All merchant vessels are required to have AIS. I can say that since I got my AIS installed two years ago, I haven't seen a single merchant going up or down Chesapeake Bay that wasn't broadcasting.
Are you an Electronics Junkie?
- Thread starter jssailem
- Start date
more and more smaller boats, it seems especially sailboats, have installed class B AIS. We see them all the time in Maine
That's in the US - how about world-wide?All merchant vessels are required to have AIS. I can say that since I got my AIS installed two years ago, I haven't seen a single merchant going up or down Chesapeake Bay that wasn't broadcasting.
dj
Not all countries have fully accepted these requirements. And the question that seems to still not being answered is; what percentage of all boats/ships one could encounter are running AIS. Probably less than 1%.
Seems to me AIS gives a rather false sense of security. I'm not trying to lessen it's use, but it's not arriving to a real need in my opinion.
dj
You really think so? How many fishing boats are there in Asia? How many are running AIS? How many small boats could you run into going into a harbor in any harbor in the world?
I'd be surprised if 1% of all boats in the world are running AIS. What number would you put on it if you think I'm WAY off?
dj
- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,141
Dave you are correct about fishing boats. Even commercial fishermen have been given a pass. Size though is a factor. US waters it is probably more than you imagine are complaint. International waters not so much. In the Puget Sound all large commercial and passenger vessels have had AIS that I have encountered.
On our February trip in Canada, AIS came in very handy. We were contacted by a BC ferry. It was due to Mahalo being outfitted with an transmitting AIS. Neither of us could see the other on radar or visually. Yet due to AIS the BC Ferry captain knew where we were and our boat name. Call came in on 16 by name. We shared our intentions and agreed to pass each other Port to Port on the snow/mist/fog. Not sure the BC Captain ever saw us and he was a big gray blur but we safely passed in a narrow passage.
AIS is a handy tool when the other boats are following the COL Regs.
On our February trip in Canada, AIS came in very handy. We were contacted by a BC ferry. It was due to Mahalo being outfitted with an transmitting AIS. Neither of us could see the other on radar or visually. Yet due to AIS the BC Ferry captain knew where we were and our boat name. Call came in on 16 by name. We shared our intentions and agreed to pass each other Port to Port on the snow/mist/fog. Not sure the BC Captain ever saw us and he was a big gray blur but we safely passed in a narrow passage.
AIS is a handy tool when the other boats are following the COL Regs.
AIS also provides a way for the shipping companies to keep tabs on the location of their ships world wide - why wouldn't the foreign-flagged vessels have AIS?
- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,141
I would agree.
Wasn’t just recently that the Iranian tanker captain turned off his AIS while near the Syrian Coast so he would be more difficult to find and allow him to unload oil.
My AIS has a stealth mode. The manual identifies it as a way to still receive signals but not transmit.
Wasn’t just recently that the Iranian tanker captain turned off his AIS while near the Syrian Coast so he would be more difficult to find and allow him to unload oil.
My AIS has a stealth mode. The manual identifies it as a way to still receive signals but not transmit.
Thanks. That clears up my confusion. The receiver would be of some value to me, plus that's the cheap part, I think. We rarely deal with large shipping in our area but occasionally one passes. It would be nice to see that on the CP's (we don't use radar).
Fishing boats are the main collision danger to us but we find them easy to avoid(pleasure mobo's the second danger). Most of those small fishing boats wouldn't show as well as most of our other moving,... collision dangers, locally.
The transmitter is the other part (and more expensive I see). That wouldn't be much use to us up here yet but if I sailed in very shipping traffic regularly, for sure.
John, no doubt AIS can be useful. But as I'm looking at what I really need to have, I just don't see it making the list. As Tomy pointed out, it does depend upon where you are sailing. If I was planning to spend time in and around shipping channels, I'd get AIS.
dj
dj
- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,141
I am in total agreement with your thinking Dave. Where you sail and the conditions you accept to sail in are the drivers (or at least should be) for the equipment you place on your boat. Well for most folk. Then there are the folk that have to have everything on the boat before they push away from the dock. They have more money than they know what to do with and they keep the engineers in the electronics shop thinking and looking for more stuff to add. 
Why I like to monitor the progress of the sailors in the Golden Globe. Appreciation for the seat of your pants sailing. Why I liked flying a piper cub better than the twin.
Some folk just enjoy the wind in their face and a bit of salt spray. It helps to assure that you are alive.
Why I like to monitor the progress of the sailors in the Golden Globe. Appreciation for the seat of your pants sailing. Why I liked flying a piper cub better than the twin.
Some folk just enjoy the wind in their face and a bit of salt spray. It helps to assure that you are alive.
We took a stroll along the beach one evening after dark during our trip to Vietnam and I was astonished to see the lights strung out along the coastline. The fishing boats were lit up with bright lights from as far left along the coast as you could see all the way across to as far right as you could see. The lights were as regular as the streetlights on our expressways! We saw hundreds of boats in the Dong Hoi harbor, yet the number of boats that we saw in the harbor during the daytime didn't seem like it could possibly match the number of boats strung out along the coast. It seemed that the number of boats could be in the thousands just in the small area that we could see. It must be like that in front of every harbor along the coast. My point is that there are A LOT of fishing boats in Asia apparently!
That said, isn't it just plain silly to suggest that AIS use in the Salish Sea isn't really significant because of all the fishing boats in Asia that aren't running it?
Simrad has the new RS40-B with integrated AIS transceiver, hopefully they can bring it to market......Standard Horizon tried and failed.....RS40-B VHF Radio oh yea I'm a electronics geek.
Scott T-Bird - at no point did I ever say it was silly to use AIS - not even close. In fact if you read what I wrote, I explicitly said it can be useful. But it is equally silly to make the blanket statement we should all get AIS. Selecting to use or not use really depends upon where one sails and how. It is also clear that the implimentation and acceptance of this technology is not as extensive as some apparently think.
dj
dj
- Oct 22, 2014
- 23,141
Nat It appears that the radio is available in Canada, Europe and Australia/New Zealand. Did not see any US sellers. Panbo suggested it would be available in June 2019. Maybe something hit a snag. MSRP $1099US. Listed in the rest of the world for about the at price. Take care buying an European model. You may have issues with the transceiver radio channels.
