After String Of Collisions, Navy Will Broadcast Ship Coordinates In Busy Waters
U.S. warships typically run without transmitting Automatic Identification System, but the Navy is rethinking that after recent accidents involving the USS Fitzgerald and USS McCain.
In the wake of deadly collisions between U.S. warships and commercial vessels, the Navy is issuing new orders that instruct its commanders operating in congested waterways to switch on an identifying beacon to help avoid crashes.
That system, known as Automatic Identification System, or AIS, has been around for some 20 years and has long been required aboard all commercial vessels. It is used to share vital information among ships, including the type of vessel, its name, speed, location and whether it might be on a collision course with another ship.
