There has been considerable international concern about issues of privacy and the rights of governments to archive private information obtained from their citizens. At the same time, however, social media continues to invite wary and unwary individuals to voluntarily share secrets with each other. Ship tracking is one important area where data sharing is a key to safe and efficient conduct of global maritime commerce. This is the mandatory shipboard use of the Automatic Identification System (AIS), which permits the tracking of hundreds of thousands of ships. It is the basis for a variety of commercial products that help facilitate movements of ships around the world—and in case of distress, rapid lifesaving assistance.
Maritime shipping carries 90 percent of world trade, and at any moment there will be about 50,000 ships at sea engaged in commerce. The International Maritime Organization (IMO), a United Nations agency, creates internationally agreed-upon procedures and standards for proper management and safety. Almost all maritime states are members of the organization and work together to establish and adopt necessary standards for the conduct of ship operations. Actions by the IMO have the force of law within the member states. The organization requires that vessels of 300 gross registered tons or greater be equipped with AIS capabilities. By 2012 more than 250,000 vessels had been fitted with it.
The AIS uses radio links to permit ships and land-based stations to automatically “talk” to each other to exchange information for voyage tracking. These systems can cover operating areas up to 50 miles off a coastline.
The basic information from AIS systems is used by commercial services to provide value-added products that are available on a subscription basis. Anyone can access these commercial websites to get the location and business of most ships at sea.
Using a computer mouse to move the cursor over any ship icon, a small information box will pop up on the screen. In addition to navigational information, the box will show various items such as ship’s type, name, and country of registry, plus an image picture of the vessel, her specifications, and cargo. Thus ship owners, related businesses, and maritime-safety organizations can easily monitor the global movement of seaborne commerce.
While each of the several commercial online sites will have a slightly different format, the type of information displayed is similar. A typical example is www.marinetraffic.com. Here the reader can see examples of data types made available by a commercial provider. (This is one of many similar sites, and listing it here does not imply endorsement by either the author or the Naval Institute.) In addition to ship tracking, some commercial sites also offer port and harbor information.
The advent of the AIS has resulted in greater efficiencies and safety for global maritime shipping. More recently, an AIS-B system has been developed that permits even the smallest vessels affordable access to the service.
However, all is not perfect in the AIS world. While adding satellite tracking has greatly extended the range of coverage, the system is vulnerable to hacking. It has already been demonstrated that AIS-equipped ships can be made to disappear or be “moved.” In one test, an underway seagoing ship was thus artificially transported to an inland lake.
Flexibility to manipulate the AIS system can be very useful for terrorists wanting to move explosives carrying ships into seaports, where an attack could be made with almost no warning.
Today, there is some evidence that pirates in Africa already use information from the system as sort of a shopping list for vessels they may wish to capture.
Another area of concern is detecting and monitoring illegal fishing activities. At present, most fishing vessels are not required to carry the AIS. It appears that the IMO may eventually act to require it. Still, hacking could make those vessels “disappear.”
In the Pacific Ocean, nations such as Kiribati control huge expanses of rich fishing areas. But they are unable to police their waters to curtail illegal fishing activity, and the nation’s resources are being stolen.
However, it appears that fixing the problem may not be too difficult. One of the inventors of the AIS recently told the author that these weaknesses were evident when the system was first conceived in the late 1980s. Cost and political pressures resulted in the operational systems not having the necessary features. He added that a modest combination of software and technology fixes could largely offset these security problems.
The AIS has been a terrific boon for world maritime commerce. As a result, maritime operations have been made safer and more efficient. Hopefully the system’s capabilities will soon be expanded to protect coastal nations from terrorist activities, fight piracy, and protect fish resources from illegal harvesting.