China's first universal automatic identification system (AIS)
for ships should be operating by July. Officials with the Shanghai
Maritime Safety Administration say the new system is able to keep
track of ships, their countries of origin, their size and number of
crew. "It can be used to prevent terrorism . . . we could precisely
identify the target," said Liu Gongchen, executive deputy director
of the Maritime Safety Administration of China.
Liu was attending a three-day meeting of the 34th Council of the
International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and
Lighthouse Authorities (IALA). It closes today.
Liu said that the system, which is still being adjusted, is set
up in accordance with the International Maritime Organization
standards.
Another AIS will be built in Guangzhou to identify the ships
sailing waterways in the Pearl Delta.
Some 1,100 Chinese oceangoing vessels carrying cargo, containers
and oil are required to have the tracking devices installed before
July 1, Liu said.
All foreign ships that sail into China must have the devices.
Ships without them will be prohibited from entering Chinese
territorial seas.
According to the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration
spokesman, all of the country's 6,000 oceangoing ships will be
required to complete installation of tracking devices by July 1,
2005.
"We plan to build more than 100 tracking stations along the
coastlines by 2008," Liu said.
By then, the country's maritime safety administration
organizations will be able to identify all the ships along the
coastlines with tracking devices, ranging from the Bohai Sea to
Fujian and the Qiongzhou Straits.
"The state will provide financial support to the AIS project in
order to keep oceangoing freighters safe on the way to China," he
said.
Liu said the current council meeting is a stimulus to China's
efforts to improve its navigation aids and lighthouses.
"We will develop a sophisticated digital navigation system by
importing foreign technologies and contribute to the world's
maritime safety," he said.
Shanghai, as host to the 16th IALA Conference in 2006, is
advancing its navigation aids and lighthouse facilities to meet the
requirements of becoming an international shipping center.
IALA Secretary General Torsten Kruuse praised the city's
preparations for the conference, saying, "Everything is absolutely
perfect."
(China Daily May 26, 2004)