AIS tracking Review
Proponents of Automatic Identification System (AIS) praise the GPS technology for improving safety at sea.
But, as Bright Sparks columnist KEVIN GREEN warns in the latest edition of Trade-a-Boat magazine, issue 424, it can also play a role in implicating wrongdoing.
“AIS has been very much in the news recently with the wrecking of the Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia. The owners, the authorities and the captain have differing views of the events leading up to the incident. However, thanks to AIS, used by insurer Lloyds, the track of the ill-fated ship showing it heading dangerously close to shore can be seen, as was a similar track for the same voyage last year."
Over the next four or five years, it is likely we’ll see widespread adoption of this technology in the recreational boating sector. Given that AIS is now being used to assist litigators in their cases against commercial operators, are we leaving ourselves open for a legislative nightmare?