On 8 February 2019, the Maritime Connectivity Platform Consortium (MCC) was established with a signature ceremony during the conference e-Navigation Underway International 2019.

The Maritime Connectivity Platform (MCP) is an open source technology, a digital maritime domain. It brings common internet standards to maritime navigation and transportation systems.

MCP enables infrastructures for efficient, secure, reliable and seamless electronic information exchange among maritime stakeholders using available communication systems. MCP is an open and vendor-neutral technology.

It was announced from London on 12 February 2019 that this year’s Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (QEPrize) has been awarded to four engineers responsible for creating the first truly global, satellite-based positioning system – GPS.

The QEPrize is the world’s most prestigious engineering accolade, a £1 million prize that celebrates the global impact of engineering innovation on humanity. The 2019 winners are Dr Bradford Parkinson, Professor James Spilker, Jr, Hugo Fruehauf, and Richard Schwartz – announced on 12 February by Lord Browne of Madingley, Chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation, in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal in London.

As we know the global positioning system represents a pioneering innovation which, for the first time, enabled free, immediate access to accurate position and timing information around the world. Today, an estimated four billion people around the world use GPS, and its applications range from navigation and disaster relief through to climate monitoring systems, banking systems, and the foundation of tomorrow’s transport, agriculture, and industry.

According to a report from the US on 8 February the public has been invited to a meeting on 13 February for the Port of Long Beach Deep Draft Navigation Feasibility Study and Channel Deepening Project. Participants will be able to submit comments and suggestions about the project.

A comprehensive feasibility study and joint Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement will be prepared for this project. The purpose of the meeting is to gather input from the public regarding which environmental issues should be examined as part of the joint document.

If you know about the vulnerabilities associated with satellite navigation but don’t know how to quantitatively assess your risks or how to judge which mitigation options to choose… you’re not alone! The common questions include: What risks should I be most concerned about? How do I start assessing them for my system or application? Where can I find more information?

In response to these questions, the Royal Institute of Navigation has opened a resource portal bringing together helpful links and information

The (US) Institute of Navigation has announced winners of 2018 Annual Awards. This took place at the ION International Technical Meeting and Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications meeting held in Reston, Virginia from 28 to 31 January 2019.

The ION Annual Awards Programme is sponsored by The (US) Institute of Navigation to recognize individuals making significant contributions or demonstrating outstanding performance relating to the art and science of navigation.

The 20th issue of The Navigator focuses on the importance of a navigational assessment and why it is different from an audit. This milestone edition of the free publication from The Nautical Institute is published this month (February) and available both in print and online.

A General Assembly of the IAIN took place at 1445I on 27 November 2018 in Room 103 of the Makuhari Messe Conference Centre, Chiba, Japan. Minutes of the meeting and an annex are available.

Do you know of a worthy recipient for the 2019 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea?

IMO is currently accepting nominations for exceptional acts of bravery performed at sea during the period 1 March 2018 to 28 February 2019.
Due to recent amendments to the Award Guidelines, nominations may now also involve displays of extraordinary seamanship skills in very difficult conditions or any other acts of outstanding courage.

The IMO circular letter is accompanied by the nomination form.

Moshe Idan, IAAC President, reports that the deadline for submitting papers to the IAAC co-sponsored 27th Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation, MED 19, to be held in Akko, Israel, on 1-4 July, 2019, is nearing. Closing date is 5 February 2019.

Readers are invited to visit the conference web site for full details, including the call for papers.

According to the European Space Agency’s news service on 30 January the date has been set for the Earth observation science community to come together and discuss the merits of the two satellite concepts competing to be ESA’s next Earth Explorer: 16-17 July 2019.

It is understood that the series of Earth Explorer missions use innovative measurement techniques to yield new insight into different aspects of the Earth system and the interactions that bind the system as a whole.

ESA’s Director of Earth Observation Programmes, Josef Aschbacher, commented: ‘These cutting-edge missions address questions that have a direct bearing on issues that humankind is facing now and will face in the future such as the availability of food, water, energy, natural resources, public health and climate change.’

The call for presentations for the annual workshop of graduate students, GSC ’19, has been issued with a closing date of 23 March 2019. Graduate students in Systems and Control, from Israeli universities have been invited to present their latest research results.

These meetings provide an opportunity for graduate students to present their work to senior faculty members and to interested delegates from industry. At the same time they become acquainted with the work of their peers.

to Fellow Members and visitors to our website:

The world is changing as the possibilities enabled by precise and secure positioning and timing are being realised: for example autonomy, artificial intelligence, data analytics and helpful applications on mobile devices.

As we move towards the third decade of the 21st Century, the IAIN and its member organisations are increasingly focusing expertise on how to solve the big challenges of our world. Think, for example, how positioning and navigation technology is helping to solve congestion in cities, improve safety of transportation and increase logistics efficiency.

IAIN facilitates working together, sharing perspectives and insights between like-minded institutions, organisations, and individuals across the globe. Together we can do more, delivering more meaningful benefits, more quickly and more sustainably.

We wish all those engaged in this important work a happy and healthy 2019.

John Pottle,
(Royal Institute of Navigation)
IAIN President

The full message can be found here

Now that the UK Parliament has rejected the Brexit deal on 15 January, it is unclear what will be the consequences. North Sea Port is keeping a close eye on developments in order to anticipate how the situation will evolve and refer businesses to the proper channels. North Sea Port has been consulting with the companies who do business with the United Kingdom for quite some time. Preparations are being taken and information exchanged regarding stockpiling, Customs formalities, financial repercussions and the impact on IT.

On 16 January the Danish Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs launched a new sectoral strategy for the shipping industry as part of the Danish government’s national strategy for cyber and information security. The strategy contains a number of initiatives aimed at strengthening IT security and preventing cyber threats in the maritime sector.

The objective of the strategy is to ensure that safety in Danish waters and on board Danish ships is not compromised by cyber attacks. The responsibility for cyber and information security in the maritime sector lies with the Danish Maritime Authority. The new strategy covers navigational safety in Danish waters and safety on board Danish ships, including systems and software for operation, propulsion and navigation of the ship.

It is reported that the Danish Maritime Authority has established a dedicated Danish Maritime Cybersecurity Unit, which is to handle implementation of the strategy in practice.

Together with Francis Zachariae, Secretary General of IALA, HE Kitack Lim, Secretary General of IMO will attend the opening of the e-Navigation Underway International Conference. This ninth in the series e-Navigation Underway International conferences will take place from 6 to 8 February in the vessel Pearl Seaways en route Copenhagen-Oslo-Copenhagen.

Under the theme Paving the Way for a Digital Maritime World this year’s conference will focus on the benefits and barriers when implementing e-navigation technologies. As always, the e-Navigation Underway brings together stakeholders from all over the world and presents expert speakers from research, industry and governments.

This Copernicus Sentinel-2B image shows blazes near Cape Town. South Africa’s Western Cape often falls victim to fires during the dry hot summer months. The image from 6 January shown here indicates several blazes around the Kogelberg Nature Reserve to the east of Cape Town. Smoke from the fires can also be seen blowing across False Bay towards the Cape Peninsula in the extreme southwest of South Africa.

To go to the other extreme, more than 5000 statute miles to the north a cold snap has reached Turkey as shown in this Copernicus Sentinel-3 image from 9 January. The snow, which started falling in Turkey on 6 January, has led to villages in remote areas being cut off and the authorities having to close offices and schools.

The 2019 European Navigation Conference will be held in Warsaw from 9 to 12 April.

Krzysztof Czaplewski, President of Polish Navigation Forum, Member of EUGIN Council, has sent the Invitation message here:

‘On behalf of European Group of Institutes of Navigation (EUGIN) and Polish Navigation Forum (PNF), I invite you to participate in the next edition of European Navigation Conference (ENC). The conference is organised by the Polish Navigation Forum. PNF is a non-profit organisation, founded in the ’80s, with the aim of association of people involved in development of the science of navigation. Since mid-nineties Forum is a member of EUGIN and consequently represents Polish navigation society out of the country. This is the second time Poland is hosting ENC conference participants. This time, we invite you to Warsaw.’

Captain John Lloyd, Nautical Institute CEO

The Nautical Institute has expanded its world-leading certification scheme for Dynamic Positioning Operators (DPOs) to include a qualification for seafarers operating in the renewables sector. This qualification is a response to the increasing need for specialist operators to work on jack-up barges needed to install wind turbines. This was reported on 7 January.

The Self-Elevating Platform (Jack-up) DP training is based on The Nautical Institute’s established certification scheme. It uses the same logbook as the DP Offshore Scheme to record time spent on board the vessel. A separate task section has been developed in collaboration with employers in the renewable sector to meet the specific needs and challenges of the industry.

2019 marks the 10th anniversary of the Legal Session at the Munich Satellite Navigation Summit, organized by BHO Legal in cooperation with the Institute of Space Technology and Space Applications (ISTA) at the University of the German Armed Forces.

The Munich Summit is one of the leading conferences on GNSS systems and applications. High-ranking worldwide speakers from industry, science and government provide participants with a broad overview and different perspectives on the latest developments in the field of GNSS.

The Legal Session, a unique event for GNSS conferences, provides insight on legal or regulatory developments regarding GNSS systems and applications on international, European or national levels.

The 2019 Summit will take place from 25-27 March in Munich, Germany at Alte Kongresshalle, Theresienhöhe 15, 80339 München. The Legal Session will take place on the afternoon of the second day, 26 March 2019.

Due to the extended impasse between US Congressional leaders and the White House that has created a partial US government shutdown, it is with regret that the (US) Institute of Navigation (ION) has decided to postpone the Cognizant Autonomous Systems for Safety Critical Applications (CASSCA) Conference, scheduled to take place on 28 / 29 January 2019 at the Hyatt Regency Reston in Reston, Virginia.

The CASSCA Conference has been rescheduled to be held on 16 / 17 September 2019 in Miami, Florida in parallel with ION GNSS+ 2019.

The early bird registration deadline is approaching. ITM/PTTI 2019 will be held January 28-31, 2019 at the Hyatt Regency Reston in Reston, Virginia. To save $200 on registration rates for the ION International Technical Meeting (ITM) and Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications Meeting (PTTI), complete your registration by Friday, January 4.

Book your hotel room by Friday, January 4 to take advantage of the discounted conference rate – plus, save an additional $200 by staying in the conference hotel.

The cutoff date to take advantage of the special ITM/PTTI 2019 room rate is Friday, January 4.