The Coast Guard Navigation Center’s new Vessel Identification Verification Service, a voluntary service that enables mariners to verify compliance with automatic identification system carriage requirements, is available beginning Monday, April 3, 2017.
VIVS is a web-based, self-help service that allows ships agents, owners and operators to search their respective vessel or fleets to determine if they are in compliance with static AIS data mandates. The online search program includes the vessel name and call sign, vessel type, MMSI, length and beam.
“This effort has the potential to significantly increase safety levels on US. navigable waterways with only a modest investment necessary to coordinate the wealth of information that is available,” said Lt. Cmdr. Marlon L. Heron from NAVCEN’s E-Tracking Branch.
Most commercial vessels traveling through US navigable waterways are required to have an AIS; however, all mariners are encouraged to use the system to gain access to the ever increasing amount of marine safety information available through AIS transmissions. AIS reduces the risk of collisions while enhancing mariner situational awareness.
For more information on AIS requirements, visit the NAVCEN’s website.
This blog is not a replacement or substitute for the formal posting of regulations and updates or existing processes for receiving formal feedback of the same. Links provided on this blog will direct the reader to official source documents, such as the Federal Register, Homeport and the Code of Federal Regulations. These documents remain the official source for regulatory information published by the Coast Guard.