AIS Systems

The automatic identification system (AIS) is an automatic tracking system used for collision avoidance on ships and by vessel traffic services (VTS). AIS Systems allow ships to view marine traffic in their area and to be seen by that traffic.  Some AIS Systems only receive and do not transmit their location, direction of travel and speed. This requires a dedicated VHF AIS transceiver that allows local traffic to be viewed on an AIS enabled chartplotter, computer monitor or AIS screen while transmitting information about the ship itself to other AIS receivers. All vessels equipped with AIS transceivers can view traffic very reliably, but is limited to the VHF range, about 10–20 nautical miles.  CLR Marine highly recommends all boaters to have an AIS transceiver on your boat.