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Maritime & Shipping vocabulary · Navigation & the Bridge

AIS

Meaning in maritime & shipping, with examples

abbreviationCommon term

In maritime & shipping, AIS means: Automatic Identification System: a system that automatically broadcasts a ship's identity, position, course, speed and other data by VHF so that other ships and shore stations can see it.

In Turkish: Otomatik Tanımlama Sistemi, AIS

How it is used

Required by SOLAS on most merchant ships. AIS targets appear on radar and ECDIS, and officers keep voyage data such as destination, ETA and draught up to date. Ship-tracking websites also use AIS data.

Example sentences

  1. Update the AIS with the new destination and ETA before departure.

  2. The fishing boat had no AIS, so we only saw it on radar.

Common collocations

  • AIS target
  • AIS data
  • update the AIS
  • AIS transponder
  • radarEquipment that sends out radio waves and shows their echoes on a screen, so that officers can see the coast, other ships and buoys and measure their range and bearing, even at night or in fog.
  • ECDISElectronic Chart Display and Information System: an approved computer system that shows official electronic charts together with the ship's position and can replace paper charts.
  • VHFVery High Frequency: the short-range marine radio band that ships use to talk to each other, to pilots, ports and VTS, and to send distress, urgency and safety calls.
  • CPAClosest Point of Approach: the shortest distance at which another ship or object will pass if both keep their present course and speed. TCPA is the time left until that point.

More terms: Navigation & the Bridge

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