AIS

QUESTIONS ASKED:
1. USE OF AIS FOR COLLISION AVOIDANCE. (JAN 08)
2. WRITE SHORT NOTES ON AIS. (AUG 08)
3. EXPLAIN HOW AN AIS WORKS. (NOV 09)

AIS IS AN IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM THAT USES VHF COMMUNICATION TO TRANSMIT AND

RECEIVE AIS DATA.AIS OPERATES PRINCIPALLY ON TWO DEDICATED FREQUENCIES OR VHF
CHANNELS AIS 1- 161.975 MHZ-CHANNEL 87B (SIMPLEX, FOR SHIP TO SHIP) AND AIS 2- 162.025
MHZ-CHANNEL 88B (DUPLEX FOR SHIP TO SHORE).WHERE THESE CHANNELS ARE NOT
AVAILABLE REGIONALLY, THE AIS CAN BE SET TO ALTERNATE DESIGNATED CHANNELS. IN
OTHER WORDS AIS IS A SHIPBOARD BROADCAST SYSTEM THAT ACTS LIKE A TRANSPONDER,
OPERATING IN THE VHF MARITIME BAND. IT USES SELF-ORGANIZING TIME DIVISION MULTIPLE
ACCESS (SOTDMA) TECHNOLOGY TO MEET THIS HIGH BROADCAST RATE AND ENSURE
RELIABLE SHIP-TO-SHIP OPERATION. FOR THIS PRECISE TIMING DATA IN THE GPS SIGNALS IS
USED TO SYNCHRONIZE MULTIPLE DATA TRANSMISSIONS FROM MANY USERS ON A SINGLE
NARROW BAND CHANNEL. THE AREA IN WHICH AIS MESSAGES CAN BE RECEIVED IS CALLED
SHIP’S CELL. ASHORE, A REPEATER CAN BE USED TO INCREASE THE COVERAGE OF A CELL.
EACH SHIP IN THIS WAY IS AT THE CENTRE OF ITS OWN COMMUNICATION CELL. IF THE AIS
MESSAGES BEGIN TO OVERLOAD THE NETWORK, IT AUTOMATICALLY SHRINKS ITS CELL BY
IGNORING WEAKER STATIONS FURTHER AWAY IN FAVOUR OF THOSE NEARBY.
EACH AIS SYSTEM CONSISTS OF ONE VHF TRANSMITTER, TWO VHF TDMA RECEIVERS, ONE VHF
DSC RECEIVER, AND A STANDARD MARINE ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS LINK TO
SHIPBOARD DISPLAY AND SENSOR SYSTEMS. POSITION AND TIMING INFORMATION IS
NORMALLY DERIVED FROM AN INTEGRAL OR EXTERNAL GLOBAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE
SYSTEM (E.G. GPS) RECEIVER, INCLUDING A MEDIUM FREQUENCY DIFFERENTIAL GNSS
RECEIVER FOR PRECISE POSITION IN COASTAL AND INLAND WATERS. OTHER INFORMATION
BROADCAST BY THE AIS, IF AVAILABLE, IS ELECTRONICALLY OBTAINED FROM SHIPBOARD
EQUIPMENT THROUGH STANDARD MARINE DATA CONNECTIONS. HEADING INFORMATION AND
COURSE AND SPEED OVER GROUND WOULD NORMALLY BE PROVIDED BY ALL AIS-EQUIPPED
SHIPS. OTHER INFORMATION, SUCH AS RATE OF TURN, ANGLE OF HEEL, PITCH AND ROLL, AND
DESTINATION AND ETA COULD ALSO BE PROVIDED. AIS EQUIPMENT IS ALSO HAS “BUILT IN
TEST EQUIPMENT” (BITE)
THE AIS TRANSPONDER NORMALLY WORKS IN AN AUTONOMOUS AND CONTINUOUS MODE,
REGARDLESS OF WHETHER IT IS OPERATING IN THE OPEN SEAS OR COASTAL OR INLAND
AREAS. ALTHOUGH ONLY ONE RADIO CHANNEL IS NECESSARY, EACH STATION TRANSMITS
AND RECEIVES OVER TWO RADIO CHANNELS TO AVOID INTERFERENCE PROBLEMS, AND TO
ALLOW CHANNELS TO BE SHIFTED WITHOUT COMMUNICATIONS LOSS FROM OTHER SHIPS. THE
SYSTEM PROVIDES FOR AUTOMATIC CONTENTION RESOLUTION BETWEEN ITSELF AND OTHER
STATIONS, AND COMMUNICATIONS INTEGRITY IS MAINTAINED EVEN IN OVERLOAD
SITUATIONS.
MKD UNIT PROVIDES A SIMPLE USER INTERFACE TO THE MOBILE STATION AND CAN BE USED
FOR NAVIGATING BETWEEN DEDICATED MENUS FOR CONFIGURATION AND DISPLAY OF
VESSEL NAVIGATION DATA. TEXT MESSAGES CAN ALSO BE ENTERED INTO MKD AND
TRANSMITTED TO OTHER SHIPS AND SHORE BASED AIS STATIONS PROVIDING WARNINGS OR
OTHER RELEVANT NAVIGATIONAL INFORMATION. IF THE AIS HAS BEEN INTERFACED TO THE
ONBOARD ECDIS SYSTEM OR RADAR THE INFO DISPLAYED ON MKD CAN ALSO BE DISPLAYED
ON AIS COMPATIBLE ECDIS OR ECS SYSTEM.

AIS TRANSMITS FOLLOWING CATEGORIES OF INFORMATION:

STATIC AND VOYAGE DATA ARE TRANSMITTED EVERY 6 MINS, WHEN AMENDED OR ON
REQUEST (E.G. WHEN INTERROGATED BY A VTIS OPERATOR)
STATIC DATA: IMO NUMBER, CALL SIGN AND NAME, LENGTH AND BEAM, TYPE OF SHIP,
LOCATION OF POSITION FIXING ANTENNA (TRANSMITTED EVERY 6 MIN AND ON REQUEST)
DYNAMIC DATA: SHIP’S POSITION, TIME IN UTC, COG, SOG, HEADING, ROT, NAVIGATIONAL

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STATUS. THE UPDATE RATES FOR DYNAMIC DATA DEPENDS ON SHIP’S STATUS AND SPEED.
(TRANSMITTED ACCORDING TO REPORTING RATES)
VOYAGE RELATED DATA: THIS DATA CAN BE ENTERED MANUALLY AT THE BEGINNING OF
VOYAGE AND CAN BE AMENDED WITH TIME AS REQUIRED. IT CONTAINS: DRAFT, HAZARDOUS
CARGO (TYPE), DESTINATION AND ETA (AT MASTER’S DISCRETION) (TRANSMITTED EVERY 6
MIN, WHEN DATA AMENDED AND ON REQUEST)
SAFETY MESSAGES: THEY ARE SENT AS NEEDED.

REPORTING INTERVALS: 
AT ANCHOR: 3 MIN ; 0-14 KTS: 12 SEC; CHANGING COURSE: 4 SEC
14-23 KTS: 6 SEC; CHANGING COURSE: 2 SEC
GREATER THAN 23 KTS: 3 SEC; CHANGING COURSE: 2 SEC

ADVANTAGES OF AIS
1. FREE UP VHF CHANNELS.
2. AUTOMATIC AND FAST COMMUNICATION
3. SAFE NAVIGATION: AIS CAN ALSO BE INSTALLED ON BUOYS, BEACONS AND NAVAIDS.THIS
MAY ALSO REPLACE RACONS.
4. COLLISION AVOIDANCE: IT CAN BE USED FOR TRACKING VESSELS WITHIN AREAS WITH BAD
RADAR COVERAGE LIKE NARROW CHANNEL BENDS, SHADOW AREAS IN ARCHIPELAGOES
AND SOLID, CONTINUOUS CLUTTER CAUSED BY HEAVY RAINS. IT IS ALSO NOT AFFECTED
BY PROBLEMS OF TARGET SWAPPING AS IN ARPA.
5. SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATIONS: IT WILL ALLOW SAR COORDINATORS TO MONITOR THE
MOVEMENTS OF ALL SURFACE SHIPS, AIRCRAFT AND HELICOPTERS INVOLVED IN THE
RESCUE EFFORT.
6. POLLUTION PREVENTION.
7. INTEGRATION WITH VDR (INVESTIGATION).
8. INTEGRATION WITH RADAR TO ENHANCE CAPABILITIES IN BOTH VTS AND SHIPBOARD
SYSTEM: COMBINED RADAR-AIS TRACK IS MORE ACCURATE AND RELIABLE THAN A RADAR
TRACK ALONE. IT PROVIDES A POWERFUL TOOL FOR MONITORING AND CONTROLLING
MOVEMENT OF VESSELS THROUGH RESTRICTED WATERS, HARBOURS AND NARROW
CHANNELS.
9. VESSEL UPTIME, AND RELATED BUSINRSS BENEFITS: AIS CHANNELS CAN BE USED TO
TRANSMIT PORT DATA, PILOTAGE, AND BERTH ASSIGNMENTS, SHIPPING AGENCY
INFORMATION, TIDES, AND CURRENTS ETC REPORTS.
10. SHORT MESSAGE SERVICES: AIS HAS FACILITY FOR TRANSMITTING A SAFETY RELATED
MESSAGE LIMITED TO A MAXIMUM OF 121 CHARACTERS AT A TIME TO AN INDIVIDUAL
USER, USER GROUP OR VTS CENTRE. IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE TO AUTOMATICALLY FORWARD
THIS INFORMATION AS AN EMAIL VIA LAN/WAN TO SHIP OWNER/AGENT.

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR AIS

AIS SHALL:
1. PROVIDE AUTOMATICALLY TO APPROPRIATELY EQUIPPED SHORE STATIONS, OTHER SHIPS
AND AIRCRAFT INFORMATION, INCLUDING THE SHIP’S IDENTITY, TYPE, POSITION, COURSE,
SPEED, NAVIGATION STATUS AND OTHER SAFETY RELATED INFORMATION.
2. RECEIVE AUTOMATICALLY SUCH INFORMATION FROM SIMILARLY FITTED SHIPS
MONITOR AND TRACK SHIPS.
3. EXCHANGE DATA WITH SHORE BASED FACILITIES
4. THE SYSTEM SHOULD BE ABLE TO HANDLE A MINIMUM OF 2000 REPORTS PER MINUTE TO
ADEQUATELY PROVIDE FOR ALL OPERATIONAL SCENARIOS ENVISIONED.
5. THE INSTALLATION SHOULD BE OPERATIONAL WITHIN 2 MINUTES OF SWITCHING ON.
THE AIS AND ASSOCIATED SENSORS SHOULD BE POWERED FROM THE SHIP’S MAIN SOURCE
OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY.IN ADDITION, IT SHOULD BE POSSIBLE TO OPERATE THE AIS AND
ASSOCIATED SENSORS FROM AN ALTERNATIVE SOURCE OF POWER. 

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CAUTION WHILE USING AIS:
1. CERTAIN ELEMENTS OF THE DYNAMIC INFORMATION TRANSMITTED BY AIS MAY BE
PROVIDED FROM SENSORS WHICH LACK COMPREHENSIVE INTEGRITY MONITORING AND
WHOSE ACCURACY HAS NOT BEEN TESTED. MARINERS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THIS
LIMITATION WHEN VIEWING INFORMATION ON SHIP BORNE NAVIGATIONAL DISPLAY.
2. OVER RELIANCE ON AIS INFORMATION FOR NAVIGATIONAL SAFETY SHOULD BE AVOIDED
UNTIL STEPS CAN BE TAKEN TO ENSURE THAT ALL TRANSMITTING SHIPS PROVIDE THE
NECESSARY DEGREE OF DATA ACCURACY AND INTEGRITY FOR ALL CONNECTED SENSORS. 
3. POSITION(S) OF SHIPS RECEIVED ON AIS DISPLAY MAY NOT BE REFERENCED TO WGS 84
DATUM.

AIS AS A COLLISION AVOIDANCE TOOL:

1. AIS HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE USED AS AN ANTI-COLLISION TOOL AND IN DUE COURSE OF
TIME IT MAY BE RECOMMENDED AS SUCH A DEVICE.
2. AIS CAN BE USED AS AN EFFECTIVE TOOL IN MAKING COLLISION AVOIDANCE DECISIONS.
BUT WHEN USING AIS, THE FOLLOWING SHOULD BE KEPT IN MIND:
a. AIS IS AN ADDITIONAL SOURCE OF NAVIGATIONAL INFORMATION, IT SUPPORTS BUT
DOES NOT REPLACE OTHER NAVIGATIONAL EQUIPMENTS SUCH AS RADAR ETC.
b. IT DOES NOT NEGATE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE OOW TO COMPLY WITH COLREGS AT
ALL TIMES.
3. THE OOW SHOULD NOT SOLELY RELY ON THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE AIS BUT
SHOULD USE IT ALONG WITH THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY OTHER NAVIGATIONAL
EQUIPMENTS TO DEVELOP THE BEST IDEA OF THE SITUATION AND MAKE BEST COLLISION
AVOIDANCE DECISIONS.
4. THE USE OF AIS DOES NOT HAVE ANY IMPACT ON THE COMPOSITION OF THE
NAVIGATIONAL WATCH, IT SHOULD BE CARRIED OUT IN ACCORDANCE WITH STCW
CONVENTION.
5. ONCE THE AIS HAS ACQUIRED A SHIP AS A TARGET AND STARTED TRACKING IT.
INFORMATION SUCH AS NAME OF THE VESSEL, CALL SIGN, IMO NUMBER, HEADING,
CHANGES IN HEADING, SPEED, RATE OF TURN, SHIP TYPE ETC ARE READILY AVAILABLE.
THE COMMON PROBLEM ASSOCIATED WITH THE RADAR SUCH AS TARGET SWAPPING,
CLUTTER, LOSS OF TARGET DURING FAST MANOEUVER ETC ARE NOT THERE IN THE AIS.