Like a video game of moving targets, today’s yachts and commercial vessels are seen as pink or green symbols on a computer display screen. The Automatic Identification System, or AIS, is the most comprehensive way for captains to gain navigational data on nearby vessels and is being used by large and small boats around the globe.

The short-range coastal tracking system was adopted in 2000 by the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) as a requirement for vessels larger than 300 tons, but it has become standard on many more yacht bridges, mandated or not.

The benefits of collision avoidance, enhanced communication and rescue assistance outweigh the possibility of unwanted followers, according to several megayacht captains.

“AIS is so handy,” said Capt. Joei Randazzo, a freighter captain who is currently freelancing. “We used to have to get in the danger zone to have a commercial ship answer the radio. Now, we just see who it is and call them by name.”

“The simple concept, equipment list, and short learning curve all contribute to its worthiness,” said Capt. Douglas Abbott of M/Y Odalisque. “I call it Ah, I See.”

Features displayed on the screen include vessel type and name, maritime mobile service identity (MMSI) number, call sign, destination, speed over ground, course over ground, range, bearing, heading, the closest point of approach (CPA) and time to closest point of approach (TCPA). It even has messaging capability.

“It’s the next best thing since sliced bread and electricity,” said Capt. Herb Magney of M/Y At Last. “No boat should be without it, even if it was only a requirement for night navigation and foggy weather.”

Maintaining their roles as prudent mariners, megayacht captains are quick to point out that AIS is meant as an aid — not a replacement — for radar and good, old-fashioned visual observance.

“It doesn’t remove the need for a vigilant radar watch and a constant ‘outside the window’ view,” said Capt. Ted Morley, chief operations officer at Maritime Professional Training in Ft. Lauderdale. Morley has used the system in yachting and in the commercial deep-draft industry.

“All the benefits aside, it is important to remember that the information is only as good as the person who inputted it into the system,” he said. “Garbage in, garbage out, is often the case.”

“It’s great at night or in stormy weather when you can’t see,” said Capt. Stephen Hill, a freelance captain for both charter and private yachts. “Since it identifies who you are contending with, it’s not just a light on the horizon [where you ask] ‘what is that and which way is it going?’”

Some vessels run AIS separately on dedicated hardware, but many integrate the information with other electronics.

“Our AIS is interfaced to the Transas and radars so it enhances those navigation features,” said Capt. Jeff Ridgway, currently running relief on M/Y Battered Bull, a 52m Feadship. “When the Transas cursor is placed over an AIS target, we instantly get all the information needed.”

When run through the electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS) and a vessel’s automatic radar plotting aid, all the AIS navigation information is in one location.

“When I have AIS information overlaid on my ARPA/ECDIS display, it really helps in the ability to communicate with other vessels should passing arrangements need to be made or if you are in doubt as to their intentions, especially in congested waterways where it may be difficult to discern one vessel from another,” Morley said. “It also reduces the likelihood of communicating to the wrong vessel on the VHF. You can call the specific vessel by name and be able to recognize their call sign when they respond.”

Mark Mitchell, service manager at Voyager Maritime in Ft. Lauderdale, installs and services both A and B class AIS units. The Class A is International Maritime Organization (IMO) compliant; Class B is sub-compliant, occasionally a full transponder but typically only a receiver.

Once a vessel decides whether it will only receive or transmit as well, hardware choices vary by manufacturer. A user-interface is a big deciding factor.

“Some have a small control head with a hard-to-use keypad, and some, like Furuno, are bigger and are easier to put information into,” he said.

Receivers are easy to integrate into a yacht, because they only use VHF, Mitchell said.

“But even transponders are simple to add as after-market,” he said. “The only trouble is cable-pulling.”

Capt. Abbott knows a little about that, having done it recently on the 115-foot Odalisque.

“As far as retrofitting a yacht, the cost for a Class A will run $3,000-$5,000, plus installation, which is down from a lot more money when they were first mandated,” Abbott said. “And the way the rules are going with lower tonnage vessels mandated to have them, it’s ‘you can pay me now, or you can pay me later.’”

Several captains report one concern: by transmitting all this safety information electronically, it becomes available to just about anyone with a computer. Several Web sites have taken to publishing yacht information on the Internet. Web sites such as www.marinetraffic.com allow computer users to see the same information yachts use.

The site describes itself as an academic, open, community-based project created for several reasons, including the study of marine telecommunications, the simulation of vessel movements, the statistical processing of ports traffic and the design of models for the spotting of the origin of a pollution.

But the International Maritime Organization condemned the publication of AIS data transmitted by ships at its 79th session in December 2004. The Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) agreed that the exposure of AIS-generated ship data on the Web, for example, “could be detrimental to the safety and security of ships and port facilities and was undermining the efforts of the Organization and its Member States to enhance the safety of navigation and security in the international maritime transport sector.” It urged member governments to discourage such publications.

Citing more reasons to use AIS than not to, many captains rarely turn their systems off. Even yachts on the hard often have their AIS on.

“On the down side, when you get to a cluttered port, the AIS signals on the electronics show up as a big mess,” said Mate Sue Mitchell of M/Y Aqualibrium. “You cannot see anyone’s name or make out anything at all. It’s just a pool of green scribble.”

When the yacht was loaded onto the Dockwise [ship] recently, the captain insisted all yachts aboard the transport ship turn off their AISes so the ship’s own AIS would be the appropriate signal being transmitted for communication purposes.

Most yachts just leave the AIS on, that is, except maybe the immensely private, extremely wealthy or notoriously famous.

In the highly technical and electronic world of megayachts, the automatic identification system actually can offer a human touch.

“AIS can make you smile,” Randazzo said. “We usually have a little chat after radio contact, if they speak English. And making a friend breaks up the watch.”

Source [Maritimenews]