[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 181 (Friday, September 18, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49939-49942]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-25038]
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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Coast Guard
[USCG-1998-4399]
Public Meeting for Automatic Identification System Carriage
Requirement; Vessel Traffic Service Lower Mississippi River
AGENCY: Coast Guard, DOT.
ACTION: Notice of meeting; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Coast Guard is holding a public meeting to solicit
comments on the establishment of a new Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) in
the Lower Mississippi River area and a potential Automatic
Identification System (AIS) carriage requirement for certain vessels
operating in the new VTS area. The primary purpose of the meeting is to
discuss which vessels should carry
[[Page 49940]]
Automatic Identification Systems and what performance, technical,
testing, and certification standards the systems should meet. The Coast
Guard will also share preliminary results of AIS tests conducted in the
Lower Mississippi River area. In addition, the Coast Guard seeks
written comments from any party who is unable to attend the meeting or
who wishes to submit comments on this topic.
DATES: The meeting will be held on October 28, 1998, from 9 a.m. to 3
p.m. We will begin the meeting at the scheduled time; however, it may
be concluded early if all business is finished. Comments must reach the
Docket Management Facility on or before October 28, 1998.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at the Port of New Orleans, Port of
New Orleans Way, New Orleans, LA 70160. You may mail comments to the
Docket Management Facility, [USCG-1998-4399], U.S. Department of
Transportation (DOT), room PL-401, 400 Seventh Street SW., Washington,
DC 20590-0001, or deliver them to room PL-401, located on the Plaza
level of the Nassif Building at the same address between 10 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone
number is 202-366-9329.
The Docket Management Facility maintains the public docket for this
notice. Comments, and documents as indicated in this preamble will
become part of this docket and will be available for inspection or
copying at room PL-401, located on the Plaza Level of the Nassif
Building at the address in this section between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. You may also access
this docket on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions on this notice or to
make an oral presentation at the meeting, please contact Diane
Schneider, Office of Vessel Traffic Management, telephone 202-267-0352,
fax 202-267-4826, or e-mail Dschneider@comdt.uscg.mil. For questions on
viewing or submitting material to the docket, contact Dorothy Walker,
Chief, Dockets, Department of Transportation, telephone 202-366-9329.
Additional information on AIS can be obtained on the Internet at
http://www.uscg.mil/vtm.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Request for Comments
The Coast Guard encourages interested persons to respond to this
request by submitting written data, views, or arguments. Persons
submitting comments should include their names and addresses, identify
this notice [USCG-1998-4399] and the specific section of this document
to which each comment or question apples, and give the reason for each
comment. Please submit all comments and attachments in an unbound
format, no large than 8\1/2\ by 11 inches, suitable for copying and
electronic filing to the Docket Management Facility at the address
under ADDRESSES. Persons wanting acknowledgment of receipt of comments
should enclose stamped, self-addressed postcards or envelopes. The
Coast Guard will consider all comments received during the comment
period.
Information on Services for Individuals With Disabilities
For information on facilities or services for individuals with
disabilities or to request special assistance at the meetings, contact
Ms. Diane Schneider at the phone numbers listed under FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION CONTACT as soon as possible.
Background Information
The Need for Vessel Traffic Services
Continuing trends in vessel transit statistics show that America's
commercial waterways are becoming increasingly congested. Growing
numbers of vessels, especially oil and chemical carriers and vessels
with large passenger counts, create a growing threat of high
consequence accidents. As a result, the public has demanded more
effective safety measures and the maritime community wants improved
safety and more efficient traffic movement through major ports. Vessel
Traffic Services (VTS) have been specifically identified as one
potential solution to the problems of vessel traffic safety and port
efficiency. At the same time, Congress and the industry have serious
concerns about the adequacy and cost-effectiveness of traditional VTS
technology and operation procedures.
Congressional Direction and Stakeholder Involvement
Congress has directed the Coast Guard to re-examine the manner in
which it performs the VTS mission and to work with VTS users and
stakeholders in identifying the technologies to be used in performing
the VTS mission. Congress has also specifically commented on the need
to rapidly solve safety problems in the Port of New Orleans.
The Coast Guard complied with congressional direction through two
public processes, as well as through numerous less formal public
presentation and discussion sessions around the country. The first of
the two public processes was a National Dialog conducted through the
Marine Board of the National Academy of Sciences and its Committee on
Maritime Advanced Information Systems. The National Dialog drew input
from representatives of the maritime industry and stakeholders. The
second public process was an ad hoc VTS committee formed under the
auspices of the Lower Mississippi River Safety Advisory Committee
(LMRSAC), a formally chartered advisory committee under the Federal
Advisory Committee Act. The ad hoc VTS committee included
representatives from 28 different stakeholder groups.
The National Dialog resulted in the identification of AIS
technology as a basis for future VTS installations. The LMRSAC ad hoc
group, in its ``Baseline VTS Recommendations from The Ports and
Waterways Safety Systems Committee,'' also recommended AIS as the basis
for future technology for any VTS in the Lower Mississippi River area.
Copies of documents from both processes are available for inspection in
the docket at the address listed under ADDRESSES. You may also obtain
copies on the Internet at http://dms.dot.gov, or by calling the project
manager at the number listed in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
AIS Technology
The AIS integrates a number of different technologies including
Differential Global Positioning Systems (DGPS), electronic chart
systems, communications, and open information system architecture. The
AIS transponders transmit and receive specific navigational information
in real time (vessel's name, position, course, speed, dimensions,
cargo, etc.) and operate in both ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore-to-ship
modes. The ship-to-ship mode allows independent exchange between
participating vessels without a shore-based component. The ship-to-
shore-to-ship mode allows exchange of information between participating
vessels and a shore-based component such as a vessel traffic service.
In both modes, AIS will provide mariners with highly accurate
information on the navigational situation of their own vessels as well
as that of surrounding AIS equipped vessels.
There are systems similar to AIS already in use in ports around the
world. These systems have proven that AIS transponder surveillance can
be effective by providing mariners with improved access to pertinent
navigation
[[Page 49941]]
and vessel traffic information. For example, since July 1994, certain
tank vessels operating in the Prince William Sound VTS area are
required to carry transponders. This transponder system works in a
ship-to-shore mode only and does not support onboard information
displays or voiceless delivery of information to the mariner. The
Prince William Sound VTS remains heavily dependent on radar and VHF-FM
voice radio communications. Despite the lesser capability of these more
primitive transponders, the devices have proven extremely valuable.
The automatic ship identification system used in Prince William
Sound does not have an onboard display capability. An onboard display,
especially one providing an electronic navigation capability,
significantly increases the benefits of AIS. For example, Portable
Piloting Units (PPU), consisting of a DGPS receiver and a laptop
computer running an electronic chart system, have been used in a number
of places, including the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, with very
positive results. The PPUs lack vessel traffic information (there is no
transponder), but they do provide a level of precision navigation not
previously available.
Setting Standards for AIS
Standards for AIS must be set for the technology to operate as most
mariners desire. Standards will ensure that AIS devices, offered by
various manufacturers, will be interoperable. Many of the systems that
are already in use are based on incompatible designs and are
proprietary. These systems might be an acceptable way to implement the
AIS concept, if the benefits of AIS were limited to piloted vessels
navigating between the pilot station and the dock. However, AIS needs
to be on board vessels that are not carrying pilots, whether at sea or
in internal waters. There is also a need to avoid a proliferation of
AIS-related devices to be carried on board a given vessel. Most
mariners want one device that meets the requirements.
Setting standards for AIS is a high priority for the Coast Guard.
The preferred approach is to have a single set of universal AIS
performance, technical, testing, and certification standards adopted by
the appropriate international standard setting bodies. To avoid royalty
payments and unavailability of technology, a further requirement is
that these standards be unencumbered by intellectual property rights.
Following this approach and working with concerned governments and
appropriate standards bodies, the Coast Guard has made significant
progress in obtaining the necessary standards. The International
Maritime Organization (IMO) has adopted a performance standard for a
Universal Shipborne Automatic Identification System. Based on this
performance standard, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
has prepared a draft technical standard which is in the final stages of
review and approval. Work has started on a test and certification
standard to be promulgated by the International Electro-technical
Commission (IEC).
Work on installing a new VTS in the Lower Mississippi River area
has begun; the VTS is scheduled to be operational in January of the
year 2000. The new VTS will cover an area 32 kilometers (20 miles)
north of Baton Rouge (mile marker 255) to the seabuoy at Southwest
Pass. Consistent with the results of the National Dialog and the LMRSAC
ad hoc VTS committee, this VTS may be AIS-based, using transponder
technology to perform the majority of both surveillance and information
exchange. The Coast Guard is currently conducting comprehensive vessel
testing of AIS transponders on a variety of platforms. These tests are
addressing technical issues such as charting and transponder
reliability, and will highlight any technical problems. The Coast Guard
will provide preliminary test results during the public meeting.
Comment Issues
The Coast Guard seeks information that may be useful when it
considers the feasibility of and alternatives in implementing a
potential AIS carriage requirement for certain vessels operating in the
Lower Mississippi River VTS area. The Coast Guard will review and
consider all comments submitted, and input from the comments may be
used in the development of a notice of proposed rulemaking.
The Coast Guard needs feedback from you on the following issues and
recommendations:
1. AIS Carriage Requirement
An AIS carriage requirement must be in place if the new VTS is AIS-
based. Many of the discussions regarding AIS to date have focused on
using the Bridge-To-Bridge Radiotelephone Act applicability
requirements in 33 CFR 26.03 as the basis for an AIS display and
transponder carriage requirement. The following vessels must carry a
radiotelephone under 33 CFR 26.03.
Every power-driven vessel of 20 meters (66 feet) or more
in length while navigating.
Every vessel of 100 gross tons or more carrying one or
more passengers for hire while navigating.
Every towing vessel of 8 meters (26 feet) or more in
length while navigating.
Every dredge and floating plant engaged in or near a
channel or fairway in operations likely to restrict or affect
navigation of other vessels except for an unmanned or intermittently
manned floating plant under control of a dredge.
Some stakeholders have recommended modifying these applicability
requirements for AIS carriage to apply to power-driven vessels of 40
meters (131 feet) or more while navigating. In addition to the possible
applications for AIS display and transponder requirements, stakeholders
have also recommended that all vessels licensed or documented for
commercial use, with the exception of fishing vessels, be required to
carry an AIS transponder only (display capability not required).
Stakeholders have also recommended that certain vessels be prohibited
from carrying AIS transponders which operate in the transmit mode. The
Coast Guard is interested in feedback on these issues and
recommendations.
2. AIS Standards
As discussed earlier in this notice, setting standards for AIS is a
high priority for the Coast Guard because standardization is an
absolute requirement for AIS to operate as desired. We must consider
the following issues:
Which set of standards to use in implementing an AIS
carriage requirement on the Lower Mississippi River.
The effective date that should be established for
implementing an AIS carriage requirement.
If a technical standard implementing the IMO Universal AIS
performance standard is not approved in a timely manner, the Coast
Guard may have to consider alternative courses of action. For example,
an existing ITU AIS technical standard, called ITU-R825.3, is already
in place, with a corresponding IEC test/certification standard. This
standard, while not providing all of the capabilities of the IMO
Universal AIS standard and not providing as robust a ship-to-ship
capability as desired, could be used in implementing AIS on the Lower
Mississippi River. Transition to the new international standard could
be accomplished at a later date, and backwards compatibility from the
new standard to the existing standard could eliminate or sharply reduce
the cost of any retrofit.
[[Page 49942]]
If standards fully implementing the IMO Universal AIS
standard are still not in place by the beginning of the year 2000,
should the Coast Guard implement a carriage requirement based on
existing standards?
Should the Coast Guard delay the opening of VTS Lower
Mississippi River until a technical standard implementing the IMO
Universal AIS performance standard is available? If so, how long can
VTS Lower Mississippi River be delayed?
Public Meeting
The meeting is open to the public. It will include short
presentations on the following topics, followed by open discussion:
Introduction of Coast Guard personnel.
Concept of AIS and VTS.
AIS performance, technical, and test/certification
standards.
Automatic Identification Systems test results from the
Lower Mississippi River.
The size and type of vessels that should be required to
carry Automatic Identification System transponders.
Members of the public can make oral presentations with advance
notice, and as time permits. If you wish to make an oral presentation,
you should notify Diane Schneider at the numbers listed under FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT no later than October 26, 1998. Please
provide your name, your affiliation, and the issue you would like to
discuss.
Dated: September 11, 1998.
Joseph J. Angelo,
Acting Assistant Commandant for Marine Safety and Environmental
Protection.
[FR Doc. 98-25038 Filed 9-17-98; 8:45 am]
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