For nearly two years, many commercial ships in U.S. waters have been required to carry Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) capable of broadcasting their position and other data via VHF radio signals.
Yet Southern New England has been without a centralized system to pick up those ships’ signals and map their locations – until now.
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Warren-based Maritime Information Systems Inc. has just launched a system that enables customers to view the locations and specifications of AIS-equipped vessels via the Web, at www.misdevelopment.com. The system could be used to track vessels in distress or boats suspected of carrying threats to national security, such as bombs or terrorists.
“There’s a gap in the coverage for AIS in the Northeast, so we knew this was an area we could serve,” said Moses Calouro, CEO of Maritime Information Systems, a technology consultancy to the shipping industry since 1995.
Though most commercial ships are required to have AIS systems, having the technology to receive their signals remains optional for the authorities and government agencies in charge of the nation’s ports. And no other company offers the same service in this region, Calouro said.
His company’s new AIS service has six base stations, positioned along the coast from Newport to Portland, Maine. They pick up AIS signals from up to 30 miles away, then transmit their information to a data network in Warren. The system also receives signals from five base stations in Maine that are owned by other firms.
Customers can pay a monthly fee of $50 to tap the network and view its content – including maps dotted with ships’ locations and other data, such as owner, nation of origin and cargo capacity – from any computer linked to the Internet, Calouro said.
An onboard global positioning system (GPS) receiver is linked to the VHF equipment, enabling the ship to broadcast its position. The AIS systems also transmit other information about the ship, such as its name, draft, size, cargo type and destination, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard, which sets standards for AIS technology, reports that since December 2004, the systems have been required for all tankers, all commercial vessels more than 65 feet in length, and most tugboats and large passenger vessels. Yet the equipment is not required for fishing boats.
Calouro said his company will market its AIS service to port agents, marine exchanges, oil companies operating fuel terminals, law enforcement agencies and harbor masters. He also plans to sell the service to the Coast Guard, which he said could transfer the raw data from his network to its own internal systems to track vessels.
“We’re not really sure of the entire market, but we are expecting 150 [subscribers] in the first year,” the CEO said. He projects that his company’s AIS service will generate $90,000 in revenue from subscriber fees in its first year. He plans to generate additional revenue, he said, by selling the company’s information to a London-based firm that wants to build a global network.
Calouro said any plans to expand his company’s network beyond New England will hinge on whether Congress chooses to require U.S. ports to track ships’ AIS signals. Ports in San Francisco and Alaska have the tracking systems, he said, but without a federal requirement, many gaps are likely to remain in AIS coverage of the U.S. coastline.
A 1991 graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Cape Cod, Calouro founded Marine Information Systems in 1995, after working as a merchant marine and shipping agent.
His company, which employs three workers, develops Web and software applications for the marine industry. It also operates a Web site, www.mgn.com, which publishes industry news and shipping data.
