Page 21: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2003)

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Further, terrorists, pirates, and others of malicious intent can monitor AIS signals to identify target vessels.

Returning to the original purpose of

AIS, maritime safety, all parties should remember the consequences of over- reliance on machines that seem to pro- vide all the answers. One need only look back to the grounding of the cruise ship Royal Majesty on June 10, 1995.

The ship was completing a voyage from

Bermuda to Boston when it ran aground on the Rose and Crown Shoal about 10 miles east of Nantucket Island, Mass.

The ship was 17 miles off course when the incident occurred. Damage to the ship and lost revenue were estimated at $7 million. Subsequent investigation revealed that the ship's automated navi- gation system had been programmed to rely on its GPS receiver. However, less than one hour after departing Bermuda, the GPS antenna came loose, disabling the GPS. The integrated navigation sys- tem automatically defaulted to its dead reckoning navigation system, which does not compensate for the effects of wind, current, or sea conditions. The audible warning system had been dis- abled and the warning light was dis- played only in the chart room. No one on the bridge during the 34 hours between the loss of the GPS signal and the grounding noticed that the ship was off course. None of the other available navigational tools were utilized. The incident provides a valuable lesson in what can happen when reliance is placed in any one system to the exclusion of other systems, including common sense.

Summary

The answer to our original question is that AIS is neither a panacea nor a

Pandora's box. It is just another tool in

Maritime Security a large and growing tool box made available to masters, deck officers, and others to enhance maritime safety and security. It is only as good as its main- tenance and the training provided to its users.

Kawasaki

IN PURSUIT OF

MANOEUVERABIUTY

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INTEGRATED CONTROL SYSTEM

Aspiring to provide excellent systems,

Kawasaki, with a century- long experience, is continually researching and developing new propulsion systems.

KAWASAKI

HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.

World Trade Center Bldg., 4-1 Hamamatsu-cho, 2-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-6116. Japan •Marine Machinery Sales Dept. Machinery Division:Phone:81-3-3435-2374 Fax:81-3-3435-2022

Kawasaki Heavy Industries (UK) Ltd. Phone:44-20-7588-5222 Fax:44-20-7588-5333

Kawasaki Heavy Industries (Europe) B.V. Phone:31-20-644-6869-70 Fax:31-20-642-5725

Kawasaki Heavy Industries (USA) Inc. Phone:1-212-759-4950 Fax:1-212-759-6421

AMDETECH Provides

K-9 Protection for CCL

American Detection

Technologies, Inc. (AMDETECH), a home- land security company and provider of contra- band detection servic- es using highly-trained canine teams, has signed a contract with

Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL) to provide canine screening for all Carnival vessels. Under the terms of the contract, AMDETECH is provid- ing canine teams to search all deliveries before they are loaded onto Carnival vessels at the 16 Carnival locations where provision- ing is done, while maintaining the standards as per the U.S. Department of the Treasury "Odor Recognition Proficiency Standard" and the Department of Defence.

Heading up AMDETECH's network of trained and certified canines that will be providing the services for Carnival are: Ron Allen,

CEO; Edward Griffin, vice president work- ing out of AMDETECH's Palm Beach

Gardens, Fla. office; and Ronald Gray, operations manager out of Worcester, Mass.

AMDETECH also is providing to Carnival its proprietary, client-accessible "DogTrack"

Internet database, including wireless capabil- ities, to track handler and dog records, inci- dent reports, and positive wireless identifica- tion of dogs at job sites.

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June 2003 21

Maritime Reporter

First published in 1881 Maritime Reporter is the world's largest audited circulation publication serving the global maritime industry.