Proceedings magazine is a communication tool for the Coast Guard's Marine Safety & Security Council. Each quarterly magazine focuses on a specific theme of interest to the marine industry.
Issue link: https://uscgproceedings.epubxp.com/i/528099
8 Proceedings Summer 2015 www.uscg.mil/proceedings We recognize that not all waterway users have AIS units, so we are researching the feasibility of using text messaging or automated email to publish and update eMSI. Similar to the route- planning services discussed above, the Coast Guard's goal would be to provide the data in a format that would allow these services to pull from and push to the mariner. Waterway Design With this massive infux of digital information to assist navigation, the Coast Guard will also concentrate on waterway design to determine the optimal balance of electronic marine safety information and physical and eATON. Recent developments in U.S. energy resource transporta- tion and increased waterways use for renewable energy and aquaculture farming has caused congestion throughout the maritime domain, which introduces new navigational risks. In response, we will increase maritime situational aware- ness through improved risk-based collection, analysis, and mitigation through improved waterway design. The new design process must predict shipping pattern changes and calculate the resultant risks to navigation and potential impacts to the economy and environment, while optimiz- ing the balance between physical and electronic aids to navigation. Ultimately, all of these initiatives will increase the reliability, availability, and effectiveness of the U.S. aids to navigation system, providing a safer, more effcient, and more resilient marine transportation system. About the author: CDR John Stone is chief of the Navigation Technology and Systems Divi- sion at U.S. Coast Guard headquarters. He graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1997. His tours include CGCs Papaw, Neah Bay, Elm, and Mobile Bay. Petty Offcer Mark Jones uses an electronic navigation system during a training exercise. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Offcer Annie R. Berlin. provides navigation safety notices to mariners in the event of changing or emergent events or conditions that may affect navigation. The Coast Guard publishes weekly local notices to mariners and provides real-time navigation and marine safety infor- mation via VHF radio. However, in our information-driven world, the current notice to mariners presentation does not keep up. Like eATON, a 21 st century waterway will lever- age emerging technologies to enhance the current means of publishing electronic marine safety information (eMSI) to the user. From a voyage-planning perspective, the Coast Guard's goal is to provide the notice to mariners data via Web ser- vices. The vision is for the mariner to open a charting pro- gram, plan the route, and then, as part of the route-building script, the application extracts all applicable notices along the planned route. We also hope to push emergent notices to anyone with an AIS receiver and display. By leveraging the nationwide Auto- matic Identifcation System, the Coast Guard can increase information exchange, while decreasing VHF radio com- munications, to prevent frequency saturation.