Influence of Automatic Identification System on Safety of Navigation at Sea

Detection of small crafts/targets, in particular, sailing yachts with the ship's radar is not always possible. Radar reflectors are used to improve their detection. The AIS (Automatic Identification System) transmits position, motion vector and identification signals of a vessel to other ships and VTS (Vessel Traffic Services) centers . This system significantly increases the possibility to detect small crafts. The paper presents results of comparative study of using information from the Automatic Identification System and from radar to determine the accuracy of tracking the position and motion vector of ships in the Gulf of Gdansk. Possibilities and limitations of the AIS are also presented.