International Journal

on Marine Navigation

and Safety of Sea Transportation

Volume 6

Number 2

June 2012

175

1 BACKGROUND

Today, there are more and more base stations have

been developed to receive the real-time vessel in-

formation and to send them to VTS (Vessel Traffic

Service) where this information will be displayed on

ECDIS to facilitate traffic monitoring. And the in-

formation is very valuable in other area in shipping

industry such as ship agent, brokerage, pilotage, sal-

vation, custom inspection, quarantine, and fleet

monitoring, etc.

[1][2]

However, it is hard for these people access the

AIS information field.

[3]

To satisfy their demand,

several live AIS web system have been developed,

for example, Lloyds AISLive, NavCom AIS Live,

AISLivepool and Tokyo bay live traffic website. All

these systems, however, are only based on AIS in-

formation which is collected from shore based AIS

stations, and their coverage only within sea area A1.

We have developed a live AIS web system using

Ajax technology

[4][5]

. But this system can not track

vessels when they are beyond the coverage of shore-

based AIS stations, because the coverage of the VHF

frequency, which the AIS system works on, is nor-

mally within sea area A1. Therefore, in this paper

we integrate Inmarsat-C polling service and China

Beidou Navigation satellite system into the vessel

tracking system in order to extend coverage of the

system to sea area A3. Once the vessel leaves the sea

area A1, that means the position information broad-

casted by AIS system can not be received by the

shore-based AIS station, the vessel tracking system

can use Inmarsat-C polling services or China Beidou

navigation satellite system to tracking the vessel

continuously.

This paper is organized as follows: in section 2,

we briefly introduce the AIS system, Inmarsat-C

polling service and China Beidou navigation satellite

system; in section 3, we describe the architecture of

the vessel tracking system; in section 4 we give out

the running results and conclusions.

2 INTRODUCTION

2.1 The Automatic Identification System

The Automatic Identification System is an automat-

ed tracking system used on vessels and Vessel Traf-

fic Services (VTS) for identifying and locating ves-

An Integrated Vessel Tracking System by Using

AIS, Inmarsat and China Beidou Navigation

Satellite System

C. Yang, Q. Hu, X. Tu & J. Geng

Merchant Marine College, Shanghai Maritime University

ABSTRACT: As there are more and more Automatic Identification System (AIS) sets have been deployed

onboard, it is getting easier for people to trace vessels. Today, many online vessel monitoring services have

been developed; however, most of them are based on AIS information. Because the coverage limitation of

VHF frequency, which the AIS set works on, is normally no more than 25 nautical miles, so these systems

can not track vessels when they are beyond the coverage of the shore-based AIS station. In order to track ves-

sels in all sea areas, we developed a comprehensive vessel tracking system, namely ManyShips, which inte-

grates AIS, Inmarsat and China Beidou navigation satellite system. The running result of the system shows

that the Beidou satellite system can track vessels within Asian-Pacific region while the Inmarsat-C station

polling service can help people tracking vessels within sea area A3.

176

sels by electronically exchanging data with other

nearby ships or VTS stations. AIS integrates a

standard VHF transceiver with a positioning system

such as LORAN-C or GPS receiver that can pro-

vides information supplements the marine radar,

which is the primary method of collision avoidance

for water transportation. The AIS provides many

important information such as unique identification

number, namely Maritime Mobile Service Identifi-

cation number (MMSI in short), position, course,

speed and rate of turn, and can be displayed on a

screen or an ECDIS.

[6][7][8]

2.2 The Inmarsat-C polling service

The coverage of Inmarsat is shown in fig. 1.

Figure 1

[9]

. The coverage of Inmarsat.

Data reporting and polling are value added ser-

vices based on shipborne Inmarsat-C terminal. The

data reporting services is intended for transferring

small quantities of data (e.g. a position report) from

an Inmarsat-C terminal to a predetermined address.

This predetermined address could be an internet

email address, a telex, a telephone-modem and so

on. Data reports make efficient use of the Inmarsat-

C system. Data packets limited to a maximum of

256 bits （32 bytes）are transmitted via signaling

channels of the Inmarsat-C network. Time and cost

are saved by avoiding switching to a messaging

channel. Data report can be sent directly from a C-

terminal or command with a poll. Most C-terminal

can transmit Data Reports manually by means of an

operator or be programmed for automatic transmis-

sion at pre-set intervals. And the same can be

achieved from a remote location (e.g. a fleet man-

agement system) by sending a Poll to the C-terminal

commanding the sending of Data Report. A Poll is a

short command to an individual C-terminal or group

of C-terminals initiating some action, controlled by

the software of the C-terminal. A fleet manager can

ask for data reports, with for instance the position of

his ships. Polls can be sent via Internet e-mail. The

polling service process procedure is show in fig. 2

and 3.

[9]

Figure 2. Polling the mobile Inmarsat-C terminals.

Figure 3. Data reporting from the mobile Inmarsat-C terminals.

2.3 The China Beidou navigation satellite system

China Beidou navigation satellite system, which is

developed by China stand-alone, is active three-

dimensional satellite positioning and communication

system. The system can provide positioning and

navigation service, time service and communication

service. Now it is in its 1

generation stage so the

coverage is from 5°N to 55°N, 70°E to 140°E.

(See fig. 4) The system consists of satellites, ground

earth stations and user side. There are 5 geostation-

ary earth orbit (GEO) satellites and 30 non-GEO

satellites. The ground earth stations including con-

trol stations, upload stations and monitoring stations.

The user side is a receiver which is compatible with

GPS, GLONASS and GALILEO. According to the

implementation plan of the China Beidou navigation

satellite system, it can provide global service at

2020.

[10]

Figure 4. the coverage of China Beidou navigation satellite sys-

tem.

177

3 SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

The vessel tracking system we developed, namely

ManyShips, integrates the AIS, Inmarsat-C and Chi-

na Beidou satellite system. The system architecture

is shown in fig.5.

Figure 5. ManyShips system architecture.

When the vessel is navigating within sea area A1,

the shore-based AIS station can collect the infor-

mation broadcasted from the on-board AIS system.

Once the vessel is leaving sea area A1, the on-board

Beidou satellite antenna can send out the vessel’s

position information up to the Beidou satellite ac-

tively, then the information could be forwarded to

the ground earth station and ManyShips system re-

ceives it via the Internet finally. Because the Beidou

navigation satellite system now only has a regional

coverage, so users should send out polling command

from ManyShips system to the on-board Inmarsat-C

terminals to request data report via the Inmarsat sys-

tem when the vessel is out of the Beidou coverage.

There is little different between the Beidou satel-

lite report procedure and that of the Inmarsat-C poll-

ing report. The on-board Beidou antenna can send

out data report up to the Beidou satellite actively and

the data report will be pushed to ManyShips system

by the ground earth station will the station receiving

it from the satellite. So the ManyShips system can

locate the vessels continuously when the vessel nav-

igating within the coverage of the Beidou navigation

satellite system. While the data report from the on-

board Inmarsat-C terminals is initiated when the

terminal receives the polling command sent from

shore users. The shore users send out an email,

whose subject is just the polling command, to the

ground earth station, and then the polling command

will be uploaded to the Inmarsat system by the sta-

tion. Also the data report is returned to the users in

email format sent by the ground earth station once

the data report from the vessels is received.

4 RUNNING RESULT AND CONCLUSIONS

We have deployed many shore-based AIS stations

among China’s sea line. And these stations can col-

lect the vessels’ AIS information when they are nav-

igating within the coastal area. Fig. 6 shows the

shore-based AIS stations coverage with the green

points stand for the vessels.

[11]

Figure 6. The shore-based AIS stations coverage

A Beidou navigation satellite antenna has been

deployed onboard M/V Yu Feng, which sails be-

tween Nanjing and Busan. Fig. 7 shows its track

when she departures Gwangyang.

All the position information is reported from the

on-board Beidou antenna to the ManyShips system

every 15 minutes actively.

We have also resisted the Inmarsat-C polling ser-

vice on M/V QiLinZuo, a vessel that belongs to

China Shipping Company and navigating between

Shanghai China and European ports where we have

not deployed shore-based AIS stations and also out

of the coverage of China Beidou navigation satellite

178

system, so it likes the vessel is navigating in sea area

A3. We have sent out several polling commands to

the vessel when she is navigating in Aegean Sea.

Fig.8 shows the vessel’s track which is generated

from its Inmarsat-C data reports.

Figure 7. Track information reported from Beidou satellite sys-

tem.

Figure 8. Track information reported from Inmarsat-C station

polling service.

The above running results show that the China

Beidou navigation satellite system and Inmarsat-C

polling service are very important components when

developing the integraed vessel tracking system.

They can extend the coverage of the ManyShips sys-

tem from sea area A1 to sea area A3

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This research is supported by Shanghai Education

Committee with grant No.08YZ107, Science and

Technology Program of Shanghai Maritime Univer-

sity with grant No.20100134 and the 2010 Shanghai

Education Committee dedicated fund for selection

and training of scientific research for outstanding

young teachers.

REFERENCES

[1] Wang Mingshi and Zhang Renying,(2006). “Analysis of

business value of AIS in shipping logistics industry,” Port

Science and Technology (in Chinese), pp.50-51.

[2] Liao Yifan, (2006). “Application of AIS in ship brokerage

business,” Warter Transportation Management, Vol.28,

No.5.

[3] Hu Qinyou, Yang Chun, and Shi Chaojian, “Portlive, A

Bridge to Ship AIS Information Island,” Proceedings of the

Eighth International Conference of Chinese Logistics and

Transportation Professionals vol. 3, pp. 1922–1927.

[4] Hu Qinyou, Chen Jinhai, and Shi Chaojian, “Bring Live

AIS Information on the Web Charts by Using Ajax,” Pro-

ceedings of the 7

International Conference on Intelligent

Transport Systems Telecommunications, pp.455–459.

[5] Chun Yang, Qinyou Hu et al., “Active Vessel Navigation

Monitoring with Multi-media Message Service,” Proceed-

ings of the 2

International Conference on Future Genera-

tion Communication and Networking, pp. 1–13.

[6] International Association of Maritime Aids to Navigation

and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA), (2002). “IALA guide-

lines on the universal automatic identification system

(AIS), vol. I, Part II, Technical Aspects of AIS,” Edi-

tion 1.1.

[7] International Telecommunication Union, ITU-R Recom-

mendation M. 1371-1, (2001). “Technical characteristics

for an universal shipborne automatic identification system

using time division multiple access in the VHF marine mo-

bile band.”

[8] International Electrotechnical Commisioin. IEC 6993-2,

(2001). Maritime navigation and radio communication re-

quirments – automatic identification systems (AIS) – part 2:

class a shipborne equipment of the universal automatic

identification system (AIS) – operational and performance

requirements, methods of test and required test results. Edi-

tion 1.

[9] http://www.xantic.net

[10] http://www.beidou.gov.cn

[11] http://www.manyships.com