[B]I have been an avid supporter of Marinetraffic.com for since inception. I have worked offshore in the Arabian Gulf as well as West Africa and have never understood why the maritime industry has not got behind this organisation. Whenever I approached management to install an AIS receiver to upload data, they always intimated that it would pose a security threat. This is despite the fact that people in the operational area routinely accessed Marinetraffic.com to ascertain the location of the vessels they were monitoring. We were constantly hamstrung by the fact that we were relying on other parties to upload AIS data from vessels and the vessels in our proximity were not being seen as we were not taking uploading.
I now find myself working in a small Australian port where we do upload data however the neighbouring ports have an internal private system which denies access by those not licensed. I embarked on a quest to try and determine why AIS information is not spread for the benefit of all and found the following on the IMO site.
[I]Maritime security - AIS ship data[/I][/B][I]
[B]At its79th session in December 2004, the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) agreed that, in relation to the issue of freely available automatic information system (AIS)-generated ship data on the world-wide web, the publication on the world-wide web or elsewhere of AIS data transmitted by ships could be detrimental to the safety and security of ships and port facilities and was undermining the efforts of the Organization and its Member States to enhance the safety of navigation and security in the international maritime transport sector. [/B]
[B]The Committee condemned the regrettable publication on the world-wide web, or elsewhere, of AIS data transmitted by ships and urged Member Governments, subject to the provisions of their national laws, to discourage those who make available AIS data to others for publication on the world-wide web, or elsewhere from doing so.[/B]
[B]In addition, the Committee condemned those who irresponsibly publish AIS data transmitted by ships on the world-wide web, or elsewhere, particularly if they offer services to the shipping and port industries.
[/B][/I]I simply cannot understand how anyone can even think that the dissemination of AIS data on the internet poses a security threat. The whole purpose of AIS was to disclose the presence of a vessel to other vessels. If the vessel is operating in an area where it is under threat the Master is able to turn off the transmissions. Small vessels without AIS regularly utilise sites such as Marinetraffic.com to monitor vessels. Stevedores, agents, pilots, chandlers etc. etc. all make use of this “free” information and it is very convenient to be able to monitor the vessel you are concerned with without having to email or telephone someone who may or may not have the latest ETA. I believe IMO are off side on this issue.
I believe that the benefits of publicly available AIS data for professional (onshore and offshore), scientific and recreational purposes outweigh the potential security issues. In certain sensitive regions, such as off the coast of Somalia, the master can opt to turn off the transponder to avoid unwanted attention. Elsewhere, a large commercial vessel has, in my opinion, no right to hide its presence.
[QUOTE=Tsotsie;168873][B]I have been an avid supporter of Marinetraffic.com for since inception. I have worked offshore in the Arabian Gulf as well as West Africa and have never understood why the maritime industry has not got behind this organisation. Whenever I approached management to install an AIS receiver to upload data, they always intimated that it would pose a security threat. This is despite the fact that people in the operational area routinely accessed Marinetraffic.com to ascertain the location of the vessels they were monitoring. We were constantly hamstrung by the fact that we were relying on other parties to upload AIS data from vessels and the vessels in our proximity were not being seen as we were not taking uploading.
I now find myself working in a small Australian port where we do upload data however the neighbouring ports have an internal private system which denies access by those not licensed. I embarked on a quest to try and determine why AIS information is not spread for the benefit of all and found the following on the IMO site.
[I]Maritime security - AIS ship data[/I][/B][I]
[B]At its79th session in December 2004, the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) agreed that, in relation to the issue of freely available automatic information system (AIS)-generated ship data on the world-wide web, the publication on the world-wide web or elsewhere of AIS data transmitted by ships could be detrimental to the safety and security of ships and port facilities and was undermining the efforts of the Organization and its Member States to enhance the safety of navigation and security in the international maritime transport sector. [/B]
[B]The Committee condemned the regrettable publication on the world-wide web, or elsewhere, of AIS data transmitted by ships and urged Member Governments, subject to the provisions of their national laws, to discourage those who make available AIS data to others for publication on the world-wide web, or elsewhere from doing so.[/B]
[B]In addition, the Committee condemned those who irresponsibly publish AIS data transmitted by ships on the world-wide web, or elsewhere, particularly if they offer services to the shipping and port industries.
[/B][/I]I simply cannot understand how anyone can even think that the dissemination of AIS data on the internet poses a security threat. The whole purpose of AIS was to disclose the presence of a vessel to other vessels. If the vessel is operating in an area where it is under threat the Master is able to turn off the transmissions. Small vessels without AIS regularly utilise sites such as Marinetraffic.com to monitor vessels. Stevedores, agents, pilots, chandlers etc. etc. all make use of this “free” information and it is very convenient to be able to monitor the vessel you are concerned with without having to email or telephone someone who may or may not have the latest ETA. I believe IMO are off side on this issue.[/QUOTE]
This info has been out there for at least 6 years and it has not been linked to any security issues yet.
You also have to keep in mind that that condemnation was written in 2004 when the idea of broadcasting the data online was brand-new and I can certainly understand how something so radically new and different would seem scary. If that same meeting were to take place today, 11 years later, I have no doubt that the outcome would be dramatically different than it was in 2004.
When I was in the Navy in the 80s, the bartenders (and the “business” ladies) knew our schedule before most of us did, here in the states and overseas. I can’t imagine how you could possibly keep ship movements a secret nowadays in the electronic age. Not with everyone in possession of a smart phone with more computing power than the computers used in the Apollo space program.
The live AIS has been a big help to me when I was in a customer service role and awaiting a ship arrival. It helps me now on occasion, too. For example, I was sent to a ship that was delayed by a day, and I figured it out pretty quickly, which meant the difference between sleeping in the airport terminal and sleeping in a hotel. I would love to see the coverage expand.
NOAA has a ship tracker that gives you the entire route for each voyage including all the track lines, but curiously, it has been placed under password protection just this year. That’s a disappointment because until then, my family was able to track my whereabouts. My little nephews got a kick out of it. “Look, here’s Aunt Catherder!”
I suspect that has more to do with protecting some key finds (such as shipwrecks we’ve found) than actual security, but it’s a bummer.