New Law Hits AIS Beacons
/A new law introduced by Beijing appears to have resulted in ships turning off their automatic AIS beacons (161.975 MHz or 162.025 MHz) when in Chinese waters
Since the start of the month, vessels from around the globe, from tankers to cargo ships, have disappeared from global tracking systems as they have entered some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes close to Chinese ports.
As the ships leave Chinese waters they reappear again.
By some estimates, tracking pings from ships near China have fallen by 90 per cent in just a few weeks.
On 1st November 2021, a new law came into effect in China restricting foreign access to any data – potentially including shipping data – deemed to have a bearing on national or economic security.
On the same day, a report on the government controlled China Central Television (CCTV) Focus news program stated that “suspicious radio equipment” had been found in the home of a radio enthusiast close to a military base and commercial port in Zhanjiang in the country’s south, west of Hong Kong.
The broadcast said the radio ham had installed the equipment which would aid in the global tracking of ships “in real time via the internet”.
The man had no qualms about his high tech delivery. After all, collecting data on the movement of ships is nothing new.
The major way maritime vessels are tracked is through the automatic identification system, or AIS, which is a kind of air traffic control for the seas. It uses transceivers fitted on vessels to transmit their position. This data is then picked up by other vessels, satellites or AIS base stations on land.
The information can show an individual vessel’s position, speed, name and destination. It’s considered vital in modern shipping and allows ships, particularly in busy sea lanes, to know where the position of other vessels are to avoid collisions. It also gives an overview of maritime congestion and allows anyone who wants to, to keep a tab on commercial vessels.
