MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

AIS systems on all Falklands' fishing vessels

The industry believes the FIG should pay for the AIS units

THE installation of Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) is likely to be made mandatory for ships operating in Falklands' waters.

However representatives of the fishing industry say the government should foot the bill for the units. AIS is a shipboard broadcast transponder system operating in the VHF band which is capable of sending ship-related information such as identity, position, course, and speed. This information can be received by other AIS equipped ships, a shore station, fishery protection vessels/aircraft and military assets. Executive Council has opted to have AIS made mandatory over time but referred the issue back to the Fisheries Committee for discussion of acquisition and installation of the AIS units, particularly for vessels which may arrive in the Islands without the requisite equipment. Director of Fisheries John Barton told the committee that the requirement for AIS has been driven more by the military than the Fisheries Department but the system could be useful to the latter. Fishing industry representative Stuart Wallace said that if the government required AIS to be installed, the government should accordingly pay for it. He added that his associates in Asia were very unhappy by the idea and also felt the Falkland Islands Government should pay for the units and their installation. The units cost at least £1,000 each. His colleague Cheryl Roberts told the committee that her company had had AIS installed on a vessel which fished in South Georgia waters and the testing of the unit took two days. Were this to happen in Stanley, she said, "you could end up with 30 or 40 ships in the harbour at a time..." She and Mr Wallace both expressed concern about the impact the mandatory requirement for AIS would have on, "opportunistic" illex vessels. However, their concerns did not sway the government representatives from the requirement for AIS and Mr Barton will now work on how the supply and installation of the units might work before the issue is referred back to Executive Council. It is proposed that July 1, 2008 will be the date for the introduction of the AIS requirement. Penguin News