No 6 2010 Shipgaz 65
New information centre
Report
The satellite is still in a test phase but the information management centre and the information sharing between nations is up and running. Hopefully both systems will not only benefit government agencies and ships in distress but also crews and shipowners alike.
Photo: Kongsberg Satellite
says Jon Leon Ervik, who thinks the test period will be finished sometime in the spring and the operational phase will take over. “The satellite circles around the earth in a polar orbit that takes 90 minutes. This means every 90 minutes we have live AIS coverage of the North Atlantic via our station at Svalbard. Over the South pole and Antarctica we have AIS coverage with a 45 minute delay, because AIS information over that area is saved in the satellite and transmitted when it passes the station at Svalbard. This might be very important when there are more and more vessel, cruise vessels and other, going to Antarctica.” The satellite, called AISSat-1, is a nano satellite. It measures 20 x 20 x 20 centimetres. It orbits the earth at an altitude of 600 kilometres. “Hopefully we can get a more efficient and quicker communication between ship and agencies ashore. We do not need to give the nautical crew more paper work. And once again, which is the most important, we can react quicker in case of an emergency.” Once the satellite based AIS system is fully operational the better cover-
POWER FOR MARINE PROFESSIONALS
AIS transmis sion from AISSat-1. The small satellite weighs six kilo grams and is shaped like a cube.
age of the ocean will benefit shipowners and operators as well. “They can get live AIS information and know exactly where there ships are at all times. Especially if we in the future can send up more satellites, which there are plans for. But that lies in the future”, says Jon Leon Ervik.
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Volvo Penta professional service centre in Sweden: ÖCKERÖ MITAB Tel: +46 (0)31 7691430 Fax: +46 (0)31 965950 Email: magnus.hansson@ mitabmarin.se Web: www.mitabmarin.se SIMRISHAMN Marincenter Syd Simrishamn AB Tel: +46 (0)414 28790 Fax: +46 (0)414 28799 Email: sven@marincentersyd.se Web: www.marincentersyd.se WAXHOLM Rindö Marine AB Tel: +46 (0)8 544 306 30 Fax: +46 (0)8 544 306 49 Email: info@rindomarine.se Web: www.rindomarine.se
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