Satellite AIS data services provider exactEarth has launched exactView RT powered by Harris, which it claims is the world’s first global, persistent real-time satellite AIS service.
The new service consists of a system of more than 60 maritime satellite payloads, designed, built and operated by Harris Corporation, which are hosted onboard the Iridium NEXT constellation of satellites. These maritime payloads cover the entire maritime VHF radio band and leverage the cross-linked architecture of the global Iridium NEXT satellite constellation to deliver AIS and other vessel-based VHF data services from any vessel, anywhere on the globe, relaying that data securely to customers in real-time.
The first four of these advanced real-time maritime payloads has just been put into service with the completion of full system deployment expected next year.
Initially, the system is tracking more than 250,000 AIS-equipped vessels, a figure exactEarth expects to grow to more than 1m vessels worldwide in the next decade.
“Real-time global AIS data unlocks huge possibilities and enables significant advances in maritime safety, security and efficiency,” the company said in a release. Advantages cited include the ability to provide automatic alerts when vessels veer off course; real-time route optimisation can provide substantial fuel savings and emissions reductions for vessel owners and operators; logistics and port operations will run more efficiently with highly accurate location and arrival predictions; and, fishing activity can be more effectively managed and enforced.
“We live in a real-time world and we’re deploying a major global real-time maritime data infrastructure,” said Peter Mabson, CEO of exactEarth. “exactView RT provides global, continuous coverage which literally opens up a world of new application possibilities that are limited only by our imagination.”
