MAREΣ

Issue

The European Directive 2002/59 about the "Monitoring of maritime traffic" compels every nation member of the Union to exchange AIS data in order to enhance the complete maritime scenario.
In this area of interest, EMSA (European Maritime Safety Agency) has encouraged the development of a regional system capable of integrating this data, and has subsequently commissioned the Italian Coast Guard for the job.

Solution

Elman set up the regional AIS server for the Mediterranean sea, MAREΣ, on the behalf of the Italian Coast Guard, with the objective of:

• gathering,
• distributing,
• visualizing,
• memorizing

the AIS data relative to the other countries connected to the MED server.
The main use of the AIS regional server is that of storing and exchanging AIS data in real time.
For this reason the architecture of the regional server requires a continuous connection with all the other AIS national servers so that a free interchange of data is allowed.
The information gathered are then directly transmitted to the nation in need.
This data that has been stored is then used for statistical porpoises, producing graphical analysis in a cartographic context (GIS).
The single national system and the regional server are connected through the "National Proxy".
Summarizing, the regional server performs the following activities:

• gathers data from the national Proxies
• distributes data toward the national Proxies
• stores data in a database
• displays and analizes data through a web page

The access to AIS data stored on the regional database is always available through a web interface. This particular solution allows users to access AIS data from any browser available on the market. The web application supplies also an image in which the maritime traffic is shown. Furthermore, the web application supplies to the user all the tools needed to generate statistical data from the information stored.
Elman srl supplied the following products:

• The software for the national proxy
• The software for the regional server
• The system's central server on which the software of the regional server is active

In this area of interest Elman offers:

• Level I help desk service
• Upgrades and ordinary maintenance
• Specific training for technicians and users

Elman has also developed the module STIRES of EMSA's SafeSeaNet system.
This system allows to centralize data coming from the server of the Mediterranean region (MAREΣ) and data coming from the other regional servers in the North Sea and Baltic Sea.
STIRES, therefore, extends functionalities to the coasts of the entire European continent, allowing a real-time exchange of maritime information.

Know-How

The system made by Elman Srl was specifically designed to offer a solution to the issues brought up by the EMSA and it's therefore a unique ad-hoc system.
Consequently, Elman srl is perfectly capable of designing and developing similar maritime surveillance systems in any other area of the world.