Inland skipper without a location box fined from May

Inland skippers who sail without a transmitter box that determines their location will be fined for it from 1 May. The Automatic Identification System (AIS) has been compulsory for inland vessels since 1 January, but police, Rijkswaterstaat and the port authority in Rotterdam will only start strictly checking for it from next month.

AIS has been mandatory for ocean-going vessels since 2003, but for inland vessels and pleasure boats from 20 metres, the rule has only applied since this year. Inspections by police, Rijkswaterstaat and the port authority show that many boats still do not have their equipment in order. This should change quickly from May onwards.

Safety and flow on busy shipping lanes
AIS has been made mandatory to promote safety and flow on busy shipping lanes. The system provides insight into the location, ship type and name of a particular vessel. This gives other boaters better information on the location of other vessels. Earlier, this information was communicated via VHF radio. However, communication over a VHF radio can cause confusion of speech, leaving errors lurking.

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