Page 15: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 2018)

in the number of users and diversi? ca- third ASM is a geographic notice that United States, Hawaii, Alaska and other and the reliability and universality of its tion of applications, including vessels can de? ne an area and provide informa- US locations such as Guam and Puerto network infrastructure. Such an incident which are not subject to IMO AIS car- tion on precautions to be exercised in Rico. However, this is not where the actually happened to a friend of mine riage requirements, aids to navigation, that area. Additional ASM are in draft story ends. Today, recreational boaters (without the help of advanced AIS).

and search and rescue; form or currently being tested.] can download a few smartphone apps to: The collection of e-ATON, virtual [To those unfamiliar with AIS, here RDC’s work in this area has been far identify and contact nearby vessels; alert ATON, Automatic Identi? cation Sys- is a simple primer. AIS is a data trans- ranging. For example, a few years ago the USCG of de? cient ATON, naviga- tem/Application Speci? c Messages mission system that uses VHF Channels the RDC collaborated with the U.S. tional hazards, and environmental pol- (AIS-ASM), Search and Rescue Tran- 87 and 88 to transmit and receive data. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to lution; and, most importantly, navigate sponder (SART), Satellite AIS (S-AIS)

These two channels are broken into utilize the NAIS message set, routers, more safely and with greater security. and more gives government, commer- 2,250 time slots where data is placed ei- and servers to enable USACE to develop As the software tools of e-Navigation cial, and private developers the tools to ther by the ship or a shore station. Time improved systems -- compatible with become widely disseminated and third- create new and exciting ways of improv- slots are synchronized locally using the NAIS -- to enhance the safety and ef? - party developers are able to build on the ing vessel transport safety, security, ef-

GPS timing function. A ship reserves ciency of operating inland locks. Sev- connectivity of NAIS assets, we will see ? ciency, comfort, and enjoyment. The a time slot using a protocol called self- eral standard ASMs were de? ned and signi? cant advances in the role digital situation today is not unlike the power organizing (time division multiple ac- methods have been developed for mes- technologies play within the Maritime that was unleashed in the computer in- cessTDMA which is very ef? cient and sage creation, routing, queuing, trans- Transportation System dustry when open source and interoper- reliable. Originally AIS was designed to mission and monitoring. Today, an AIS Consider the following scenario: You ability was more than a goal but a reality. send or receive only 22 messages related transmit architecture aligned with Inter- are sailing out of the Mayport, FL, Inlet This semester I will be encouraging my to the ship’s identity, speed, direction, national standards has been developed to and didn’t realize that a 30,000-ton car middle school STEM class to look for and other factors. With the development implement the ef? cient and robust trans- carrier is creeping up on your stern at ways of allowing paddle boarders to ad- of ASM, the sky (or earth’s surface) is mission of these speci? c ASMs. 7 knots. Your radar picked this up but vantageously use the AIS network. The the limit. In the U.S., numerous ASM It is estimated that our nation’s water- you were too busy preparing to enter the USCG RDC continues to lead the way in have been tested. One such message is ways enable over $4.6 trillion worth of sea. Fortunately, your son was down not just predicting the future but making an environmental message that provides economic activity at 360 plus ports. The below playing Fortnight on his iPhone it happen.

information on wind, tides, water levels, Coast Guard has statutory responsibility when he got alerted to the impending di- current, sea state, and other meteorologi- to operate and maintain a system of mar- saster. He tells dad and a catastrophe is [Author Note: The author would like to cal and hydrological data. Another is a itime aids to facilitate navigation and to averted. This is possible today because thank the many members of the USCG waterways management message con- prevent disasters, collisions, and wrecks. of the ? exibility and standardization of RDC staff with their help in writing this taining information that could be used To ful? ll this mission, the Coast Guard the NAIS High-Level Data Link Con- report. I especially want to note the con- for drawbridge and lock operations. A operates over 53,000 aids throughout the trol (HDLC) ASM messaging packets tributions of Irene Gonin, and Lee Luft.] www.marinelink.com 15

MR #10 (10-17).indd 15 MR #10 (10-17).indd 15 10/4/2018 11:38:00 AM10/4/2018 11:38:00 AM