UK Spectrum Policy Forum
Cluster 1: Transportation - 11 December 2014
Steve Austin, Senior Policy Lead (Navigation Equipment Technical Standards), Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Maritime Spectrum
More information at: http://www.techuk.org/about/uk-spectrum-policy-forum
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2. Maritime Industry Value
• >90% of global trade is carried by ship
(IMO 2012)
• 99% of UK trade by weight is carried by
ship (IMSF 2013)
• direct contribution to UK economy of £8-
13bn (DfT 2013)
3. Use
• Safety:
– Distress and SAR
– Navigation - Maritime Safety Information, situational awareness for collision
avoidance, SAR, position fixing, navigational beacons
• Security
– Vessel monitoring
– Anti-piracy
• Operational:
– On board – passenger management, fire-fighting
– Port operations
– Traffic management/commercial management
• Social for crew/passengers:
– Satellite, VSAT
4. Constraints
• International Maritime Organisation/ITU
– International Convention on Safety of Life at Sea
(SOLAS)
• Harmonisation:
– International via ITU
– EU via CEPT
• Standards:
– IEC or ETSI/CENELEC or UK standards
• Acceptance of vessels certificated by other
administrations
5. Future
• Spectrum efficiency via transition to digital,
supporting E-Navigation decision support
system and ‘single window’. Additional shore-
based transceivers
• Additional service provision in GMDSS.
• On-board UHF communications improvement
• Unmanned vessels