Seven things you should know about AIS

marinetraffic.com/blog/seven-things-know-ais

By Alex King January 31,

2018

This blog post was updated on 7/6/2019

The Ancient Greeks ensured the safety of their vessels by making offerings to Poseidon, the
god of the sea. Once a ship had left harbour and passed over the horizon, there was little
they could do but offer their prayers.

How times have changed. Thanks to the rapid evolution of AIS technology, we have the
ability to track the position of every ship, anywhere on the ocean – in near real time.

AIS technology has developed from a simple navigational and situational awareness tool
designed to improve safety at sea to become the backbone of a global ship tracking
network. Today, over half a million vessels use AIS to transmit their location, which is
collected by a network of receivers deployed in over 140 countries and 40 million users
track vessels annually through the MarineTraffic platform alone.
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AIS no longer merely helps to protect sailors. As the network of receivers grows and
methods of analysis become increasingly sophisticated, AIS data is able to provide ever-
more accurate and valuable information to a variety of users; from helping maritime
businesses increase efficiency to allowing financial analysts and hedge funds to monitor
global commodity flows.

How could AIS technology benefit you? This blog post will bring you up to speed with the
most important things you need to know about AIS and give you an insight into whether it is
relevant to your needs.

1. What is AIS?
The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is comprised of small transponders fitted to
shipping vessels worldwide, which use short wave VHF radio signals to broadcast each
vessel’s position, unique International Maritime Organisation (IMO) identity number and
other useful information. The transmissions can be received by any vessel, land station or
satellite in range and fitted with an AIS receiver.

2. Who developed AIS and why?

AIS was intended to help vessels see who is operating in the local area and avoid collisions.
The introduction of GPS (Global Positioning System) data for civilian use allowed GPS time
and position data to be integrated with pre-existing VHF radio technology, giving rise to AIS.
The US, UK and others began developing parallel systems after the Exxon Valdez disaster in
1989, before international standard we use today was agreed on by the IMO in the mid-90s,
and its capabilities have since developed thanks to input from multiple actors.

The information broadcast by each vessel can be received by other vessels or land-based
receivers within a line-of-sight range of just 20-30 miles. However, the development of
satellite receivers allows for much greater coverage. Combining data from satellite and land-
based receivers has enabled the creation of a worldwide network that can collect, share and
interpret the information broadcast by each ship, to provide us with a real-time picture of
global shipping traffic.

3. Do I need AIS on my vessel?

If you own a vessel over 300 gross tons or a passenger ship of any size, the IMO Convention
for the Safety Of Life At Sea (SOLAS) Regulation V/19.2.4 requires that you operate AIS Class
A onboard at all times – unless there are valid security reasons to turn it off, temporarily.

If you operate a smaller pleasure craft, you are not obliged to use AIS. But due to the low
price of Class B AIS transponders and the fact that many countries require no license, boat
owners often choose to install AIS voluntarily. They realise that increasing a vessel’s visibility
at sea could end up saving your life.
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4. Can I start picking up the AIS signals?
As AIS receivers do not require a license in most countries and the VHF signal is
unencrypted, almost anybody can invest in a base station and begin monitoring shipping
traffic within range.

If you live in an area with limited or no terrestrial coverage, the MarineTraffic network
department can send you an AIS gathering station for free so you can start sharing vessel
position information and become a member of the MarineTraffic Station Network
community; as long as you have a reliable power supply, internet connection and a clear line
of sight to the sea.

5. What is the range of AIS transmissions?

When they install a land-based receiver, the MarineTraffic network department consider a
range of between 30-60 nautical miles as successful, while anything above 200 is
exceptional. However, the all-time record for longest reception distance is 1024 nautical
miles, held by station number 112 on the West Coast of America.

6. What does AIS actually tell us?

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The Class A AIS transponders on each vessel broadcast three types of information: Static
Information, such as the call sign and name of vessel, IMO Number, type of ship, length and
beam, and location of position-fixing antenna; Dynamic Information, automatically updated
from connected ship sensors, such as the ship’s position, course over ground, speed over
ground and navigational status, for example, at anchor, underway by engines or engaged in
fishing; and, finally, Voyage Information, manually entered by the crew, such as the ship’s
draught, destination and ETA and the nature of any hazardous cargo. AIS can also be used
to send short safety-related text messages.

Related: Vessel details that can be changed in AIS transponders

7. Who uses AIS – and could it be useful to me?

Sailors can use their AIS receivers to monitor all sea traffic within roughly 20 miles of their
vessel. Ports, terminals and maritime authorities also use it to monitor traffic within their
specific areas. But millions of users rely on maritime tracking intelligence providers, like
MarineTraffic and its competitors, to provide them with a global picture. The combination of
AIS data and mapping overlays allows vessel operators to monitor and manage their fleets,
suppliers and service providers to find new business, and crew members to be tracked by
family and friends.

Processed AIS data can provide insights and information to a wide range of maritime
professionals, from analysts to insurers, researchers and regulatory bodies. Economists,
financial analysts and traders are increasingly using this data to track changes and patterns
in the global flow of commodities.

Related: Seven things you should consider when choosing AIS provider. Discover them here.

AIS is already one of the most valuable sources of information for the maritime sector, but
with increasing innovation in technologies such as machine learning and big data analysis,
the value we can extract from AIS data and the breadth of useful functions we can find to
employ it can only increase with time.

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