar” with the electronic system on the Cosco Busan. “They are all different,” Meadows said.
Cota asked Mao Cai Sun, the captain of the Cosco Busan, to point on the display to the center of the bridge span between the Delta and Echo towers on the western side of the Bay Bridge.
“The master pointed that out,” Meadows said. “In fact, several times during the trip. That’s what the pilot was heading for.”
…
“The pilot had to go along with what the master indicated on the electronic chart display was the center of the span,” Meadows said. “That turned out to be the tower instead.”
We have received email asking; Should the vessel have left without a working radar? and Did the second radar work? …unfortunately those are questions we can’t answer. You will have to wait until the NTSB investigation report is complete.
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