It was reported on 2 May from Maastricht, The Netherlands, that since 25 April 2019, cross-border free route airspace (FRA) managed by EUROCONTROL’s Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC), Naviair, LFV and DFS Deutsche Flugsicherung has allowed cross-border free route operations.

Airspace users planning to fly in the upper airspace between Belgium, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Sweden can now do so irrespective of airspace boundaries, it is understood. According to EUROCONTROL’s statement this allows for optimised routeings, fuel savings and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

ICAO Secretary General Dr Fang Liu attended the 2nd Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing in April, providing remarks to the main Infrastructure Connectivity session highlighting the critical role of air transport in forging new travel and trade routes between Belt and Road countries and other states leading to new venues for prosperity. This was reported from IHQ in Montreal on 30 April.

Stressing how liberalized air transport and increased air traffic routes are currently helping many developing States move closer to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted under the UN’s Agenda 2030, Dr Liu highlighted to the large number of Ministers of Transport and Infrastructure and heads of international organizations present that: ‘a very direct relationship exists between States’ investments in aviation development and their eventual realization of increased economic growth.’

It was reported from ION HQ in Manassas, Virginia, USA on 23 April that the ION GNSS+ 2019 advance conference programme is now available online.

Registration may be achieved here.

This is the world’s largest technical meeting and showcase of GNSS technology, products and services. ION GNSS+ 2019 will take place from 16 to 20 September at the Hyatt Regency Miami in Miami, Florida and features two different technical tracks, Commercial and Policy Sessions and Research Sessions.

vChris Mills, the author, has supplemented a selection of contemporary newspaper articles, mainly from the 1920s and 1930s, with background information from other sources such as the reports of Marine Courts of Inquiry, extracts from ships’ logs, and references to crew agreements, law reports and published narratives by ship masters. A few imaginative details have been added, but the stories are all firmly based on true events as reported and recorded at the time.
Each of this book’s chapters describes an incident from the period which was something of a golden age for British shipping. These incidents affected vessels of the Red Ensign going about their business.
Mills portrays what conditions were like on board British merchant vessels of the time and has made his subject a most readable one.

It was reported from Langen, Germany, on 10 April 2019 that CANSO (the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation) has laid out the steps that all stakeholders in air traffic management need to take towards achieving seamless airspace.

In an address at a Global ATM Operations Conference hope was expressed that air navigation services providers (ANSPs) and States should continue to take full advantage of new technologies and also start to move towards a more network, cross-border mindset. Furthermore governments must give ANSPs the freedom to act as normal businesses and regulators need to adopt a performance-based approach to regulation.

The image shown here was taken on 3 April from a Royal Air Force Typhoon aircraft, and is of two Russian Blackjack Tupolev Tu-160 long range bombers in the distance leaving long vapour trails.

RAF quick reaction alert Typhoon aircraft from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland scrambled to monitor the two Blackjack bombers while they were in the UK area of interest. This is the third time RAF jets have been scrambled to monitor Russian aircraft in the last ten days.

It was announced ION’s HQ in Manassas, Virginia, on 4 April that it had published a special issue of its journal NAVIGATION, featuring China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) with special editors John W Betz, Mingquan Lu, Y Jade Morton and Yuanxi Yang.

This special issue provides a collection of papers presenting research achievements in the BDS over the last two years. It covers essential fields necessary to ensure the successful operation of BDS such as constellation design, operational and control system design and construction, frequency and signal design, updated coordinate reference system and time system, satellite orbit determination, ionospheric model, and software receiver. Publication of the issue also provides an opportunity to promote users’ understanding and applications of the BDS.

To celebrate 50 years since NASA’s Apollo 11 mission landed the first humans on the Moon, the National Maritime Museum (NMM) is to stage The Moon, the UK’s biggest exhibition dedicated to Earth’s nearest celestial neighbour – opening on 19 July 2019.

Featuring over 180 objects from national and international museums and private collections, the exhibition presents a cultural and scientific story of our relationship with the Moon over time and across civilisations. Through artefacts, artworks and interactive moments, the exhibition will enable visitors to reconnect with the wonders of the Moon and discover how it has captivated and inspired us.

It was announced from Brussels, on 2 April 2019 that CANSO (Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation) has emphasised that flexibility and realism are needed at the local level in implementing proposed and challenging EU-wide air traffic management (ATM) targets. The new targets are for the third reference period (RP3) of the Single European Sky Performance Scheme. It is understood that they cover performance in the areas of safety, flight efficiency, en-route delays and cost.

In its statement CANSO indicates that it strongly supports the need for such performance-based targets as important to the development of ATM in Europe. However, the proposed new targets are understood to pose a significant challenge: to reduce unit costs while continuing to tackle the pressing capacity constraints affecting performance in Europe. It is therefore, according to CANSO, vital that the binding local targets that flow from these EU-wide targets are realistic, achievable and appropriate for present conditions.

On 3 April 2019 Inmarsat, a leader in global mobile satellite communications, announced that its Indian telecommunications partner, BSNL, had received an In-Flight and Maritime Connectivity (IFMC) licence from the Government of India’s Department of Telecommunications.

Issuing of the licence marks a major step for Inmarsat’s services in the Indian connectivity market. It is understood that BSNL is now approved to offer IFMC services, which will include Inmarsat’s Global Xpress (Ka-band) and SwiftBroadband and FleetBroadband (L-band) services, to Indian airlines operating within and outside India, as well as foreign airlines transiting through Indian airspace, and shipping companies operating within Indian waters.

Inmarsat and BSNL are expected to commence services later this year once the ground infrastructure and associated approvals are in place.

Safe navigation at sea is dependent on good training, sound practice and long experience – and no organisation is better placed to draw on those qualities than the UK’s Royal Navy. The Nautical Institute is proud to publish the 11th edition of The Admiralty Manual of Navigation, Volume 1: The Principles of Navigation.

This latest edition has been updated for the electronic era of navigation. The first to be digital by design, it assumes the reader’s vessel will be navigated using an IMO type-approved ECDIS. Nevertheless, the basic principles are the same as those of a century ago: ensuring the safe conduct of a ship across the oceans. As the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Philip Jones, points out: ‘The fundamental skills of the professional navigator remain unchanged, no matter the medium on which a fix is plotted.’

Following the huge success of previous events (more than 200 participants and 20 companies participating in the exhibition in 2018) the 2020 Israel Navigation Workshop and Exhibition has been preliminary scheduled for 27 January, at the Daniel Hotel in Herzliya.

INWE20 will be a one-day event dedicated to technical talks in navigation systems, ranging from fundamental research, to applications, to field test results.

In parallel with the talks INWE20 will host a technical exhibition in which navigation equipment manufacturers and suppliers will have the opportunity to show their current products and most recent technical innovations.

It was reported from Washington on 27 March that President Donald J Trump signed the Executive Order on Coordinating National Resilience to Electromagnetic Pulses (EMP), the first-ever comprehensive whole-of-government policy to build resilience and protect against electromagnetic pulses, or EMPs, which are temporary electromagnetic signals that can disrupt, degrade, and damage technology and critical infrastructure systems across large areas.

Qantas has incorporated more complex stall warning recovery events in recurrent lesson plans for its Boeing 747 flight crews. These improvements follow an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation into an in-flight upset involving a Boeing 747-438 110 km SE of Hong Kong International Airport on 7 April 2017. This is the subject a report by the ATSB, Investigation number AO-2017-044.

While descending toward Hong Kong, air traffic control instructed the flight crew to hold at a waypoint. When entering the holding pattern, the aircraft’s aerodynamic stall warning stick shaker activated a number of times and the aircraft experienced multiple oscillations of pitch angle and vertical acceleration.

During the upset, some passengers and cabin crewmembers struck the cabin ceiling and furnishings, sustaining minor injuries.

It seems likely that the UK will leave the EU within the next few weeks. At the moment the date is not clear and is dependent upon a vote or votes in the Westminster Parliament in the week ahead.

What has been said is that delivering a deal negotiated with the EU remains the government’s top priority. With an implementation period until December 2020, this would give businesses stability, certainty and time to prepare for the UK’s new relationship after EU Exit.

However, from a Government website it was learned today that business must plan for every possible outcome including no deal. Without a deal, businesses may need to take action before 11 April 2019.

With regard to transport there is more available here.

It was reported from Saint-Germain-en-Laye (78100, France) 20 March that the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA), which has National members in 82 coastal States around the world, will call a Diplomatic Conference in early 2020 to adopt a new legal framework on its transition from an international non-governmental association to an Intergovernmental Organization (IGO). The Government of Malaysia will host the Conference.

The Convention on the International Organization for Marine Aids to Navigation will have the status of an international treaty instrument. Upon its adoption, it will be deposited with the United Nations (UN) by the Organization’s host nation, the French Republic, and open to signature by all UN members. It will enter into force upon fulfilment of the ratification requirements as agreed by the Diplomatic Conference.

Further to our posting on 18 March regarding GPS Rollover the US Department of Homeland Security has now issued a memorandum for US owners and operators using GPS to obtain UTC time.

This document has been prepared to provide an understanding of the possible effects of the 6 April 2019 GPS Week Number Rollover on Coordinated Universal Time derived from GPS devices.

In a notice of 12 March IALA informed its members that the GPS Week Number will be rolling over on 6 April. It is understood that this could lead to errors in both GPS position and time for some GPS receivers, or systems such as AIS, using GPS. This should not affect newer equipment, or equipment that has had regular firmware updates from the manufacturer. While the date of the rollover is identified as 6 April 2019, some equipment may rollover on a different date depending on the implementation in the manufacturer’s firmware. Most manufacturers are aware of the rollover and have provided information on their websites.

Moshe Idan, IAAC President, advises readers the deadline for submissions is 23 March.

At GSC’19 graduate students in systems and control from Israeli universities are invited to present their latest research results. These meetings provide an opportunity for students to present their work to senior faculty members and to interested delegates from industry, as well as to become acquainted with the work of their peers.

Quietly, PNT has evolved into an invisible but essential utility, serving many more sectors than simply transport. The system synchronisation delivered by satellite-based PNT underpins global communications, banking and power systems. As economic and social dependence on PNT continues to grow, the need is becoming clear to integrate satnav with other, complementary PNT methods – as a means of enhancing service resilience across a wide variety of sectors.

That is where ESA’s new Navigation Innovation and Support Programme (NAVISP) comes in. With more than 90 separate activities being undertaken to date, NAVISP is working with European businesses and researchers to develop innovative and competitive PNT technologies and services, as well as supporting ESA Member States in their national PNT objectives.

On 6 March ESA published an invitation to space and non-space-based companies, from start-ups to large system integrators, to get involved in its space programmes. ESA’s Industry portal is an important resource to guide those interested through this process. Most business opportunities with ESA are published through the ‘EMITS’ system.

The 2020 VTS-ENAV Symposium, themed Enhanced Maritime Safety and Efficiency by Connectivity, will be held 25 to 29 May 2020 in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The Symposium Steering Committee invites interested parties to submit abstracts of proposed presentations for the VTS-ENAV Symposium, on any of the topics listed below, or on any other topic considered to be in alignment with the theme of the Symposium.

What do YOU think are the most important questions that ESA’s future missions should tackle? Now is your chance to tell ESA. This invitation was issued by the Agency on 4 March.

Günther Hasinger, ESA Director of Science, is inviting the public to share their views on the questions that Voyage 2050, ESA’s space science programme for the 2035–2050 time frame, should address. This public consultation opened on 4 March and will run until the end of June 2019.
This is the first time that ESA invites the public to be involved in this process, it is reported.

The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) announced in mid-February that two more flag States have approved the use of ADMIRALTY Digital Publications (ADP) in place of their paper equivalents. Thailand- and Moldova-flagged vessels can now carry the full range of ADP products while continuing to meet SOLAS carriage requirements, it is reported. These are two of six flag States who have approved the use of ADP in the last six months. They join most of the world’s leading flag States in drawing upon the benefits of the digital versions of trusted ADMIRALTY publications, helping to support safe and efficient navigation around the world.

The deadline for submitting abstracts for the Institute of Navigation’s (ION) ION GNSS+ 2019 Conference is Friday, March 1, 2019.

Submit your abstract today for ION GNSS+ 2019: GNSS + Other Sensors in Today’s Marketplace, the 32nd International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division. The conference will take place September 16-20, 2019 (Tutorials September 17) at the Hyatt Regency Miami in Miami, Florida.

ION GNSS+ 2019 is the world’s largest technical meeting and showcase of GNSS technology, products and services. It brings together international leaders in GNSS and related positioning, navigation and timing fields to present new research, introduce new technologies, update current policy, demonstrate products and exchange ideas.