The automatic identification system (AIS) is a tried and tested tool to reduce the risk of collisions. The insurance market should make it clear that its use, as mandated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), is a precondition for covering and challenging clients that switch it off without valid reason or manipulate the data.
IMO Rules
Regulation on the use of AIS is very clear. The IMO Convention for the Safety Of Life At Sea (SOLAS) Regulation V/19 requires all vessels of 300 gross tonnage (GT) and upwards engaged on international voyages (500 GT for cargo ships not engaged on international voyages) and all passenger ships, irrespective of size, to carry AIS onboard. Furthermore, the IMO Resolution A.1106(29) adopted on 2 December 2015 states that AIS should always be in operation when ships are underway or at anchor except where international agreements, rules or standards provide for the protection of navigational information.
This means that the AIS may be switched off if the master believes that the continual operation of AIS might compromise the safety or security of their ship or where security incidents are imminent. However, there are very few legitimate reasons for an AIS signal to ‘go dark’ —protection against piracy in notorious areas being one of them — and the master should restart the AIS as soon as the source of danger has disappeared.
AIS In Insurance Policies
The current Nordic Plan’s position is that AIS is a safety precaution and therefore usage is a requirement of cover. As a result, a separate warranty is not deemed required. However, insurers must prove that illegal activity was occurring at the time of an event to refuse a claim. Inference of illegal activity from AIS usage remains untested in the courts. Unless criminality is proven, the cover remains in place for any claim where there is no causality between switching off the AIS and the claim.
Breaching The Rules
The International Group of P&I Clubs has not only warned about the practice of turning off the AIS signal to breach sanctions but also about the ability to manipulate the AIS data. Whilst AIS transponders have built-in security features to prevent them from transmitting falsified data these can sometimes be circumvented for example to breach sanctions. Furthermore, a user can purchase multiple AIS transponders, creating more than one digital AIS identities for a single vessel.
Switching the AIS off or tampering with the AIS system impacts the safety of the maritime world. To end issues of illegal fishing and sanction breaches it may be necessary for the insurance industry to view switching off the AIS system itself as an illegal act, thus denying cover regardless of any loss causation unless the insured can offer a valid reason. Ships that need to switch off the AIS system temporarily for legitimate safety and/or security concerns should be obliged to notify insurers as soon as practically possible with the justification thereof.
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Source: Globallockton
