AIS for maritime systems and companies

What is AIS?

The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is an automatic ship identification system. Since 1/1/2005, all sea ships over 300 BRZ (gross space units) are fitted out with AIS technology. The basis for this requirement includes the international ship safety treaty (SOLAS).

The system radios data about static and dynamic characteristics of each ship. These range from information about position, course, velocity, and length of the ship, to the destination port and expected time of arrival. This data can be, for instance, displayed on maps or integrated in many ways with other IT systems and communication media (e.g. e-mail).

Example display of current ship movements in the area of the southern Baltic Sea.

What are the purposes and advantages of AIS?

AIS contributes primarily to traffic safety on the waterways: ship data is always up-to-date and can be retrieved digitally at any time. Ships can be identified immediately, and their position and behavior at sea tracked and monitored precisely. This ensures good conditions for the prevention of accidents and fast action in emergencies.

AIS and other positional data sources can also be used for new IT solutions for maritime industrial and service companies, like port authorities, shipping companies, and ship outfitters. Consist Software Solutions offers you customized services which you can integrate into your IT applications. That means you can simplify and accelerate your day-to-day work and complete it more effectively. For instance, the automatic generation of ship arrivals, the automatic generation of notifications for particular events, and the display of ship traffic on sea charts all provide very useful convenience.

AIS data can be used for many purposes in the maritime arena.