For the past year or so (since the purchase of a new DSLR camera) I've
been keeping an eye on boats on the ICW in my area (Merritt Island,
Florida) and running down to an area across from Cocoa Village to take
photos of the boats with AIS with no photos on the MarineTraffic.com web
site. I then upload them to MT.com.
Interestingly, about 25% of the boats I see on MT.com and subsequently
see in real time have incorrect information entered into their AIS and
being broadcast to other AIS-equipped boats and the world (via MT.com
and perhaps VesselFinder.com).
Some of the common errors:
Incorrect boat name (that could be the result of a recent renaming or
the use of a borrowed AIS);
Incorrect length and width (one yesterday had obviously entered feet
instead of meters into their AIS database);
Incorrect photos in MarineTraffi.com site (several months ago there was
a photo of a four-masted sailboat associated with a relatively small
trawler)
I can only imagine what a commercial captain thinks when he sees a 40X12
meter boat approaching on his AIS when determining how to arrange
passage in a narrow channel only to eventually see a 40 X 12 foot in the
real world.
Makes you wonder about the skipper's competence and if he/she is paying
attention to anything.
--
<><><><><><><><><><><><>Mozilla Thunderbird<><><><><><><><><><>
Bob McLeran and Judy Young
Manatee Cove Marina, Patrick AFB Florida
Formerly cruising in MV Sanderling, a DeFever 41 Trawler
which has been sold
Blog: http://mvsanderling.net/Blog
For the past year or so (since the purchase of a new DSLR camera) I've
been keeping an eye on boats on the ICW in my area (Merritt Island,
Florida) and running down to an area across from Cocoa Village to take
photos of the boats with AIS with no photos on the MarineTraffic.com web
site. I then upload them to MT.com.
Interestingly, about 25% of the boats I see on MT.com and subsequently
see in real time have incorrect information entered into their AIS and
being broadcast to other AIS-equipped boats and the world (via MT.com
and perhaps VesselFinder.com).
Some of the common errors:
Incorrect boat name (that could be the result of a recent renaming or
the use of a borrowed AIS);
Incorrect length and width (one yesterday had obviously entered feet
instead of meters into their AIS database);
Incorrect photos in MarineTraffi.com site (several months ago there was
a photo of a four-masted sailboat associated with a relatively small
trawler)
I can only imagine what a commercial captain thinks when he sees a 40X12
meter boat approaching on his AIS when determining how to arrange
passage in a narrow channel only to eventually see a 40 X 12 foot in the
real world.
Makes you wonder about the skipper's competence and if he/she is paying
attention to anything.
--
<><><><><><><><><><><><>Mozilla Thunderbird<><><><><><><><><><>
Bob McLeran and Judy Young
Manatee Cove Marina, Patrick AFB Florida
Formerly cruising in MV Sanderling, a DeFever 41 Trawler
which has been sold
Blog: http://mvsanderling.net/Blog
