According to Greek legend, Zeus had the messenger god Mercury leave a mysterious box with Pandora. Mercury told Pandora to hold the box for safe-keeping, but under no circumstances was she to open it. Not long after Mercury departed, curiosity got the better of Pandora and she opened the box to examine its contents. Unfortunately, the box contained all the ills and misfortunes of the world. They promptly escaped and have been loose in the world since that time. The word 'panacea' is derived from the Greek terms "pan" (meaning all) and "akos" (meaning remedy). The question is which term applies to AIS? What is AIS? AIS is an electronic transceiver unit intended to be integrated with a ship's radar, gyrocompass, global positioning system (GPS), and other operational and navigational systems.