By Jonathan Saul
LONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - An international convention requires merchant ships to have a satellite tracking device on board when travelling at sea.
A ship's captain has the discretion to switch the device off under certain circumstances, which has enabled ships to avoid being detected.
Reuters has revealed that Muammar Gaddafi's government is importing gasoline into western Libya by using intermediaries who transfer the fuel between ships in Tunisia. Ships have turned off their satellite trackers during the journeys. [ID:nLDE73I0PK] [ID:nN20168707]
Below are some questions and answers on how tracking works.
WHAT DOES THE CONVENTION INVOLVE?
U.N. agency the International Maritime Organization adopted the convention, which required vessels to be fitted with devices by the end of 2004 in a move initially aimed at ensuring greater safety at sea. Ships need to carry automatic identification systems (AIS), which collect information by satellite about the type of vessel, its position, course, speed, navigational status and other safety-related information to onshore stations or authorities, other ships and aircraft.
AIS tracking systems must be "in operation at all times, except where international agreements, rules or standards provide for the protection of navigational information", the regulation states.
"If in the view of the (ship's) master it would be safer to switch it off, then he can do so provided he informs the flag state of his reasoning," said Peter Hinchliffe, secretary general of the International Chamber of Shipping, an association, which represents about 80 percent of the global industry.
IS THIS INFORMATION WIDELY AVAILABLE?
AIS data is openly available on numerous websites, which has been seen as a potential security threat to merchant ships.
"We still have concerns that there is information in the AIS transmission that is commercially sensitive, especially for ships in the spot market," Hinchliffe said.
Some maritime security analysts have argued this has enabled pirates to keep track of vessels at sea as attacks on merchant shipping continue to escalate.
"Most masters switch it off when they are around the Horn of Africa because of the pirates there," said John Dalby, chief executive with maritime risk management specialists MRM.
WHY DO SHIPS SWICH OFF THEIR TRACKERS
Shipping sources say commercial vessels can easily switch off their AIS systems in order to conceal their end destinations.
This has been seen in the past year, with tankers delivering petroleum products to Iran despite western sanctions on the trade with the Islamic Republic, sources say.
"The AIS system relies 100 percent on the vessel transmitting information," said MRM's Dalby.
"If it does not transmit information, there is no tracking of it and no way of knowing where it is, which is the easiest way of avoiding detection."
(Editing by Jane Baird)
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