theBaltic December 2009 www. thebaltic. com Communications & IT 58 LRIT becomes mandatory This year has seen maritime administrations scrambling to implement the requirements of an amendment to Chapter V of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974 ( SOLAS) that introduced new mandatory position reporting obligations for most seagoing ships. The Long Range Identification and Tracking ( LRIT) system, which was officially implemented on 1 July 2009, requires vessels to automatically transmit their identity, position and the date/ time at six- hour intervals. Applications include: . Coordination of search and rescue . Incident/ accident investigation . Flag state monitoring . Vessel identification in pollution incidents . Security monitoring The system is compulsory for all vessels of 300 GT and above on international voyages - estimated to be some 45,000 vessels worldwide. In each case, equipment on board must be tested to and certified to ensure compliance with IMO regulations, and the vessel registered with a data centre, which receives and processes the position reports sent by the vessel. Each contracting government must have a data centre in place, which then communicates with the international data exchange to distribute position reports. The system should have been up and running by the start of the year, but in many cases the necessary data centres operated by, or more often for, maritime administrations have only been set up during the course of the year. UK company Pole Star, which has established more than 30 data centres, representing around 8,500 vessels, says that the flow of data provides SOLAS contracting governments with a level of information that has never before been possible, enabling them not only to monitor vessels registered to their own flag but also to request information on other vessels in which they have a legitimate interest. Dr Sam Ryan, Chair of the International Maritime Organization ( IMO) LRIT Ad Hoc Working Group, says: " Pole Star has worked very closely with the IMO and the many flag administrations to whom they provide LRIT Data Centre services to ensure the data reporting procedure is seamless. This is an outstanding example of technology being used to produce a robust and reliable system that is going to have a substantial impact on maritime safety and security." Guy Sear, Pole Star LRIT project manager, said: " Data Centres have the potential to be a major contributor to marine domain awareness, but the success of this initiative depends upon global involvement and compliance." Keeping in touch LRIT tracking allows flags to monitor their ships worldwide

theBaltic December 2009 www. thebaltic. com Communications & IT 59 Iridium to develop two- way solutions Iridium Satellite LLC ( Iridium) is joining with mobile satellite industry companies and the emergency responders to form the ProTECTS ( Promotion of Two- way Emergency Communication and Tracking Systems) Alliance. These technologies could provide critical safety links for vessels at sea, particularly in more remote areas. The alliance aims to foster the rapid and orderly adoption of portable, two- way satellite- based location, tracking and messaging technologies. It aims to provide a forum for addressing issues affecting the suppliers and users of these devices, and to ensure that the devices meet the needs of governments and businesses using the technology. " The ProTECTS Alliance will advocate for industry standards based on two- way satellite data links," said Patrick Shay, vice president and general manager of Iridium's data division. " Sailors on the high seas are all relying on satellite location technology as a critical safety lifeline, and the interactive bi- directional data link helps ensure their distress messages are heard and that help reaches them." " While one- way emergency beacons can provide a valuable aid to life- saving services, experience has shown that they can have a high incidence of false alerts triggered by accidental activations," said retired Admiral James Loy, former US Coast Guard Commandant and US Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. " This places a heavy burden on first responders who must try to verify, by independent means, the validity of the distress signal before deploying rescue resources. The large number of distress alert messages makes it impractical - and prohibitively expensive - for authorities to launch search- and- rescue ( SAR) operations without determining whether it is a real emergency or an inadvertent activation." While Iridium is the founding member of the ProTECTS Alliance, membership is open to mobile satellite service ( MSS) providers, software developers, manufacturers, system integrators, resellers, distributors, industry experts, SAR authorities, first responders, trade associations, regulatory bodies and user groups. Communications in the Arctic Beluga's transit of the Northeast passage this summer was a first attempt at what may become a viable trade route, cutting almost a third off Atlantic/ Pacific transit times. However, seamanship, navigation and political considerations are not the only issues to face when planning a passage of this type. Most of the extreme northern waterways are not covered by many of the standard communications networks. Beluga approached its satellite communica-tions partner, H ² OSatellite, to advise on the best equipment to ensure dependable, uninterrupted voice and data links at high latitude. H ² OSatellite recommended the new Iridium OpenPort high-bandwidth marine satcom system. Iridium OpenPort provides three independent voice cir-cuits and a separate data connection scalable up to 128 kbps, all of which can be used simultane-ously without interference. " We knew that Iridium OpenPort was the only choice for full coverage in those extreme regions where other systems are patchy or non- existent," said Robert Kenworthy, managing director of H2OSatellite. " Iridium OpenPort has the additional benefit of working with our new industry- leading, IP- based products which allow, amongst other things, crew web browsing. The system allowed Beluga Shipping to stay in constant touch with its vessels, which is essential for safety and security in an area with drifting ice fields, ridges and freezing temperatures. Beluga also has a strong crew welfare focus and the Mail4Crew service means that during their breaks, the crew were able to send and receive e- mail, SMS and even postal messages, to stay in touch with home." The Beluga Fraternity passed the Nowaja Semlja archipelago, the Northeast passage's official exit, on 12 September 2009, and sister vessel Beluga Foresight followed on 16 September 2009. " By the completion of the Northeast Passage transit, and previously the safe offloading of the cargo in a rather remote area in Siberia, we have opened the gate to a seaway which will further gain in importance in the future," said Niels Stolberg, founder, president and ceo, Beluga Shipping.