Technical Circular No: 024/2022
Download PDF1. The Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI), vide Ship Security Advisory No. 04-22 has informed regarding Global Positioning System (GPS) interference in various locations around the world, particularly in the eastern and central Mediterranean Sea.
2. The Security Advisory further provides that the US Coast Guard has also received incident reports regarding GPS interference from the Suez Canal, Cyprus, Malta, Istanbul, Persian Gulf near Dammam, Saudi Arabia, and off the coast of Brazil.
3. Also, noting that Automatic Identification System (AIS) devices do not inherently have virus or malware protection, Administration has advised that cybersecurity best practices against hacking should be adhered to, if AIS is connected to a network or is updated using removable electronic devices (e.g. USB drives) and that AIS should never be solely relied upon for collision avoidance or navigational decision making.
4. In view of above, RMI Administration has encouraged RMI registered vessels to report any suspected or confirmed electronic interference incidents by sending the following information in real time to shipsecurity@register-iri.com and info@shipping.nato.int
a) DTG (Date Time Group) / Unit LAT/LONG position at reporting time;
b) Track while observing interferences/ From LAT/LONG to LAT/LONG;
c) Duration while observing interferences - start and end time;
d) Interference type (systems affected and how);
e) Assessed direction or coverage area of interference;
f) Navigation - secondary modes of navigation usage and accuracy vs GPS systems;
g) Communications systems affected; and h) Summary of observations.
5. Owners/ managers and masters of RMI flagged ships are advised to be guided by above.
Enclosure:
Disclaimer:
This Technical Circular and the material contained in it is provided only for the purpose of supplying current information to the reader and not as an advice to be relied upon by any person. While we have taken utmost care to be as factual as possible, readers/ users are advised to verify the exact text and content of the Regulation from the original source/ issuing Authority.