Classes And Types Of Ais - Sperry Marine Visionmaster FT ECDIS User Manual

ECDIS User Guide

Classes and Types of AIS

There are two classes of AIS target, Class A and Class B, as well as
different types of AIS used for shore stations (Base Stations), Aids to
Navigation (ATON), AIS on search and rescue (SAR) aircraft and AIS
Search and Rescue Transmitters (SART).
The AIS Display window allows the operator to filter the display of Class A
and Class B AIS targets and also the types of AIS.
The table below describes the classes and types of AIS.
Class and Type
Class A
Class B
Base Station
ATON
SAR Aircraft
SART
65900012
Under the Safety Of Life At Sea (SOLAS) convention, all
the following vessel types are required to install a Class A
AIS transponder:
•
Upwards of 300 gross tonnage engaged on
international voyages.
•
All passenger vessels engaged on international
voyages.
•
Upwards of 500 gross tonnage not engaged on
international voyages
Class B is intended for non-SOLAS commercial and
recreational vessels.
Base Stations enable the ship to shore / shore to ship
transmission of information to be provided. Networked AIS
Base Stations can assist in providing overall maritime
domain awareness.
ATON enables the position and status of buoys and lights
to be transmitted.
In some cases, such as marking a wreck until a physical
buoy can be deployed, a virtual ATON is created. A shore-
based AIS system is configured to transmit AIS messages
indicating the existence of an ATON at a specified location.
Search and Rescue (SAR) Aircraft may use AIS to assist in
their operations.
Search and Rescue Transponder using AIS can be used to
assist in determining the location of a vessel in distress.
Description
Targets
10-11