Virtual COM port
The Automatic Identification System or AIS as it's normally known, is a VHF based ship recognition system that has been in use since 1999. It's a compulsory requisite for most ships of three hundred gross tons that are engaged in international voyages. The AIS system has proved to be a blessing for collisions amongst ships and is also widely used in assisting Vessel Traffic Services (VTS).A fairly recent development in that technology has been the advent of the Virtual Automatic Identification System. The Virtual Automatic Identification System is based on the concept of Pseudo Automatic Identification System messaging. PAIS is basically an AIS content broadcast by Vessel Traffic Services centers to supply ships. This information pertains to towing vessels and relaying messages to other ships that don't have Automatic Identification System equipment. The VTS centre sends a pseudo AIS message on behalf of the towing vessel to ships in the vicinity so that they can give the towing vessel a wide berth.
The idea of pseudo AIS has been driven one step ahead with the introduction of Virtual Buoys and Virtual Pilots. A Virtual Buoy is basically an AIS message sent by the Vessel Traffic Services to ships in the port arena. It conveys the information in regards to navigational buoys that are not physically present. Ships that are equipped with an Automatic Identification System transponder can apply this info to safely sail through peg down lines and keep off obstacles. This kind of system is highly cost-efficient as the expenses involved in setting up and keeping up a physical buoy are negated.It's also beneficial to navigation as the buoy will be shown on Automatic Identification System-linked radar displays regardless of the visibility or atmospheric condition. A very fine illustration of a successful system of Virtual Buoyage is in the Houghly River in India. The banks of the Houghly keep switching due to silting. This makes the upkeep of buoys a hard proposition as the buoys have to be displaced all the time to check the fresh positioning of the banks. This obstruction has been eluded by applying a system of Virtual Buoys to differentiate the channel.A different application of the Virtual Automatic Identification System that has a substantial price and prompts implications is that of the Virtual Pilot. In this system, the pilot base would broadcast a series of navigational way points to the ships concerned and the ships merely have to head for this way point. This will help ships to navigate with success in waters without the active presence of a pilot on board.
Automatic Identification Systems paired with a unified Bridge System will assist the Pilot base to take in the latest info on all the navigational parameters of the ship thereby helping it to safely direct the ship to its' berth. Although the legal complications of a Virtual Pilot are still an issue of debate, the price benefits to ship possessors in terms of pilot costs and turn-around times, will, in all probability, guarantee that Virtual Pilots will likely turn into a very genuine proposition in the up coming years.
