AIS Traffic Analysis and Monitoring system

This VEAT acknowledges that The Commissioners of Irish Lights proposes to place a contract with Gatehouse Maritime for the provision and support of an AIS Traffic Analysis and Monitoring solution for a period of 7 years (5+2). The scope of the current platform and solution provides an integrated Automatic Identification System (AIS) traffic analysis, monitoring and Aids to Navigation (AtoN) management capability supporting safe navigation, protection of critical national infrastructure and maritime domain awareness. It records and decodes AIS messages from base station networks and external AIS data feeds to provide a consolidated operational view of AtoN and vessel activity around Irish waters and key assets. The solution includes real time monitoring through a multi-layer graphical interface with nautical charts, operational layers, geospatial data and Application Programmable Interface (API) feeds from external data sources. It allows teams to view vessel movements, AtoN status, environmental and meteorological data, asset information and alarms in one environment. Approved data is shared with authorised third parties and other internal systems through controlled integrations, data feeds and data exports. The solution delivers AIS infrastructure assurance by monitoring AIS base station configurations, receivers, communications links and data quality. It provides visibility of coverage, uptime and data integrity, with alarms and alerting for degraded performance, signal issues, communications loss, downtime and other failures, keeping AIS and AtoN monitoring data reliable. The platform scales to manage increasing AIS message volumes as vessel traffic, data feeds and reporting requirements grow. For AtoN, the scope includes monitoring and management of physical, virtual and synthetic AtoN, including examples such as AIS equipped buoys, buoy position and movement, Remote Terminal Unit data, AtoN power supply, control cabinets, lights and optics, bearing turntables, Internet of Things devices and related infrastructure. These are not exhaustive, as the solution collects numerous other operational and status data points across connected assets. AtoN monitoring generates availability statistics, tracks service performance and provides evidence of operational reliability. It manages secure virtual and synthetic AIS targets during incidents, outages, works or temporary hazards. Custom graphical views centred on “light up” and “light down” times provide summary confirmation of light operations. Alarm creation and definitions are heavily customised to suit Irish Lights’ operational requirements and includes innovative logic, geofencing, threshold monitoring and group notifications for AtoN failures, “off position” drift, communications loss, abnormal readings and degraded service. Event histories, alarm trends, downtime configuration and graphing tools deliver fault investigation, data comparison and alarm rationalisation. Advanced AIS analytics use live and historical data to generate AtoN and vessel track histories, heat maps, traffic density analysis, incident review and historical AIS replay. These capabilities support AtoN planning, marine incident investigation, traffic analysis, post event reporting. The solution records and manages hazards and wrecks, including their associated geospatial extents, boundaries and caution areas, as part of navigational risk assessments and our statutory consenting process. The scope includes operational monitoring beyond AIS and AtoN. API connectivity and integrations bring in information from asset management systems, building management systems, server rooms, communication lines, chiller units and other infrastructure, allowing maritime, critical ICT infrastructure and facilities alarms or trends to be monitored alongside navigation critical information. Security, access control and “command and control” functions use secure data connections, user and group permissions, segregation of duties and role based access. As examples approved remote actions include power cycling, generator switching, controlled equipment resets and other authorised interventions, ensuring users can only access functions appropriate to their role. The current solution provides a single operational platform for maritime awareness, AIS assurance, AtoN monitoring and control, analytics, replay, reporting, alerting and integration with supporting infrastructure. Changing or replacing the solution at this stage would require re-engineering established interfaces, data feeds, integrations, operational processes and remote monitoring arrangements across the AIS and AtoN environment. It would also trigger procurement, implementation, migration, training, testing, validation and extended parallel running before equivalent capability could be assured. This would amount to a multi-year, high risk replacement programme with significant time required to configure, implement and reach full operational capability. The current solution is deeply embedded across the organisation, proven and reliable in a safety critical environment where uninterrupted service is essential. Its integrations, alarm logic, data views, “command and control” functions, reporting and workflows reflect years of configuration, bespoke development, refinement and organisational learning. Retaining it protects that investment while avoiding unnecessary upfront cost and operational risk. Retaining the existing solution is therefore the lowest risk and best value option for a highly integrated operational environment. It provides stability and a proven platform on which further functionality can be developed. Accordingly, continued use of the existing solution is the most efficient and proportionate means of maintaining compatibility, minimising disruption, protecting service continuity and safeguarding safe maritime operations while wider modernisation progresses.