What is marine AIS? By Vesper Marine

What is AIS?
An introduction for workboat and pleasure craft owners

What is AIS? - Automatic Identification System
The Basics…
AIS is an international ship identification standard that allows vessels to transmit and receive information about vessels in the immediate vicinity
Identity
To Work AIS Needs;
Your boats unique identification information
(Maritime Mobile Service Identity)
GPS data to record & track your position
VHF radio signals for receiving and sending AIS information
MMSI
Call Sign
Boat Name
Data
Type
SPEED
Size
Heading
This is assembled in an electronics enclosure, sometimes with its own display
Slide 2

What is AIS? - Automatic Identification System
Slide 3
The Basics, who uses AIS and what information is sent…
All international commercial boats over 300 ton must use AIS Class A
Private boats under 300 ton are able to use AIS Class B
Other vessels as determined by local authorities must also use AIS (Commercial and Pleasure)
AIS data transmits over two dedicated digital marine VHF channels. The data is sent from each vessel every few seconds and contains;
For AIS Class A
The vessel's Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI)
Navigation status – "at anchor", etc.
Rate of Turn , Speed over Ground, Position, Course over Ground, True Heading, Time Stamp
Sent every 2 to 10 seconds depending on a vessel's speed while underway, and every 3 minutes while a vessel is at anchor. Static ID data, such as vessel name, are broadcast every 6 minutes
For AIS Class B
Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI)
Speed over Ground, Course over Ground, Position, True Heading, Time Stamp
Sent every 3 minutes where speed over ground (SOG) is less than 2 knots, or every 30 seconds for greater speeds. Static ID data, such as vessel name, are broadcast every 6 minutes
11001010100010001111110001000100011110001000111111100001111111100010000100011110001000100010001111111000011111000100001111000100010001000100111111000010011110000111100010001111000100000011110001000100111111001111100011100001111100001111000111000111000111111110011111001111000001100001001111111111110001000100111100001001

Why is There a need for AIS?
Slide 4
The main reason!
Collision Avoidance
The Ship Captain’s View
The Small Boat View
The View Nobody Wants!

For pleasure craft and light commercial vessels...
Crew safety – allows others to see where you are
Improved ship to ship communication
Provides you with situational awareness relative to other vessels
Boat investment protection
For search and rescue…
Allows both marine and air rescue craft to identify your location
Other uses…
Commercial fleet tracking
Virtual and Synthetic Aids to Navigation
Why is There a Need for AIS?
Slide 5
And more than just collision avoidance…

Class B AIS systems are becoming such an important addition to smaller vessels for its safety benefits
There is a growing understanding of the improved safety that AIS offers;
Providing collisions avoidance alarms
Being able to signal your location to search and rescue
Transponders offer a back up GPS
Being able to be seen and see other vessels (ship to ship coms by name)
An increased number of reported near misses. When someone first starts using AIS they soon become aware of how luck played a big part in past voyages as they suddenly gain visibility of how many other ships they come in close, but often invisible, contact with.
Increased peace-of-mind, particularly for shorthanded crews where an extra “pair of eyes” is greatly appreciated.
It’s fun to see what other vessels are “out there” and where they are going.
Class B is not mandated, why is its use growing?
Slide 6

AIS Technology, Introduction to How AIS Works
Slide 7
How does VHF carry AIS information
Ships broadcast short digital messages giving details of their identity, position, course and speed. Any other vessel within a radius of 37km/20nm or so can receive that information and display it.
Each AIS transmission from a ship only takes milliseconds, so even though each ship can be updating its AIS information every few seconds, there is a plenty of VHF capacity for many hundreds of ships to exchange information at one time within the 37km/20nm radius.
The same procedure is repeated by all other AIS-equipped ships
The AIS info for Ship A sends the position message in one VHF data time slot. At the same time it reserves another time slot for the next position message.
Ship A
AIS Receiving Shore Station
Each time slot represents 26.7 milliseconds

AIS Technology, How it Works
Slide 8
Where does radar fit in
Radar definitely has its advantages and for large motor powered vessels it is likely to be essential in many circumstances. However the introduction of AIS gives you a “virtual neon sign” on your boat that all large commercial vessels and many smaller vessels will see from miles away.
AIS also has the following advantages over radar;

Small vessels wont be visible in big swells by radar
More chance of being seen when traveling close to land or behind islands with AIS
Can see AIS enabled AtoN’s (Aids to Navigation)
AIS is Less affected by weather conditions
AIS is low power consumption
AIS offers good value for money as it is lower cost than radar
Receive Hydro and Meto data from AIS equipped buoys
It’s worth noting that some multi function displays allow you to overlay AIS information on radar screens.
No technology is100% foolproof, but both AIS and Radar are highly valuable safety features. Either or both are a better choice than a ride in a life raft any day.

Class B AIS products
Black boxes
Displays
Chart plotters with AIS
Class A AIS product examples
What Type of AIS Products are Out There?
Slide 9

Chart Plotter/AIS Black Box… Versus Standalone AIS
Slide 10
The benefits of a dedicated AIS display
A dedicated AIS display provides all AIS information at a single glance without having to drill down through complicated menus in times of stress
AIS and chart data can get very cluttered in high traffic areas, making individual vessel information hard to identify
The scale for a chart versus the scale needed for useful AIS viewing is often different meaning you will be continually zooming in and out on a plotter to get perspective
Some AIS chart plotter software is limited and will only tell you there is a "Dangerous Target". Not enough information to make a decision on in low visibility, high stress situations
Some AIS displays like the WatchMate provide the ability to filter non important, low risk vessels focusing your attention on the most important targets only
Standalone AIS PC software and chart plotters don't have sophisticated Alarms settings or Multiple Profiles that make using AIS information easy
Being a safety device its always reassuring to know that you have one piece of equipment with the sole purpose of continuously monitoring hazardous situations
Installation is simple with a dedicated AIS device, no complicated interfacing, settings and menu navigation issues to deal with
If you are concerned about power, standalone displays use very little power (only 3W in the WatchMate’s case) and can often be left on permanently

Chart Plotter/AIS Black Box… Versus Standalone AIS
Examples of AIS information displayed on a marine chart
Example of AIS information displayed on a dedicated AIS Display

Antenna Selection and Installation
Slide 12
VHF radio antenna
AIS signals can be received on most standard marine antenna operating on VHF frequency 156 to 163 MHz.
Optional specially tuned AIS antenna are available as stand alone aerials.
Alternatively a single VHF antenna can be used with the antenna being shared using a VHF/AIS Splitter with one tail going to the VHF radio and the other to the AIS device.
AIS antenna
Dual Antenna Installation
Ideal - 3 m (9.85 ft.)
VHF & AIS antenna
Antenna Installation Tips:
Mount as high as possible, ideally 2-3m (6-10 ft) above the water
Don’t mount in radar beam
Should not be collocated with any other antenna
Ideal mounting separation between antenna is 3 m (9.85 ft)
It should be an omni directional marine band VHF antenna
Don’t mount in the shadow of structures, masts etc
When using a an antenna splitter ensure it is an active AIS Splitter to protect the device that is not transmitting.
Single Antenna Installation

Why will AIS use Continue to Grow?
Slide 13
Individual End-User Drivers:
Personal safety
Collision avoidance and situational awareness
Boat investment protection
Improved ship to ship communication
Common Good Drivers:
Security of coastlines and sovereign areas
Search and Rescue (SAR) needs of nations
Environmental impact monitoring and enforcement
Shipping traffic management
Collision avoidance and situational awareness
Personal Needs
Community Needs

Regulation is Also Driving the Adoption of AIS
Slide 14
0.5 million sailboats in Canada and UK combined
1.6 million sailboats and 65,000 commercial fishing vessels and boats
India; installation of AIS on all fishing vessels more than 20 metres
China has mandated 220,000 vessels must have transponders
In Europe, all fishing vessels over 50ft (15m ) are require to have AIS transponders
The US Coast Guard is completing a requirement that will apply to 17,000 small commercial vessels to carry AIS transponders
In Kuwait, 30,000 recreational vessels are intended to fall under a carriage requirement for AIS
In AUS, the NMSC reviewed the Uniform Shipping Laws (USL) Code and concluded; “AIS Class B provides a very real benefit to the safety of life at sea.

Thank You!
For more information or to request an original electronic version of the slide deck please email us at info@vespermarine.com

Example of AIS Filtering using a WatchMate Display
Slide 16
Filters reduce clutter
By using the WatchMate Filters…
…the clutter of irrelevant ships…
…is removed from the display…
…and the display continues to provide a reminder of the 81 filtered ships.

Filters reduce clutter
By using the WatchMate Filters…
…the clutter of irrelevant ships…
…is removed from the display…
…and the display continues to provide a reminder of the 81 filtered ships.
Printing Version

Focus on the Most Important Targets - Identify Priority Traffics
The ship that creates the highest risk of collision is prioritized…
…and shown on the display in list order of priority

Class A versus Class B – The technical details
Slide 19
Conditions when vessels have to use AIS Class A. These are set out by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). In summary all vessels over 300 tons and all passenger vessels use Class A. There is no international requirement for smaller vessels to use Class B AIS but some regions like Singapore and Turkey have made it mandatory for these vessels to use AIS Class B in their respective regions.
The table below is a quick summary of the differences between Class A and Class B AIS. It comes from the US Coast Guard site www.navcen.uscg.gov This is a great site for an AIS overview and of course there is Wikipedia.

See Wikipedia link for more details:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Identification_System

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What is marine AIS? By Vesper Marine

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