Some serious ship accidents (e.g. "EXXON VALDEZ") have raised
the demand for increased maritime safety. The status of technical development in various
areas (DGPS, ECDIS, automatic track control, transceivers, VTS) is able to give an answer
to this demand. Thus, maritime "Transponders" which are coming up to fill the
gap are as well "used-pulled" as "technology-driven". "Automatic
Identification Systems" (AIS) is a more appropriate name for "Transponders"
due to their technical functionality in the automatic and autonomous broadcasting mode,
but "Transponder" is colloquial.
Comprehensive information interchange via "Transponder" will
cover a series of operational functions relating to both "ship-to-shore
communication" (2S Transponder) and "ship-to-shore and ship-to-ship
communication" (4S Transponder). "Transponders" will play an extremely
important role in Vessel Traffic Service Systems (VTS), Ship Reporting Systems, collision
avoidance between ships, SAR, etc.. Also, the full potential of accurate position fixing
(e.g. by GPS/DGPS and GLONASS) will be used effectively by the integration of position
fixing and communication.
Within the last years, the functional requirements of
"Transponders" have been identified. First installations are in use, and
practical experiences resulting from field tests in different modes of operation (polling
vs. broadcast) have been gained. Capacity limitations will be overcome, frequencies have
to be made available. An international standard has to be achieved. Therefore, the
International Maritime Organization (IMO) is in the process of producing performance
standards for "AIS".
While the necessary operational and technical prerequisites for a
world-wide effective use of "Transponders" are being delt with, the potential
impact on the operation and manning of ships as well as on the education and training
(MET) and qualification of ship's personell must be analyzed.
2. Purpose and Operational Functions of "Transponders"
2.1 Purpose
"Transponders" are the fundamental key to effective
identification, monitoring and tracking of shipping. Related to the improvement of safety,
i. e. the protection of human life, ships and environment, the primary purposes of
monitoring are
