The eighth in a series of conferences known as e-Navigation Underway, cohosted by the Danish Maritime Authority and IALA has just closed. 150 Participants from five continents joined the hosts on a conference cruise steaming Copenhagen-Oslo-Copenhagen from 24 to 26 January.

Debate at the conference was lively with a strong focus on applying digitalization to real world uses, it was reported. Some of the specific discussions on digitalization centered on topics such as digital port reporting, cyber security, and how Coastal States can apply new tech to become better at their job.

Harmonization and data standardization was another hot topic. Different standards hinder effective digitalization across the maritime sector leading to more, not less, manual effort. There is need for the industry to strive for global standards.

Eamonn Brennan was appointed by the 41 Member States of EUROCONTROL to lead the organisation as its Director General from 1 January 2018. This was reported from EUROCONTROL HQ in Brussels at the beginning of the year.

Before joining EUROCONTROL Eamonn Brennan was the Chief Executive of the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) where he was responsible for the provision of Air Traffic Management (ATM) services in Irish controlled airspace, aeronautical communications on the North Atlantic, and Air Traffic Control at the major Irish Airports, as well as the safety and security regulation of the Irish civil aviation industry.

It was announced from Brussels earlier in January that in 2017 EUROCONTROL, which has been nominated as Network Manager by the European Commission, handled 10.6 million flights, an increase of 4.4% over 2016, which was also a record year. This is equivalent to over 29,000 flights per day with a peak figure of 35,937 on 30 June.

A new Royal Air Force radar facility reinforcing the UK’s ability to track unidentified military or civilian aircraft will be powered up ready to operate soon, the head of the RAF heard today (26 January).

Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Hillier, visited the site of the new £10m Remote Radar Head facility, at Saxa Vord, Unst, Shetland, to inspect its progress. “Right at the tip of Shetland, Saxa Vord is a very remote site, so I am extremely grateful to the team who have been working hard through the cold of winter, with snow and 120 mph gales, to ensure that the construction has remained on schedule.” (See illustration).

This radar will improve RAF and NATO understanding of the airspace north of Britain and further out across the Norwegian Sea, improving the UK’s sovereign capability at a time of heightened Russian military activity (See illustration). It will see the island return to the role it performed during the 1960s and ’70s, when the site was used as an early warning radar on NATO’s northern flank.

In response to the threats arising from the conflict in Yemen, BIMCO, ICS and INTERTANKO have published interim guidance on maritime security in the southern Red Sea and Bab al-Mandeb. Shipowners and operators should be aware of new threat patterns in the area.

The European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) and the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) have advised that a range of threats other than piracy, such as sea mines and water-borne improvised explosive devices (WBIEDs), are potential risks in the area.

Maritime digitalization carried out in the EfficienSea2 project has enabled effective route sharing between different VTS systems in the Baltic Sea. It has the potential to drastically cut the reporting effort for ship’s crew, while offering authorities a better ability to ensure safe traffic at sea.

According to a statement by EfficienSea2 secretariat the days may soon be over when mariners have to pick up a radio to report their vessel and route parameters every time they cross into a new VTS area – at least for those sailing in the Baltic Sea.

By cooperating with the Finnish Transport Agency in EfficienSea2, the Norwegian surveillance system manufacturer Vissim has become the first operator to integrate voyage data from the so-called ENSI system (Enhanced Navigation Support Information) in their own vessel traffic monitoring system.

IAIN Member Institute Israeli Association for Automatic Control (IAAC) advises that the Israel Navigation Systems and Applications Workshop and Exhibition is its biennial event organized to serve the wide audience of people in Israel interested in the navigation science and art.

This one-day workshop is dedicated to technical talks that range from fundamental research, to applications, to field test results. The related exhibition is a unique opportunity to bring together in one location the different industries and representatives offering navigation-related hardware.

It is understood that as a relatively large number of participants will be non-Hebrew speakers, lecturers have been asked to deliver their presentations in English.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau has released the final investigation report into an Airbus A320’s descent below segment minimum safe altitude during a non-precision instrument approach to Perth Airport. This was reported from Canberra on 16 January at 0035GMT

The serious incident highlights the extent to which unexpected events and distractions during the approach and landing can substantially increase what is often a high workload period. That workload increase is even more apparent when the aircraft systems are not operating normally, or the systems are operating in a way that is not fully understood by the crew.

The report highlights the ongoing aviation safety issues of “too low on approach” and “inflight decision making”, which form part of the ATSB’s
SafetyWatch priorities.

Ocean Infinity, an international technology company specializing in collecting high resolution geophysical seabed data, confirmed on 10 January that its proposal to continue the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 had been accepted by the Government of Malaysia.

It is understood that Ocean Infinity will take on the economic risk of the renewed search, only receiving payment if the aircraft wreckage is located. Ocean Infinity’s search will focus initially on the zone identified by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. The vessel, Seabed Constructor (illustrated), is now close to the search area, which will enable work to commence imminently and the project is expected to last for 90 days.

Nominations are being accepted for the IEEE/ION Positioning, Location and Navigation Symposium (PLANS) 2018 Kershner Award, the biennial award recognizing individuals who have made substantial contributions to the technology of navigation and position equipment, systems or practices. To nominate an individual readers are invited to submit nominations online by 19 January.

The PLANS Kershner Award will be presented at the IEEE/ION PLANS taking place from 23 to 26 April, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Monterey, Monterey, California.

‘Our thoughts and prayers are with the seafarers still missing from the oil tanker Sanchi, following a reported collision off the coast of China. I send my deepest sympathies to all their families and loved ones.

I would like to commend all those who have been involved in the international search and rescue operations so far and in the efforts to battle the fire and contain pollution from the ship.

This is an ongoing situation which we are monitoring. IMO stands ready to offer any technical assistance that may be needed. In the longer term, it is expected that there will be a full investigation into this incident and that the results and findings will be brought to IMO so that we can do whatever may be necessary to reduce the chances of such an incident happening again.’

Readers are invited to take a look at the website of the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation (RNTF, a Corresponding memeber of the IAIN). There can be found regular news and a valuable blog contributed to at regular intervals.

SANIS/1 followed ICAO’s second Global Air Navigation Industry Symposium (GANIS/2) held in week commencing 10 December, where State and industry experts reviewed proposals for how to integrate the future air navigation system to accommodate global aviation’s forecast doubling of flights and passengers in 15 years’ time.

Dr Liu highlighted to her audience that the safety, capacity and efficiency of the world’s aviation network is presently threatened by the speed at which it is expanding. She elaborated that sectoral growth cannot be permitted to negatively impact the key strategic performance targets, and existing levels of aviation safety, efficiency, and environmental protection should continue to trend upward even as operations expand.

The 19th IALA Conference will be held from 27 May to 2 June 2018 at the Songdo Convention Center, Incheon, Republic of Korea.

An Early Bird rate has now been announced. This will be valid to the end of this month, 31 January 2018.

At IAIN we are pleased to make available a glossary of terms used in connection with drone operations: The Language of Drones: Enabling dialogue between Surveyors and Pilots.

This valuable document’s chapters provide a quick guide to names and an explanation of terms supported by two appendices one of which indicates the components of a typical multi-rotor unit. Others details the Air Navigation Order regarding the legal basis of such operations.

Publication here has been possible with the kind permission of Nottingham University.

The Association has had a busy year. We have contributed to several strands of activity. These have included in the marine environment: the development of guidelines for both S-mode in ships’ bridge equipment and the harmonisation of the presentation of navigational information on bridge displays. Meanwhile, in the air world we are supporting an initiative to encourage the adoption of True North as a heading reference by the aviation community. Lastly, but not least, back at sea, we were involved in the preparation of a first regulatory framework for autonomous ships.

The continuous challenge facing navigators, one no less serious than the vulnerability of Space-Based Positioning and Timing, is that of maintaining cyber security – the defence of our vehicle systems (be they in cars, planes, ships, drones or space vehicles) against those wishing to interfere with them for malicious purposes.

The 2018 IAIN World Congress is to be held over 27 November – 1 December 2018 in Makuhari, Japan. The programme will have as its main theme “Science, Technology and Practice for Resilient Navigation” and discuss the development of safety, security and efficiency of navigation in cars, planes, ships, drones or space vehicles developing autonomous integrity of navigational information towards fully autonomous navigation. I look forward to seeing many of you in Makuhari, Japan.

I wish all our Members and readers

A happy, successful and safe New Year 2018

Yasuo Arai,
(Japan Institute of Navigation)
IAIN President

The full message can be found here.

The Portsmouth-based Type 23 frigate St Albans was called upon to sail on 23 December and keep watch on the new Russian warship Admiral Gorshkov as she passed close to UK territorial waters. HMS St Albans remained at sea on Christmas Day to monitor the Russian frigate, keeping track of its activity in areas of national interest. It was planned that the frigate would return to Portsmouth on 26 December and remain ready for very short notice tasking over the holiday period.

The festive season saw an upsurge in Russian units transiting UK waters. HMS Tyne was also called upon to escort a different vessel, a Russian intelligencegathering ship, through the North Sea and the English Channel on Christmas Eve. A Wildcat helicopter from 815 Naval Air Squadron, based at RNAS Yeovilton, was then dispatched to monitor two further Russian vessels.

At its 65th session held at IALA HQ in St Germain-en-Laye, (78100) France, early in December, the IALA Council adopted a new specification guideline for digital services in the maritime domain. Based on input from EfficienSea2, the new guideline will help ensure that the best digital solutions work across different oceans and different equipment.

Digital services in the maritime industry have for years been drafted in many different formats, making it difficult to achieve interoperability between different systems and across different geographical spheres. Now, however, a new specification guideline has been adopted by the IALA Council that will strengthen the harmonisation of digital services in the future.

The IALA World-Wide Academy, in conjunction with Ports and Maritime Public Domain Directorate (Ministry of Equipment, Transport, Logistics and Water, Kingdom of Morocco), take the opportunity of the second Preparatory Diplomatic Conference, held on 7-8 February 2018 in Marrakesh (Morocco), to raise awareness on maritime safety in Africa by arranging a Seminar on this theme on the same venue, immediately prior to the conference on 6 February 2018 in Le Palais des Congrès Mogador in Marrakesh, Morocco.

The Seminar aims to enable participants to be fully aware of coastal states’ obligations, of international organisations’ strategies (for example those of IALA and IHO, and will take into account actions implemented in Africa to determine the way ahead for safety of navigation in the continent. Furthermore, the Seminar will be an added value for Marine Aids to Navigation managers of the region who would then participate in the 2nd Preparatory Diplomatic Conference.

On 15 December the US Navy announced from Washington issue of the Strategic Readiness Review (SRR). In September, the Secretary of the Navy, Richard V. Spencer, ordered a fleetwide review in the light of recent surface fleet incidents which resulted in significant loss of life and injury.

It is understood that the SRR was an independent review by a team of subjectmatter experts that examined the systemic conditions influencing and existing within the Navy over the last 30 years. Running concurrently with the US Fleet forces-led Comprehensive Review the SRR considered its findings, but its assessments and judgments are independent of the military Comprehensive Review findings.

IALA hosted a seminar on Arctic Navigation from 9 to 10 November 2017 at its HQ in St Germain-en-Laye, 78100, France. This event was following-up a meeting held in February 2010 at IALA attended by Arctic nations where a number of actions were agreed by participants.

In this further meeting (9-10 November 2017) on Arctic navigation the views on the challenges of ensuring safe navigation in Arctic waters of all Arctic nations and international organizations having an interest in the field were discussed. Thirty-eight delegates, representing eight countries and six Sister organisations attended and the seminar was structured with presentations on relevant topics.

See the full report.

The European Navigation Conference 2018 will be held in the technology-rich city of Gothenburg on the campus of Chalmers University of Technology on Sweden’s west coast from 14-17 May 2018.

The ENC is the premier conference in Europe in the fields of positioning, navigation and timing, with special emphasis on the European Galileo and EGNOS. Through a peer-reviewed manuscript selection process, it will showcase state-of-the art and innovations in the field of terrestrial and satellite-based navigation and its applications. Implementation of new technologies will be demonstrated through an industry exhibition arranged in parallel to the conference.

The conference will comprise technical session, poster sessions, invited keynotes, and a best paper award. The conference strongly emphasizes a quick turn-around time and high quality of the published papers.

The 2nd Announcement for this four-yearly event has been issued. The 2018 IALA conference will be hosted by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries of the Republic of Korea with IALA. The conference will be held from May 27 to June 2, 2018.

The theme will be: Successful voyages, sustainable planet – A new era for marine aids to navigation in a connected world.

The Conference includes a broad technical programme of cross-disciplinary presentations by world-class experts and an industrial exhibition providing first-hand viewing of the latest R&D, innovative aids to navigation products and services, and related exhibits of contemporary interest and future promise. A novel feature of the Conference will be a Heritage Exhibition which will showcase the unique cultural significance of lighthouses around the world.

The early bird registration deadline is approaching for the US ION’s co-located (ION) International Technical Meeting (ITM) and the Precise Time and Time Interval (PTTI) 2018.

The ITM is the ION’s winter meeting with peer-reviewed technical papers related to positioning, navigation and timing and includes the ION Fellows and Annual Awards presentations.

The PTTI is the technical conference designed to disseminate and coordinate PTTI information at the user level; review present and future PTTI requirements; inform government and industry engineers, technicians and managers of precise time and frequency technology and its problems; and provide an opportunity for an active exchange of new technology associated with PTTI.

Delegates are invited to attend the complimentary Cognizant Autonomous Systems for Safety Critical Applications (CASSCA) workshop on 29 January 2018 from 0830 to 1730 at the Hyatt Regency Reston in Reston, Virginia. The workshop is complimentary but registration is required to attend.

A workshop on How to Run the MCP (Maritime Connectivity Platform) was hosted by IALA on behalf of the EfficienSea 2 Project on 21 / 22 November 2017. The workshop was attended by 52 delegates, representing 19 countries.

Noting that the EfficienSea2 project funding from the EU ends in April 2018, the objective of the workshop was to address the implementation of the MCP with a focus on identifying preferred governance and business models and preparing a related exploitation plan for global information exchange. Legal and Liability issues were also explored.

The workshop produced a report, including 35 conclusions and recommendations.

The Israel Navigation Workshop and Exhibition (INWE18) is a biennial event organized and sponsored by the Israel Association for Automatic Control (IAAC).

Following the huge success of previous events, the 2018 edition of the Israel Navigation Workshop and Exhibition has been scheduled for January 29, at the Daniel Hotel in Herzliya.

INWE18 will be a one day event dedicated to technical talks in navigation systems, ranging from fundamental research, to applications, to field test results. The topics of interest include navigation, positioning and timekeeping in all their variations, sensors, systems, optimal integration of multiple sensors, and novel or emerging technologies in the field of navigation.

In parallel with the talks INWE18 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. You can expect to see the latest, most innovative navigation products and services from top navigation companies.

Finally, the event will bring together the large community of researchers, suppliers and users in the navigation area in Israel, making it a unique opportunity to meet all the who’s who in the navigation field in the country.