VESSEL TRACKING AND TRACING (VTT) DOCUMENTATION:

(last update 18 June 2021)

General document

Test Standard Inland AIS 2021/3.0:
Implementation status:

An evaluation of the AIS implementation status of VTT in Europe is carried out before the CESNI RIS WEEK:

Reference data relative to ASM

Inland AIS does not only provide identity and the position of a vessel, but it can also be used for the exchange of other navigation and voyage related information between vessels and between vessel and shore.

Inland AIS allows for the transfer of Application Specific Messages (ASM) via the AIS radio link (AIS VDL) as a means of communication for external applications. The use of Inland ASM is a type of data exchange between externally connected users from two or more Inland AIS stations with connected external application. The data content does not affect the operation of Inland AIS stations.

An appropriate way to show ASM content on board is through a connected Inland ECDIS display. The shore system also needs to support the transmission and handling of these messages and provide means for input and output of the related information.

Examples of this kind of information, which can be provided by Inland AIS, are ETA/RTA, actual water level, signal status at a lock, bridge clearance and bridge height. The commonality of this information is the relevance for the tactical navigation and the timeliness in which the information should be provided to the skipper.

The mechanism within Inland AIS for the transfer of this information is the so-called Application Specific Message (ASM).

File available for download:

Reference data relative to AtoN

Inland AIS is a communication system based on maritime AIS to automatically provide position, identity and other navigation data of a ship and to exchange safety related information between ships and between ship and shore.

Following the existing maritime applications, Inland AIS can also be used to provide information for emphasising classical aids to navigation for the marking of buoys.

A dedicated AIS Aids to Navigation Report message (AIS AtoN) transfers the position and the meaning of the aids to navigation as well as information on whether or not the buoy is in the required position (off-position). Inland AIS makes use of this AIS AtoN message but introduces an additional coding of inland specific Aids to Navigation following CEVNI.

This Inland AIS AtoN report message can either be transmitted by a specific Inland AIS AtoN station mounted on a buoy, or by an AIS shore station.

Using the Inland AIS AtoN report message makes it possible to provide information on a real buoy that is lying in the water, or where no real buoy is present, but rather a so-called virtual AtoN.

Ships equipped with an appropriate display system such as Inland ECDIS can display the information contained in the Inland AIS AtoN report message, for example, as a symbol on the chart at the reported position of the AtoN. This functionality still needs to be further standardised and has not yet been implemented in all Inland ECDIS applications.

File available for download: - Information paper on AIS AtoN edition 1.1

PREVIOUS EDITIONS:

Standards Edition 1.2:

Technical clarifications:
Test Standard Inland AIS 2.0:
VTT Standard Edition 1.01:
VTT Standard Edition 1.0: