The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is an automatic tracking system used on ships and by vessel traffic services (VTS) for identifying and locating vessels by electronically exchanging data with other nearby ships and AIS Base stations. AIS information supplements marine radar, which continues to be the primary method of collision avoidance for water transport.
Information provided by AIS equipment, such as unique identification, position, course, and speed, can be displayed on a screen or an ECDIS. AIS is intended to assist a vessel's watchstanding officers and allow maritime authorities to track and monitor vessel movements. AIS integrates a standardized VHF transceiver with a positioning system such as a LORAN-C or GPS receiver, with other electronic navigation sensors, such as a gyrocompass or rate of turn indicator. Vessels fitted with AIS transceivers and transponders can be tracked by AIS base stations located along coast lines or, when out of range of terrestrial networks, through a growing number of satellites that are fitted with special AIS receivers.
The International Maritime Organization's International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea requires AIS to be fitted aboard international voyaging ships with gross tonnage (GT) of 300 or more tons, and all passenger ships regardless of size. It is estimated that more than 40,000 ships currently carry AIS class A equipment. In 2007, the new Class B AIS standard was introduced which enabled a new generation of low-cost AIS transceivers. This has triggered multiple additional national mandates from Singapore, China, Turkey, and North America affecting hundreds of thousands of vessels. In 2010, the most commercial vessels operating on the EU inland waterways were mandated to fit an inland-waterway-modified and -approved AIS Class A device. The entire EU fishing fleet over 15 meters was given until 2014 to do the same. Additionally, a number of other countries, including China, India, the United States, and Singapore, have started AIS mandate programs which require large numbers of vessels to fit an approved AIS device for safety and national security purposes.
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