Tracking and tracing of inland navigation vessels is an important part of the “River Information Services” (RIS) for the improvement of safety and efficiency in the sector.
It supports onboard navigation, shore-based traffic monitoring as part of Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) and other tasks such as calamity abatement. Inland AIS (Automatic Identification System) is a standardised procedure for the automatic exchange of nautical data between ships and between ships and shore installations.
The European RIS Platform established in 2003 the expert group Vessel Tracking and Tracing. The main task of this expert group is the development and maintenance of a European wide harmonised vessel tracking and tracing standard for inland navigation. Because of mixed traffic areas it is important that the standards and procedures for inland shipping are compatible with already defined standards and procedures for seagoing navigation.
AIS is a cooperative procedure, therefore all those wishing to use and participate in the system must be equipped with an AIS device. Both standards and harmonised procedures are required to ensure the safe interoperability of AIS devices from various manufacturers.
The standardisation of tracking and tracing for inland navigation includes both the Standard and Test Standard of Inland AIS. These standards define:
Click on the link here below to download the last version of the AIS standard
Click on the link Public VTT documents to find more downloadable VTT documents