Page 24: of Marine News Magazine (December 2017)

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COLUMN TECHNOLOGY

AIS, AtoN, MTS – and you

USACE and USCG collaborate to make inland waterways Safer.

By Mark Wiggins and Greg Johnson

The United States A S : AIS, MTS, A N & VTSLPHABET OUP TO

Army Corps of En- The USACE works with the United States Coast Guard gineers (USACE), (USCG) and other agencies and stakeholders to operate supported by Alion and maintain the nation’s Marine Transportation System

Science and Technol- (MTS). A primary tool to manage the MTS is the visual ogy (Alion), has put Aids to Navigation (AtoN) system. The USCG also over- forth considerable sees the Nationwide AIS (NAIS), an automated system for effort during the last the exchange of navigational information between vessels

Johnson Wiggins two years to further and shore stations that is based on the AIS required for extend the capabili- most commercial vessels by the International Maritime ties of the existing Automatic Identi? cation System (AIS) Organization (IMO).

network to improve the safety and ef? ciency of navigation AIS information may include vessel-speci? c informa- along the inland rivers. tion, location, and speed supplemented by other govern-

December 2017

MN 24