Ships fitted with AIS shall maintain AIS in operation at all times except where international agreements, rules or standards provide for the protection of navigational information.
AIS Applies to:
1. All ships of 300 gross tonnage and upwards engaged on international voyages;
2. Cargo ships of 500 gross tonnage and upwards not engaged on international voyages; and
3. All passenger ships.
As follows:
1. All ships constructed on or after 1 July 2002 must be fitted with an approved AIS.
2. Existing ships engaged on international voyages constructed before 1 July 2002 must be fitted as follows:
2.1. Passenger ships – not later than 1 July 2003
2.2. Tankers – not later than the first Safety Equipment Survey¹ after 1 July 2003
3. Existing ships other than passenger ships and tankers must be fitted as follows:
3.1. 50,000 gross tonnage and upwards – not later than 1 July 2004;
3.2. 300 gross tonnage and upwards but less than 50,000 gross tonnage, not later than the first safety equipment survey¹ after 1 July 2004 or by 31 December 2004, whichever occurs earlier.
4. Ships of 500 gross tonnage and upwards not engaged on international voyages constructed before 1 July 2002 must be fitted not later than 1 July 2008,
5. For the purpose of vessels operating in Jurisdictional waters of the Republic of Moldova the AIS will apply to any vessel of foreign flag irrespective of her size and type, and this also will include , tugboats towing non-self propelled ships carrying oil products with Moldova Flag irrespective of their size, not latter than 1 July 2008.
The Naval Agency brings to the attention to ensure that vessels are transmitting complete and correct data:
- Correct setting of static data, such as the MMSI number and the vessel’s dimensions, during the initial installation of the AIS on board;
- Update of the voyage related data, such as the destination, estimated time of arrival (ETA) and changes in navigational status, by the crew;
- Coorect input or prcessing of dynamic data, such as the position, course speed and heading, from the vessels sensors
- Consistent naming of some data, such as the vessels name and destination.
Shipmasters and navigating officers are advised to check that their vessels AIS are transmitting complete and correct data.
IMO Resoluion A.917 (22), Guidelines for the onboard operational use of ship board Automatic Identification System (AIS), states that ,,if the Master believes that the continual operation of AIS might compromise the safety or security of his/her ship, the AIS may be swithed off. This might be the case in sea areas where pirates and armed robbers are known to operate. Actions of this nature should always be recorded in the ship’s Log Book together with the reasons for doins so”.
The Naval Agency of the Republic of Moldova monitores the Moldova vessels, and in the case of violation of the imposed rules, switching off the AIS system without informing the administration, the Naval Agency reserves the rights to suspend the registration of the ship from the state register, to inform the Interpol and other international law authorities, to inform the port authorities for the investigation of the given purposes about possible involving the vessel in illicit transporation of drugs or other prohibited goods.
