ONI Worldwide Threat to Shipping Report (to 6 Dec 06)

Noted here. Highlights:

1. INDIA: India is putting in place a new monitoring system to track ships off its coast named the national automatic identification system, per 01 Dec reporting. The network is at a conceptual stage and meant to overcome the shortcomings of the current system used to sift merchant and passenger ships from rogue vessels which might approach the coast. The transmission of information will be through satellite links instead of VUHF
transmission used by the present Indian ship position reporting system that and heading. Every six minutes, they will have to broadcast their call sign, name and type. This will be replaced by a long-range identification and tracking (LRIT) system that would provide global coverage through Inmarsat in the future. Position data would be transmitted through regional collaboration centers set up all around the world. New regulations for this system are likely to be announced in January 2008 (LM: hinuonet.com).