AIS consultancy established
http://www.trueheading.se

Anders Bergström, Magnus Nyberg and Nils Willart, ex-senior executives from AIS manufacturer Saab TransponderTech, have left the company to establish an AIS consultancy called True Heading. 

The company will be providing consultancy to both shipping companies and shore organisations (ports, coastal administrations) on how to install AIS terminals and receivers, make sure they are working and gain most value from them.

"Until now, customers have to rely on the knowledge from the manufacturers - trying to build up their own experience from the authorities," says Anders Bergström. "We are the first independent consultancy company for AIS."

"We are making sure ships have the most cost effective solution - making sure that the system that has been implemented is a useful tool and really helps them - improve their service. We look at the security aspect, and manage the crew training." 

The prices of shipboard AIS systems have been continually falling since the first implementation deadline of July 1 last year, with AIS manufacturers reducing their service offering to the bare bones (hardware only) to compete. 

"Many shipping companies are left with very little help when it comes to installation and training," he says. "They could have done some help. The educational part has totally been left out."

"We know there are a lot of people that need help out there but probably if they dare to admit it."

Digital Ship continually receives reports about large numbers of poorly implemented AIS implementations leading to the dangerous scenario of ships broadcasting incorrect information. 

"There's a lot of debate right about how the installations are down and how the systems are performing," Mr Bergström says. 

Mr Bergstrom says that the authorities are going to get increasingly sophisticated in monitoring how the AIS systems are installed and used, rather than just ticking the "AIS installed" box if they see one. 

"When the authorities get more educated they will put higher demands on the owners," he says. "Its important for owners not to go for the cheapest way." 

Despite the AIS critics, Mr Bergström strongly believes that the overall effect of AIS to date has been good. 

"If you talk to some of the pilots that have been studying AIS - when they go onboard the ship, and they talk to the masters, onboard the ships - when they have trained crews - and advanced systems, they see it as a very good tool for safety and anti-collision and to plan their navigation better ahead in time," he says. 

A major issue with AIS is how the information should be displayed. "The minimum keyboard is definitely not the perfect solution," he says. "The owners that are implementing the systems into their ECDIS systems are seeing enormous advantages."

Trueheading will maintain its independence and make recommendations to AIS suppliers about which manufacturers to use.

"The cost for the owners for our service is not very high - i doubt it would even reach the figures of one installation," he says. 

True Heading is offering consultancy services to coastal administrations, as to how they can blend together the confusing array of tracking data about to be on offer, including the future long range tracking, to get the best possible picture of vessel traffic near their coastlines. 

"I'm surprised that the issue of AIS working together with long range tracking has not been more discussed," he says. "Pole Star made trials with long range tracking together with AIS - it worked well."

"I think the entire long range tracking part is very complex at the moment," he says. "I don't know really how the authorities are going to summarise really all the data from the different systems."

Bergström declined to say why the three executives left Saab.