Other Uses For AIS: AIS has uses other than just for collision prevention. Fishing fleets can contact other vessels within their vicinity to warn of trailing fishing nets and suggest course corrections to avoid entanglement.
AIS can be used in personal locator beacons for members of a ship’s crew. If a crew member was to fall overboard then a small transmitter worn by the crew would activate. Their boat or another vessel will then see the bearing and distance to the person in the water as the AIS information will be displayed on their navigational equipment.
Also, anyone can track ships via AIS on the internet via such sites like http:/
www.marinetraffic.com. On a commercial side, ship managers can track their fleet of ships when at sea. On a leisure side, a relative or friend of a person who is sailing could arrange to meet up at a port or marina close to their current position or just check on their progress.
Conclusion: AIS is very reliable as it transmits the GPS location including SOG and COG. AIS also transmits a boats’ specific MMSI number and the vessels name allowing personal contact by Digital Selective Calling (DSC), avoiding vague descriptions (e.g. “ship off my port bow”). This can help to give warnings of close proximity or course corrections. Where visibility is low, AIS can be a great aid as it works like a real time radar offering safety in these dangerous conditions.
AIS is a benefit to anyone sailing and Icom offers several AIS solutions. The MA-500TR Class B AIS Transponder has an integrated 2.7-inch display giving the boat owner real-time vessel traffic information and can be used in conjunction with an Icom VHF radio, providing individual DSC calling by selecting vessels on the display instead of manually inputting their MMSI number. The MA-500TR also offers the ability to display AIS information on a plotter
via its NMEA0183 data output and GPS information from the supplied MXG-5000S antenna.
Icom also offer IC-M506EURO and IC-M605EURO VHF/DSC radios which feature AIS receive only technology. These radios integrate via the NMEA2000 data network providing seamless operation and real-time AIS traffic information and DSC individual calling. Both radios also feature the ‘Danger List’ function which helps you find any dangerous target whose CPA is within 6 nautical miles and TCPA is within 60 minutes of your vessel.
The new CB2000 Class B AIS black box Transponder Unit is also compatible with the IC-M506EURO and IC-M605EURO and can be used to upgrade the radios from AIS receivers to AIS transponders via the NMEA2000 data connection. The CB2000 can be easily and discretely installed due to its convenient size, simple ‘plug and play’ installation and requires a dedicated VHF/AIS antenna or antenna splitter.
Article reproduced by kind permission of ICOM
www.icom.co.uk
The Report • December 2020 • Issue 94 | 85
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