I have recently been made aware of a new law which states that all yachts over 20m LOA which plan to transit the Panama Canal must now have Automatic Identification System (AIS) installed and operating before entering the Canal Zone. There is also increased speculation that the US Coastguard may soon insist that all yachts approaching US waters be similarly equipped.
Implementation of AIS in the Panama Canal
On March 18th the Panama Canal Authority announced that, with effect from 1st July 2003, they will implement mandatory carriage of Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) in Panama Canal waters. In order to be accepted for transit through the Panama Canal, ALL vessels over 300 gross tons or over 20 metres LOA must be equipped with an AIS transponder that meets the standards set by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
Not only this, but the AIS system installed onboard vessels must be Class A AIS shipborne equipment and be type-approved according to standard IEC 61993-2. The Panama Canal Authority may require presentation of the type approval document and proof that the equipment has been installed correctly with a Pilot Plug (see below).
The Panama Canal Authority has been observing the signals sent by ships already fitted with AIS since May 2002, and has been conducting tests in conjunction with the IMO. They believe that there will be benefits in reduced delays, improved safety, increased security and better logistical management of ship, canal, and dock assets, which will generate improvements in efficiency and cost reductions.
What is AIS?
The weak link in the current generation of collision-avoidance electronics is the inability to identify any given radar target when multiple contacts are being tracked, especially at night or in reduced visibility. This also applies when vessels have impaired visual and radar visibility due to a harbour wall or bend in a river or canal. This inevitably leads to confusion, and has been cited as a contributing factor to many collisions and near-collisions at sea.
The new Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) helps resolve this difficulty by providing a means for ships to exchange identity, position, course, speed and other vital data, with all other nearby ships and shore stations, through a standardised transponder system. The data exchange is totally automatic and transparent to the users. The result will be a dramatic improvement in situational awareness for officers of the watch, who will have a clear and unambiguous identification, as well as other vital information from all other AIS-equipped vessels.
AIS is designed to operate in one of the following modes:
l In a ship-to-ship mode for collision avoidance
l As a means for coastal states to obtain information about a ship and its cargo to aid safety and security
l As a traffic management tool when integrated with a Vessel Traffic System (VTS)
Ship-to-ship
Position and other data are fed automatically from the ship´s sensors into the AIS system, where the data is formatted and transmitted on a dedicated VHF channel. When received on the other ships, the data is decoded and displayed for the officer of the watch, who can view AIS reports from all other AIS-equipped ships within range in graphic and text format. The AIS data may also be fed to the ship´s integrated navigation systems and radar plotting systems to provide AIS tags for radar targets. The AIS data can also be logged to the ship´s Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) for playback and future analysis.
Updated AIS messages are transmitted every few seconds, to keep the information up to date. The whole process takes place automatically, without any action required by anyone on either ship.
In pilotage waters, such as the Panama Canal, a pilot can plug a laptop computer, loaded with his own navigation programme, directly into the ship´s AIS system´s Pilot Plug. In this way, the pilot can monitor the position and movement of all other vessels in the area independent of the ships installed navigation systems.
US Coastguard
During the last few weeks, it has been rumoured that, due to increased concern over security in the US, the US Coastguard will very soon require all yachts over 20m LOA approaching US coastal waters to be fitted with AIS.
Sources within the Coast Guard say it is highly unlikely that private and charter yachts will be affected. However, under current US law, the head of the Department of Transportation has the final say over such matters and final interpretations of the law will be issued by this summer. Watch this space!!
If you´re planning to cross the Pond this year, and especially if you plan to carry on through Panama, an AIS installation may be an essential part of your standard navigation and safety equipment, unless, of course, you would rather go round the Horn!
For any further information, please contact: Roger Horner, Jason Abbott or Erik Nieuwmeijer at E3 Systems. Tel: +34 971 404208/400738 Fax: +34 971 404431