[svzephyr44]

As of March 2, 2015 the USCG has finalized a new rule for carriage of AIS systems. In the past AIS was required for ships in excess of 300T on an international voyage with exceptions for things like fishing boats. Under the new rule just about every commercial vessel operating in US waters will be required to carry an AIS. The estimate is that 40,000 boats will need to purchase AIS systems by the end of the year. We should soon be in a "target rich" environment.

Fair winds and following seas

 

[outbound]

Be glad when the fishboats have them. When deck lights are not on hard to pick up. When deck lights are on I can't see their nav lights. Never can figure what pattern they are steering. Always want to stay far away from them. They are trying to earn a living. I'm messing around with boats.

 

[4arch]

Hopefully this will mean AIS transponders will become less expensive. Class B units seem to have hit a floor of about $500 a few years ago that has been slow to be broken.

 

[svzephyr44]

Hopefully this will mean AIS transponders will become less expensive. Class B units seem to have hit a floor of about $500 a few years ago that has been slow to be broken.

Unfortunately my reading of the rule is that they almost all have to have Class A systems. I would agree, it would be great if the demand for Class B systems went way up.

 

[MarkofSeaLife]

Be glad when the fishboats have them. When deck lights are not on hard to pick up. When deck lights are on I can't see their nav lights. Never can figure what pattern they are steering. Always want to stay far away from them. They are trying to earn a living. I'm messing around with boats.

These guys had me perplexed. Middle of the night and their bright lights kept converging then seperating. AIS solved the riddle. Note the range... Still 12 nms away.

AIS is brilliant!

 

[TakeFive]

These guys had me perplexed. Middle of the night and their bright lights kept converging then seperating. AIS solved the riddle. Note the range... Still 12 nms away.

AIS is brilliant!

Interesting that one of them is class A, and the other one is class B.

 

[Classic30]

Unfortunately my reading of the rule is that they almost all have to have Class A systems. I would agree, it would be great if the demand for Class B systems went way up.

Which 'rule' are you reading?? US Coast Guard AIS Transponder Rules | Vesper Marine appears to indicate fishing vessels would require Class B only.

Does this have anything to do with the latest amendment to SOLAS?

 

[svzephyr44]

Which 'rule' are you reading?? US Coast Guard AIS Transponder Rules | Vesper Marine appears to indicate fishing vessels would require Class B only.

Does this have anything to do with the latest amendment to SOLAS?

The West Marine "Port Supply" web site has a breakdown for class "A" and class "B" requirements. I didn't really do an analysis but by category there were far more class "A" requirements. In retrospect I think it was more like "all boats over 65 feet with minor exceptions have to be class 'A'" so the vast majority of the 40,000 boats may be able to use class "B." Since I have had AIS for years I really didn't delve into it.

With respect to SOLAS the requirements have not changed. The USCG has been working to change the rule for US waters for almost a decade and it finally got the rule approved.

BTW, there are an increasing number of countries that require AIS on all vessels in their waters. This was started by Singapore years ago and the US has finally caught up.

Fair winds and following seas

 

[Bene505]

...there are an increasing number of countries that require AIS on all vessels in their waters. This was started by Singapore years ago...

I wonder what the penalty is for non-compliance. If picking fowers is a $500 fine, one can only imagine. Caning maybe, for putting boaters "at risk"?

Regards,
Brad

 

[Zanshin]

As a singlehander, AIS is very important to me, I want to see and be seen; thus this change is a great step forward. Odd that in this sailing forum this thread only has 8 responses and 397 views, while the thread about whether you need to take off your shoes has in excess of 80 posts and over 3000 views. If we took the number of views/posts as an indicator of importance to sailors then the Coast Guard should have introduced legislation for spot "shoe checks" rather than try to mandate AIS.

 

[sirtang]

These guys had me perplexed. Middle of the night and their bright lights kept converging then seperating. AIS solved the riddle. Note the range... Still 12 nms away.

AIS is brilliant!

I'm confused how you can see something 12nm away at sea level.
Elevation has to be close to 90 ft for that?

 

[Zanshin]

I'm confused how you can see something 12nm away at sea level.
Elevation has to be close to 90 ft for that?

The observer is at least 10 feet above the water (4 foot freeboard, 6 feet height) which gives 4NM visibility, the lights of a trawling fisher big enough for Class A is going to be a good 30 feet high at least, which is about 7NM. Then add any height gained by ocean swell, multiply that distance by 2 (i.e. a 4 foot swell would be 2.5NM * 2 = additional 5 miles intermittent) and given bright enough lights you are going to see something, at least some of the time.

 

[gamayun]

Without having read the rule, this appears to be a good summary of it except that the compliance date is March 2, 2015 (not 2016, so take it with a grain of salt there could be other errors): US Coast Guard AIS Transponder Rules | Vesper Marine

This is the original Federal Register notice of the final rule from the Coast Guard: https://www.federalregister.gov/art...departure-and-automatic-identification-system

 

[MarkofSeaLife]

I'm confused how you can see something 12nm away at sea level.
Elevation has to be close to 90 ft for that?

I think Zanshin has pretty well summed it up.
The time UTC is wrong, interestingly. It would have been middle of the afternoon but it was about 2am.
Some of the big fishing boats, and this one is 100feet/30 meters, have high derecks and the working lights are on top of that. So quite high and very bright.

All I can remember seeing is theses far off bright lights of a ship... And then the ship splitting in two... And till a few minutes later it rejoined itself.
It was quite funny at the time

The other point about fishing boats in general. is they appear to just waft about the ocean... But AIS shows you exactly what they are doing and exactly where to go so you can avoid their bit of paddock altogether.



Mark

 

[sirtang]

I think Zanshin has pretty well summed it up.
The time UTC is wrong, interestingly. It would have been middle of the afternoon but it was about 2am.
Some of the big fishing boats, and this one is 100feet/30 meters, have high derecks and the working lights are on top of that. So quite high and very bright.

All I can remember seeing is theses far off bright lights of a ship... And then the ship splitting in two... And till a few minutes later it rejoined itself.
It was quite funny at the time

The other point about fishing boats in general. is they appear to just waft about the ocean... But AIS shows you exactly what they are doing and exactly where to go so you can avoid their bit of paddock altogether.



Mark

It must be like seeing UFO's!!

 

[Classic30]

It must be like seeing UFO's!!

Unidentified Floating Objects??.. Yep, happens all the time when you're out on the water.

 

[MarkofSeaLife]

It must be like seeing UFO's!!

Lol it wasnt very far north of the Bermuda Triange. It was off Cape May, USA WHICH, FOR THE NON americans is quite close to Norfolk where many naval ships are. I did wonder if the navy was having a Close Encounter! :laugher

A close encounter with the CIA!

Mark

 

[Minnewaska]

I'm actually hoping that AIS becomes as ubiquitous as having a VHF. Maybe as costs decline, it will do so on its own.

As for similar aviation technology, airspace is divided up between who and where you must have a transponder and what type. By enlarge, you must have one in more congested airspace. I could seen the federalies wanting all boats in commercial harbors having AIS. On the other hand, I'm thinking about the looks of the East Passage in front of Newport (which has a commercial shipping channel and is a frequent regatta and tourist location) on a breezy, sunny summer day. Your screen would look like a bee swarm.

 

[4arch]

I'm actually hoping that AIS becomes as ubiquitous as having a VHF. Maybe as costs decline, it will do so on its own.

Given how hard it has been to convince the boating public of the benefit of running two wires between their DSC VHF radio and GPS unit, I'm not overly optimistic that those same boaters are going to spring for AIS anytime soon.

As sailors it's easy to lose sight of the fact that the "average" American boat is something along the lines of an aluminum fishing skiff or a 20-something foot Grady-White. I have little doubt that if a mandatory AIS rule were ever proposed, that segment of recreational boaters would demand (and probably get) exemptions based on "size" even though it would completely fly in the face of the purpose of such rules.

 

[hellsop]

Given how hard it has been to convince the boating public of the benefit of running two wires between their DSC VHF radio and GPS unit, I'm not overly optimistic that those same boaters are going to spring for AIS anytime soon.

Probably not, at least not when A seems to run about $2000, and B transceivers about $800. (Why the difference? I'm sure that's the "what the market will bear" pricing rather than any actual difference in quality or technology. It's not like there's that much R&D that goes into "reporting position more often" and "eight more watts of broadcast power".)