On July 31 the Canadian Space Agency issued a Notice of Proposed Procurement (NPP) for Space-Based AIS Data Services. This tender supersedes an earlier NPP (9F013-180794/A) published on October 28, 2019. The closing date for proposals is September 10, 2020.
The tender while under auspices of the CSA is actually in “support (of) the operational needs of numerous government departments.”
Any resulting contract would be for one year with the government having the option to renew it at six month intervals to a maximum of 4 times. The contract value would not exceed $3 million, exclusive of taxes, though the first year of the contract can not exceed $1 million. Each renewal option can not exceed $500k.
The government describes the need for Space-Based AIS Data Services as follows:
The government “has a requirement for SB-AIS data services for monitoring of Canadian and global maritime traffic that can also be queried for historical tracking purposes. The Contractor must be capable of providing a service, which detects AIS signals of vessels anywhere on Earth and processes these signals into AIS messages usable by the GC, in accordance with the requirements stated in the Statement of Work. The GC’s requirement may also include vessel position confirmation, additional connections and accounts, data format conversions, additional data and AIS data reports and analyses, through Task Authorizations (on an as and when requested basis).”
Spaced-Based AIS Data Services background
The Canadian Space Agency provided the following background to the tender:
The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is an automatic Very High Frequency (VHF) broadcast capability used by ships and ship traffic services primarily for collision avoidance. The types of information available include: ship identification, tonnage, position, destination, course and speed. The International Maritime Organization’s (IMO’s) International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) requires AIS equipment to be fitted aboard all ships of 300 gross tonnage and upwards engaged on international voyages, cargo ships of 500 gross tonnage and upwards not engaged on international voyages and all passenger ships irrespective of size. The latest IMO requirements became effective for all ships by 31 December 2004 .(http://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/safety/navigation/pages/ais.aspx).
In Canada, the existing Navigation Safety Regulations require an AIS transmitter on board every Canadian commercial vessel of 500 gross tonnage or more, regardless of the type of voyage (except for fishing vessels). Vessels of 300 gross tonnage or more are required to carry an AIS if they are engaged on an international voyage, and vessels of 150 gross tonnage or more are required to carry an AIS if they are carrying more than 12 passengers and are engaged on an international voyage. Later this fall, Transport Canada will introduce a new Marine Safety and Security initiative that will be published in the Canada Gazette, part II. The proposed regulations were pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on June 15, 2019, with a 90-day comment period (http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2019/2019-06-15/html/reg8-eng.html). The proposed Regulations would require new categories of vessels to have an automatic identification system (AIS), Class A on board.
Class A AIS would be required on board the following vessels:
- a) a non-pleasure vessel of 20 m or more in length;
- b) a vessel carrying more than 50 passengers;
- c) a vessel carrying dangerous goods or pollutant in bulk cargo;
- d) a dredge or floating plant; or
- e) a towboat that is more than 8 m in length.
An amendment on vessels carrying passengers is effective since summer 2019 (http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp- pr/p2/2019/2019-05-01/html/sor-dors100-eng.html). A Class A or B AIS is required on board for every vessel, other than a vessel subject to subsections above, that is engaged on a voyage other than a sheltered waters voyage shall be fitted with an AIS Class A that meets the standards specified at item 15 of Schedule 1 or an AIS Class B if:
- a) the vessel is certified to carry more than 12 passengers; or
- b) the vessel is eight metres or more in length and is carrying passengers.
Collecting AIS data from space continues to overcome range limitations inherent in terrestrially-received AIS data. As a result, space-based AIS (SB-AIS) information is an important tool for Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) for the Government of Canada (GC).