EMSA’s Maritime Support Services (MSS)
EMSA’s Maritime Support Services (MSS)
Telephone
+351 211 209 415
Fax
+351 211 209 480
Email
MaritimeSupportServices@emsa.europa.eu
2.07 SAT-AIS
Agency responsible
Data group
02. Vessel Positions
Coast Guard Functions with access
Maritime Safety Including Vessel Traffic Management
Maritime Ship and Port Security
Maritime Customs Activities
Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking and Smuggling and Connected Maritime Law Enforcement
Maritime Border Control
Maritime Monitoring and Surveillance
Maritime Environmental Protection & Response
Maritime Search and Rescue
Ship Casualty & Maritime Assistance Service
Maritime Accident and Disaster Response
Fisheries Inspection & Control
Status of implementation
Available
Dissemination channels
Agency web interface
Streaming to Member States
Point(s) of contact
Last reviewed on
Last saved on
Description
Position information provided by ships via on board Automatic Identification System and received automatically by satellite communication systems (SAT-AIS).
Data elements
- Fixed/static information: MMSI, Call sign and Ship Name, IMO number, Length and beam and Type of ship
- Dynamic information: Ship's position with accuracy indication and integrity status, Position timestamp in UTC, Type of electronic position fixing device, Course over ground (COG), Speed over ground (SOG), True heading, Navigational status and Rate of turn (ROT)
- Voyage related information: Ship's draught, Hazardous cargo (type) and Destination and ETA
- Ancillary information: Acquisition timestamp, Satellite ID, Ground station acquisition timestamp, Ground Station ID, Data Centre Ingestion Timestamp, Data Centre Delivery Timestamp, Data quality indicators (valid position report, invalid position report, uncertain position report) and Doppler shift
Legal basis
SOLAS Regulation V/19.2.4; SafeSeaNet Interface and Functionalities Control Document and Regulation (EC) No 1406/2002 followed by EMSA Work Programmes
Scope and source of data
Since 2002, the SOLAS Regulation V/19.2.4 requires that all ships of 300 gross tonnage (GT) and upwards engaged on international voyages, cargo ships of 500 GT and upwards not engaged on international voyages and passenger ships irrespective of GT must have an AIS Class A onboard at all times. In 2006, Class B AIS transponders were introduced (with fewer functionalities but at a cheaper cost) and since then even smaller vessels have voluntarily started to use AIS technology.
Since May 2014, following stricter EU legislation, any fishing vessel with an overall length of more than 15 metres and flying the flag of a Member State and registered in the Community, or operating in the internal waters or territorial sea of a Member State, or landing its catch in the port of a Member State is also obliged to be equipped with AIS.
AIS data is gathered by shore-based stations owned by the Member States and made available to other national systems of Member States via SafeSeaNet. This is done via streaming interface which enables the constant flow of data (based on predefined criteria) between: the national systems and the central SSN system (either directly or via an AIS regional server).
Technical implementation
AIS works by automatically broadcasting tracking information at regular intervals via a Very High Frequency (VHF) transmitter built into the transponder to shore-based receiving stations. The AIS transponders work in an autonomous and continuous mode and, presently, the two VHF frequencies used are 161.975Mhz (AIS1, or channel 87B) and 162.025Mhz (AIS2, or channel 88B). The radio signals, transmitted by the AIS transponders, are also received by dedicated payload of satellites operated under commercial, and national SAT-AIS programmes. The satellite services enable data acquisition outside the range of terrestrial AIS network coverage, including polar areas and complementing global maritime situational awareness picture.
EMSA provides different alternative mechanisms to retrieve SAT-AIS information:
- System-to-system interface which allows exchange of data between EMSA and the national system;
- Graphical user interface providing access to SAT-AIS data;
- App for mobile devices (IMS App) providing access to current maritime picture on smart phones and tablets.
SAT-AIS data is available online since July 2017. The data is archived for at least 5 years and may be provided upon request.
Conditions of access
In accordance with the Interface and Functionalities Control Document (IFCD), SAT-AIS data is available to EU Member States’ authorities executing functions in the maritime domain, ports, EMSA, EC and other EU bodies users. Access can be granted following three types of licences which are foreseen by the SAT-AIS service contract conditions:
- Licence to provide global feed of SAT-AIS data for EMSA users - EMSA will provide a global feed of real-time and historical SAT-AIS data, including its associated data quality indicators and where available its associated Doppler data, through the SafeSeaNet Ecosystem Graphical User Interface (SEG) including web and mobile applications, to entities such as:
- EU / EFTA Member States;
- EU institutions such as EMSA, EFCA, and Frontex, to support their users: governmental and international operational entities collaborating with EMSA, EU bodies and operations such as EUNAVFOR, MAOC-N or other similar agreements or arrangements. The global feed of real-time SAT-AIS data in the form of S2S will be provided to EFCA and Frontex, if required so;
- For users of EMSA services, other than EFCA and Frontex, EMSA may, if required so, distribute SAT-AIS data in the form of S2S for requests covering small geographical areas not larger than 5 Million km2 and for very specific reasons i.e. during a SAR operation; for monitoring a specified number of ships, etc.;
- Licence to provide global S2S feed of SAT-AIS data for EU Member States - Licences to provide a global feed of real-time SAT-AIS data in a form of S2S (EMSA’s streaming solution) to individual EU / EFTA Member States for geographical areas larger than 5 Million km2.
- Licence to provide feed of SAT-AIS data for given AOI - EMSA will provide real-time and historical SAT-AIS data, in a form of access to SEG or S2S, from a particular Area of Interest (AOI) to entities such as EU candidate countries, or for the European Neighbourhood Policy Countries, e.g. beneficiary countries under European Commission programmes such as SAFEMED, BCSEA or any other EMSA cooperation agreements.
Access to other communities may be requested, either on an ad hoc basis (to satisfy a given need during a given period), or in the form of an agreement (MoU), which allows access to SSN by specific users who are involved in pilot projects, but who are outside the SSN legal framework. In each case, access will only be granted to information relevant to their mandate. The access rights for each user profile shall be determined by a decision of the HLSG for the specific agreed purpose.