Automatic Identification News

For 15 years the Maritime Risk Symposium (MRS), an annual three-day event, has brought together government and maritime industry leaders, port representatives, international and domestic researchers and solution providers to examine current and emerging threats to maritime security. World events highlight that maritime security is increasingly at risk during the current period of great-power competition and ongoing conflicts. The active competition between nations who are not…

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Monday it received a report of an incident 150 nautical miles northwest of Yemen's Hodeidah."The Master of the vessel reported that they were hailed by an entity claiming to be Yemini Navy who requested the vessel turn on its automatic identification system," an advisory note said."Shortly after the hailing, a crew member of the vessel reported that they heard suspected gun shots," the advisory note added.Months of Red Sea attacks by Yemen's Houthi militants have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer a

Spire Global, Inc., a provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, reports it has been awarded two framework contracts by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) with a maximum overall budget of €8.4 million. Concurrent with the framework award, Spire received two specific awards that total multi-million euros under the framework contracts. Under the contracts, Spire will provide space-based automatic identification system (SAT-AIS) data services for ship tracking over a four-year period, including real-time, standard and high-density backup SAT-AIS.

More ships carrying grain were diverted from the Suez Canal to sailings around the Cape of Good Hope this week as concern about attacks on vessels in the Red Sea continued, shipping analysts said on Friday."Another 13 vessels were diverted this week taking the total cargo diverted away from the Red Sea route to around 5.2 million metric tons of grains in about 90 ships since the attacks started late last year," said Ishan Bhanu, lead agricultural commodities analyst at data provider…

Tankers carrying Russian oil have continued sailing through the Red Sea largely uninterrupted by Houthi attacks on shipping and face lower risks than competitors, according to shipping executives, analysts and flows data.Russia has become more dependent on trade through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea since it invaded Ukraine, which led to Europe imposing sanctions on Russian imports and forced Moscow to export most of its crude to China and India. Before the war, Russia exported…

Iran-allied Houthi militia launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at a U.S.-owned tanker ship on Thursday night that hit the water near the vessel, causing no injuries or damage, U.S. Central Command said.The incident, the latest amid growing tensions in the Red Sea that has disrupted global trade and raised fears of supply bottlenecks, took place at around 9 p.m. Yemen local time (1800 GMT), according to the post on X, formerly Twitter.The Houthis, who control most of Yemen…

The U.S. on Friday divulged it disrupted in April a multimillion-dollar shipment of crude oil by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, seizing more than 980,000 barrels of contraband crude oil that violated U.S. sanctions.In April, Reuters reported that the U.S. confiscated cargo onboard tanker Suez Rajan, which was carrying Iranian oil at sea. The U.S. statement on Friday confirmed and fleshed out details of the story which cited sources.The "illicit sale and transport of Iranian oil" violated sanctions targeting Iran, the U.S.

National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) President Erik Milito has said that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issue of a Notice to Lessees (NTL) with recommended restrictions on ongoing industry activities within the expanded Rice's Whale habitat area imposes “unwarranted restrictions on U.S. energy production at a time of continued inflation with prices rising at the pump for consumers.”With likely fewer than 100 individuals remaining, Rice's whales are one of the most endangered whales in the world.

The fatal collision between the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Winslow Griesser and a small boat off the coast of Puerto Rico last year resulted from the failure of either vessel to maintain a proper lookout, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said.On August 8, 2022, the cutter Winslow Griesser and the center-console boat Desakata collided about four miles off the northern coast of Puerto Rico. The cutter, with a crew of 21, was traveling westward along the coast. The 23-foot boat, with two aboard, was heading northbound.

Indonesia's coast guard said on Tuesday it seized an Iranian-flagged supertanker suspected of involvement in the illegal transshipment of crude oil, and vowed to toughen maritime patrols.The MT Arman 114 was carrying 272,569 metric tons of light crude oil, valued at 4.6 trillion rupiah ($304 million), when it was seized last week, the Indonesian authorities said.The Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) was suspected of transferring oil to another vessel without a permit on Friday, the Southeast Asian nation's maritime security agency said.The vessel was captured after being spotted in Indonesia's North Natuna Sea, carrying out a ship-to-ship oil transfer with the Cameroon-flagged MT S Tinos, the agency's chief, Aan Kurnia, said.

On July 1 the Port of Tyne launched a 'next-generation' Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) system to enhance VTS operator situational awareness and supports decision making.The system adheres to the standards set by the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA), covers the waters of the Port of Tyne in the UK, extending from six nautical miles out at sea to three nautical miles inland. It uses the Automatic Identification System (AIS)…

The oxygen supply of the missing Titan submersible is expected to run out today around 10am GMT, or 8pm AEST.A frantic search continues for the Titan and its five occupants, with sonar buoys having recorded “banging” noises in the search area on Tuesday and Wednesday.With the vessel’s fate yet to be determined, the general public is asking questions about the safety of such touristic endeavours.The contextThe context in which the Titan has disappeared is disturbing. Reports have come out detailing court documents from a 2018 case that show OceanGate…

The U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center (RDC) held a Change of Command on June 16, 2023, at 10 a.m. at Fort Trumbull in New London. Current RDC Commanding Officer, Capt. Dan Keane, was relieved by Capt. Michael Chien. Capt. Keane held command since May 1, 2020. He retires with 24 years of service.During Capt. Keane’s tenure, the command operated seamlessly during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Research continued and the approved portfolio was executed. Highlights included the command celebrating its 50th anniversary…

The bridge watch officers on a bulk carrier and an offshore supply vessel were not maintaining a proper lookout before the vessels collided last year near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has concluded.On July 23, 2022, the bulk carrier Bunun Queen was transiting eastbound in the Gulf of Mexico and the offshore supply vessel Thunder was transiting northbound when the vessels collided. The Thunder sustained substantial damage to its port side, which resulted in the flooding of one of its propulsion rooms and three other spaces.

Offshore wind energy planners are giving close review to fixed-tower systems in order to extend lessons learned to floating wind towers, under development now. In the U.S., floating towers have been most closely associated with plans for new wind energy areas (WEA) in the Pacific, off of California and maybe Oregon and Washington. But important research is also taking place in Maine, at the University of Maine, because of deep ocean Atlantic areas there, and floating towers may also be used in the Gulf of Mexico.As most readers likely know…

Brussels-headquartered data and analytics group Kpler has bolstered its presence in the maritime space with the acquisition of ship tracking companies MarineTraffic and FleetMon, the company said on Wednesday. Tracking the movement of ships has become an integral part of trading strategies, together with the need for more corporate compliance due to a raft of Western sanctions imposed on oil exporting countries including Russia, Iran and Venezuela - helping to drive demand for real-time ship tracking data, known as AIS.

New Year’s Eve is a time of celebration and remembrance. Three years ago, on December 31, 2019, as the new year was being rung in across the lower 48 states, a tragedy was playing out in icy Alaskan waters. The fishing vessel Scandies Rose, with seven crew members aboard, encountered severe icing conditions and high winds and waves as it transited from Kodiak to fishing grounds in the Bering Sea. The crabber tried to make it to Sutwik Island to shelter from the storm; however…

Russia’s energy giant Gazprom has loaded its first cargo from the Portovaya liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant close to the Russia-Finland border, which has a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).“The cargo was onboard the Pskov LNG vessel, which is now broadcasting a destination of Port Said that provides entry to the Suez Canal in Egypt,” said Olumide Ajayi, senior LNG analyst at Refinitiv, citing Eikon data, adding that the vessel could be heading towards Asia.ICIC LNG analyst Alex Froley agreed, noting that although the ship had yet to move, the signal from its automatic identification system (AIS) indicated a possible Asia delivery and suggested India as a destination.The $1.62 billion plant, built on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, is located in the proximity of the Port

Two crews not maintaining proper lookouts led to the collision between a yacht and a tank vessel near Nassau, Bahamas, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday. The collision resulted in the sinking of the tank vessel and nearly $7.9 million in damages.The motor yacht Utopia IV and tank vessel Tropic Breeze were transiting the Northeast Providence Channel on Dec. 23, 2021, when the two vessels collided. The Tropic Breeze’s engine room flooded, and the vessel eventually sank. The vessel’s seven crewmembers abandoned ship and were rescued by a Good Samaritan vessel.

Spire Global, Inc., a provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, unveiled a dark shipping detection solution to track vessels that manipulate their reported position in order to conceal nefarious activities.The Automatic Identification System (AIS) on a vessel helps avoid collisions at sea, track global shipping trends and monitor individual vessel activity; but crew members on board can manipulate the system by turning off the transponder to go dark or ‘spoofing’ the AIS to report false positions.

Orbcomm Inc., a global provider of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, has been awarded a multi-year contract by a U.S. government agency for a competitive renewal of its global Automatic Identification System (AIS) data services used for ship tracking and other maritime navigational and safety efforts. In addition, Orbcomm was awarded a separate competitive contract to deliver AIS services to multiple other U.S. government users.Orbcomm's AIS data will continue to be used in a maritime domain awareness software platform that supports key U.S.

In January 2019, the Korean-flagged fishing vessel Oyang 77 sailed south toward international waters off Argentina. The vessel had a known history of nefarious activities, including underreporting its catch and illegally dumping low-value fish to make room in its hold for more lucrative catch.At 2 a.m. on Jan. 10, the Oyang 77 turned off its location transponder at the edge of Argentina’s exclusive economic zone – a political boundary that divides Argentina’s national waters from international waters, or the high seas. At 9 p.m. on Jan.

In November 2021, GTMaritime published a white paper: “Maritime Communications - A look over the horizon.” The report, available here, is built around three broad Sections – 1. “Basics of marine Communications;” 2. “The connected ship;” and 3. “Special services.”Then, each Section presents a closer look at various topics. The “Basics” section, for example, covers regulatory issues established by IMO treaties and national agencies. It presents the terms and concepts that define satellite systems and networks…