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Automatic Identification Systems News

01 Feb 2024

Russian Oil Flows Through Red Sea Face Lower Risks

© Carabay / Adobe Stock

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…

22 Jun 2023

As the Clock Ticks on the Titan Sub, an Expert Explains What Safety Features a Submersible Should Have

(File photo: OceanGate Expeditions)

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…

13 Apr 2023

Floating Offshore Wind: New Seascape, New Challenges

(Photo: BW Ideol)

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…

15 Feb 2023

Kpler Buys Ship Tracking Firms MarineTraffic and FleetMon

©sharafmaksumov/AdobeStock

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.

17 Jun 2021

Elcome Opens Algeciras Office

Jose Antonio Sanchez, technical manager, left; Francisco Rufo, branch manager, right. (Photo: Elcome International)

Elcome International, provider of maritime systems integration, technical support and shipboard service, announced the opening of another office in Europe. Based in the Spanish port city of Algeciras, the facility will offer sales and technical support for the company’s growing portfolio of ship navigation, communication, satellite connectivity and coastal surveillance systems. Shipboard services will include annual radio surveys and annual testing of Automatic Identification Systems (AIS)…

27 Jan 2021

China Inquires About Chinese Crew Aboard Tankers Seized By Indonesia

China said on Wednesday it was seeking details about 25 of its nationals who were among 61 crew on two supertankers seized by Indonesia on suspicion of illegally transferring oil.Indonesia said on Sunday it had seized the vessels after they were detected making the transfer from Iranian-flagged MT Horse to Panamanian-flagged MT Freya, causing an oil spill.The Indonesian authorities said the seizure was not related to U.S. sanctions, which Washington imposed in a bid to shut off Iran’s oil exports in a dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program.The MT Horse, owned by the National Iranian Tanker Company, and MT Freya, managed by Shanghai Future Ship Management Co…

26 Jan 2021

Indonesia Escorts Seized Tankers to Dock for Investigation

The Iranian and Panamanian-flagged vessels seized by Indonesian authorities for suspected illegal oil transfers are making their way to dock at Batam island in the country’s Riau Islands Province for further investigation, a Indonesia coast guard spokesman told Reuters.The two supertankers, with crew members from Iran and China, were seized on Sunday in Indonesian waters near Kalimantan island. The MT Horse, owned by the National Iranian Tanker Company and MT Freya, managed by Shanghai Future Ship Management Co, had a total of 61 crew members onboard.“The ships will arrive in Batam at around 3pm (0600GMT) to 4pm later today,” Wisnu Pramandita…

25 Jan 2021

Iran Asks Indonesia to Explain Tanker Seizures

Iran has asked Indonesia to provide details about the seizure of an Iranian-flagged vessel, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday, a day after Jakarta said it had seized Iran and Panama-flagged tankers in its waters.Indonesia said on Sunday its coast guard had seized the Iranian-flagged MT Horse and the Panamanian-flagged MT Freya vessels over suspected illegal oil transfer in the country’s waters.Khatibzadeh said that the seizure was over a “a technical issue and it happens in shipping field”.“Our Ports Organisation and the ship owner company are looking to find the cause of the issue and resolve it,” Khatibzadeh told a televised weekly news conference.Coast guard spokesman Wisnu Pramandita said the tankers…

25 Jan 2021

Indonesia Seizes Iran, Panama-flagged Vessels Citing Illegal Oil Transfer

Iranian-flagged MT Horse (formerly known as Honar) - Credit: Mick Prendergast

Indonesia said its coast guard seized the Iranian-flagged MT Horse and the Panamanian-flagged MT Freya vessels over suspected illegal oil transfer in the country's waters on Sunday.Coast guard spokesman Wisnu Pramandita said the tankers, seized in waters off Kalimantan province, will be escorted to Batam island in Riau Island Province for further investigation."The tankers, first detected at 5:30 a.m. local time (2130 GMT on Jan. 23) concealed their identity by not showing their national flags…

11 Nov 2020

Slew of Tankers Sail Toward Venezuela, Suggesting Oil Export Rebound

At least 18 oil tankers are expected to load oil for export from Venezuela in the coming weeks, according to tracking data and internal documents from state-run PDVSA, in a sign the sanctioned OPEC nation's crude exports may rebound this month.Venezuela's oil exports fell to their lowest levels since the 1940s in October, as some of Petroleos de Venezuela's last remaining clients halted trade with the company ahead of a deadline imposed by the United States.Washington sanctioned PDVSA and its partners last year to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to step down.But Maduro remains in power, and the potential rebound in oil shipments comes as PDVSA is adapting to a tightening of U.S.

21 Aug 2020

Wakashio Bulk Carrier Deviated from Shipping Lane before Mauritius Impact

Image Credit: Mobilisation Nationale Wakashio

The Japanese-owned bulk carrier that ran aground off Mauritius and spilled oil over pristine waters and fragile coral reefs diverted more than 100 kilometers from a regular shipping lane, data from a maritime analysis firm showed.The MV Wakashio, owned by Nagashiki Shipping and chartered by Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd, struck a coral reef on Mauritius's southeast coast on July 25 and later began leaking oil. Two of the ship's officers have since been arrested on charges of endangering…

03 Aug 2020

UK Coastguard Replacing Emergency Radio Network

© h368k742 / Adobe Stock

The U.K.'s Maritime and Coastguard Agency is investing over £170 million ($221.5 million) in a new radio network for Her Majesty’s Coastguard. The new network will be built and maintained by telent Technology Services Ltd. and is a significant investment in telecommunications infrastructure in rural areas.The existing network will be replaced with a modern and resilient fiber-based hybrid network, that will provide increased reliability, bandwidth and security.The new network will ensure HM Coastguard can continue to communicate with ships in U.K.

13 Sep 2019

MOL Tests FOCUS EYE Project

Japanese shipping giant Mitsui O.S.K. Lines announced the joint development, along with SenseTime Japan, of a new vessel image recognition and recording system, and the system’s installation for demonstration testing aboard the cruise ship "Nippon Maru" operated by Mitsui O.S.K. Passenger Line.The system’s graphic recognition engine was developed by incorporating MOL’s knowledge and applying artificial intelligence (AI) deep learning technology, allowing it to recognize surrounding vessels.The system recognizes and automatically records vessels with high accuracy using a terminal equipped with a graphic processing unit (GPU) and ultrahigh-resolution cameras.The image recognition technology…

29 Jul 2019

U.S.: Ships Should Keep AIS On

File Image: AdobeStock / © Taras

The United States wants all ships to keep their tracking transponders on to cut down on illicit activity and smuggling, and to increase transparency with movements of ships around the world, a senior State Department official told Reuters.Automatic identification systems trackers are the most accessible way of observing where ships are located.The practice of turning off AIS by some vessels from countries such as Iran has become common to evade closer scrutiny as the United States pushes to cut off Iranian oil exports.The official…

15 Nov 2017

US Navy: Back to Basics

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) is loaded onto the heavy lift transport MV Treasure, Oct. 11, 2017. Treasure will transport John S. McCain to Fleet Activities Yokosuka for repairs. (U.S. Navy photo by Keith Lehnhardt)

The U.S. Navy has a well-deserved reputation for seamanship in trying conditions. Recently though, the Navy has suffered a series of marine casualties, including the fatal collisions involving two destroyers of the Pacific Fleet. On June 17, USS Fitzgerald (DDG-62), an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, was involved in a collision with the container ship ACX Crystal off Japan, resulting in the deaths of seven Navy crewmembers. The destroyer was severely damaged and is being returned to the United States via heavy-lift vessel for extensive repairs. On August 21, USS John S.

22 May 2017

CrowdStrike: Countering Maritime’s ‘Invisible Pirates’

© donvictori0 / Adobe Stock

“Maritime has been described as ‘the next playground for hackers,’” said John Titmus, Director, EMEA - Cybersecurity Strategy Advisor at cyber security specialist CrowdStrike. “It’s an industry revolving around high value assets, moving valuable cargoes, that is transitioning to an increased reliance on digital systems. CrowdStrike, alongside the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), will appear at Nor-Shipping in Oslo to highlight the scale of the risks facing an increasingly digitized shipping industry.

17 May 2017

UNCTAD Signs MOU with MarineTraffic

Global ship tracking intelligence company MarineTraffic and the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding. Under the agreement, UNCTAD and MarineTraffic will be sharing information and data that will enable both organizations to enhance their services and allow for more accurate analysis of global trade and shipping trends. Geneva headquartered UNCTAD plays an important role in integrating developing countries into the world economy, with maritime related research, policy analysis and data collection an integral part of this process. MarineTraffic currently records 800 million…

08 Feb 2016

IMO Revises Guidelines for AIS Use

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has published revised guidelines for onboard operational use of shipborne automatic identification systems (AIS), as Resolution A.1106(29). These are operational guidelines, developed to promote the safe and effective use of AIS, and in particular to inform crews about their operational use, limits and potential applications. They should be taken into account when operating AIS. Shipowners and managers should make sure that crews fully understand the guidelines and become familiar with operating the equipment and how to correctly interpret the data. A description of an AIS system, including components and connections, can be found in Appendix 1.

28 Sep 2015

SE Asia Accounts for More than Half of the World’s Piracy Attacks

At present more than half of the world’s piracy attacks are occurring in South East Asia, says he latest International Maritime Bureau (IMB) incident report. Piracy in the Gulf of Aden, which was the scourge of global shipping from 2011-14 has all but disappeared. But the problem is far from solved, whilst global piracy has dropped overall in the past few years the start of 2015 has seen a consistent rise in attacks. Responsible for this increate are both the Gulf of Guinea, which remains a hotspot for armed robbery at sea and kidnap for ransom, and south east Asia. Piracy in the waters off Indonesia, the Malakka and Singapore Straights has risen almost exponentially, representing almost 40 per cent of 2015 attacks globally. The majority of these incidents related to illegal oil bunkering.

10 Sep 2015

Maritime Surveillance: Autonomous and in Real-time

PERSEUS

Conventional surveillance technologies cannot easily help to detect fast boats, which generally have small radar signatures and do not carry automatic identification systems (AIS). For this reason, the NATO STO CMRE (Center for Maritime Research and Experimentation) has addressed this problem along with other project partners, as part of the European project PERSEUS. The PERSEUS project (Protection of European BoRders and Seas through the IntElligent Use of Surveillance), coordinated by Spanish technological company Indra…

10 Jun 2015

Summer Wind, Miss Susan Tow Collision Report

This is a synopsis from the National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) report and does not include the Board’s rationale for the conclusions, probable cause, and safety recommendations. NTSB staff is currently making final revisions to the report from which the attached conclusions and safety recommendations have been extracted. The final report and pertinent safety recommendation letters will be distributed to recommendation recipients as soon as possible. to further review and editing. Houston Ship Channel, Lower Galveston Bay, Texas. The visibility was restricted at the time due to fog. The bulk carrier was inbound to Houston, traveling in a north direction. The tow was bound for Port Bolivar on the east side of the Houston Ship Channel, traveling in an east direction.

30 Apr 2015

Imtech Marine/Radio Holland Renew DNV GL Approval

On the left René ten Brinke, Director Global Services, Imtech Marine and on the right Paul Kuin, Principal Auditor from DNV GL. (Photo: Imtech Marine)

Imtech Marine was awarded the three-year DNV GL global certification renewal in February 2015. It concerns Inspection and Testing of Radio Communication equipment, Automatic Identification Systems and testing and inspection of Voyage Data Recorders (VDR). Radio Holland, Imtech Marine’s NavCom and Maintenance brand, started the already long-standing relationship with both DNV and GL, which continued when Radio Holland became part of Imtech Marine. Imtech Marine has a global network of almost 100 offices along the shipping routes and employs some 200 qualified radio surveyors worldwide…

30 Jan 2015

USCG Updates Rules for Arrival/Departure Notices, AIS

U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) headquarters issued a statement announcing the publication of the final rule on Vessel Requirements for Notices of Arrival and Departure and Automatic Identification Systems (AIS). The final rule amends the applicability of notice of arrival requirements to include additional vessels, sets forth a mandatory method for electronic submission of NOAs and modifies related reporting content, timeframes and procedures, the USCG said. Additionally, the final rule extends applicability of AIS requirements beyond Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) areas to all U.S. navigable waters and requires that additional commercial vessels install and use AIS.

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