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Subject: TWL: RE: AIS implementation
From: Arild Jensen (elnav@XXX.XXX)
Date: Sun Jan 26 2003 - 16:31:48 EST
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Donohue [mailto:jim_donohue@XXX.XXX]
Sent: Sunday, January 26, 2003 12:20 PM
Jim Donohue wrote:
Actually the system is pretty much obsolete and unsuited to any mass
implementation. It is pretty well hopelessly inferior to common ground
wireless stuff. The truth is that it should probably be junked and done
over...but that is probably impossible given the international bureaucratic
IMO.
REPLY
Considering that more and more areas now fall under VTS scrutiny, AIS will
proliferate and grow.
Exactly how it will be implemented remains to be seen.
I was referring to the existing systems that I have seen demonstrated, not
so much speculating on what might be at some future date.
Jim wrote:
Not really true. Those without transponders have restriction on altitude
and around major airports...but it is those with transponders that are in
fact restricted to corridors. Note that virtually all civilian aircraft
have transponders. Virtually all of this is for traffic control and has no
real security attributes other than a number you can punch if hijacked.
REPLY
AIS was not originally conceived of as a security measure.
That is a new idea resulting from the need to scrutinize shipping more
closely following events after 9/11.
AIS was conceived as a means of efficiently tracking ships in congested
waters to prevent collisions.
AIS has several enhancements compared to radar which would help the
acceptance of such a system.
As to cost, obviously volume sales would reduce the price per unit. however,
the system as presently implemented would likely suffer from congestion in
the same way the internet is suffereing the consequences of its own success.
>From the various maritime conferences I have attended as well as
conversations I have had with people in the industry, it is becoming
apparent that small craft with shallow draft will most likely be compelled
to stay out of the way of larger vessesl constrained in their ability to
maneouver.
Add to that the fact that small craft have become the vehicle of choice by
terrorists to deliver strikes at large ships.
It doesn't take a genius to see that small craft may well find their freedom
of movement restricted in the approaches to harbours and in the vivinity of
commercial shipping lanes.
This doesn't mean recreational craft will be forbidden to cruise in distant
waters and explore remote anchorages.
It simply means that if your home port is in the Cheseapeake Bay or Puget
Sound area, or similar waterways shared with commerrcial shipping; then you
wil find increasing restrictions on small craft vessel movement.
Jim wrote:
Been a while but that area was generally open except when testing underway.
Again it was actually not a "security" thing but to keep the civilians from
getting hit with a torpedo.
REPLY
More recently this has been the case from Monday to Friday and sometimes
even week-ends.
Last summer on a Saturday I watched the picket boat come in and secure just
down the shore from where I was camped.
Current events would suggest this activity level will remain the same or
increase, not be reduced in the near future.
Jim wrote:
I fail to see the relevance of transponders to security. I presume any
terrorist boat will have the required legal transponder (As did the jets
seized by the terrorists).
REPLY
The authorities will always seek to control movement of vehicles and
personell or at least keep track of it.
With modern database use, background information concerning all identified
vehicles and vessels is more readily accessible.
I now find the border guards familiar with the conversation I had with other
guards during previous crossings.
In other words, the OCR camera picks up my licence plate number and
immediately brings up my file on the computer screen even as I pull into the
border check point. Any inconsistency between what I say this trip and what
I have said in the past is immediately apparent and prompts further
investigation.
AIS will quickly identfy which ships and vessels are known to be "safe" and
which ones require closer scrutiny.
With increasing security, undetected hijackings such as we saw on 9/11 will
be less likely.
Knowing at all times which vessels are bound wher will assist in detecting
deviation from sail ( flight) plans.
I expect that recreational boats will also be required to notify the Harbor
Traffic Control of their intended movements.
This is already the case in some harbors that I have visited.
Jim wrote:
I would strongly suggest that all boaters need to resist stoutly attempts to
restrict access to maritime sites. The powers that be sometimes try to do
this for reason that deal only with making their jobs easier. Real security
is going to require catching the perpetrators before they approach a
sensitive site. Keeping all the cars, trucks, boats and airplanes from
sensitive sites just ain't gonna work.
REPLY
<Grin>
so why aren't there more guided bus tours of Area 51 <G>
Of course the authorities will try to make their job easier. Can you blame
them?
Arguing against homeland security at this time is about as popular as
dissing the flag and motherhood.
Securely yours
Arild
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