Satellite-based information system to bolster maritime security along India’s coast

Satellite-based information system to bolster maritime security along India’s coast
Submitted by Guest on Thu, 04/03/2008 - 10:33.
By Nov, govt to get an eye in the sky to keep track of shipsSatellite-based information system to bolster maritime security along the country’s coastPosted: Thu, Apr 3 2008. 1:29 AM ISThttp://www.livemint.com/2008/04/03012904/By-Nov-govt-to-get-an-eye-in.ht...
Bangalore: India is setting up a satellite-based information system to identify and track ships that would bolster maritime security along the country’s coast and lead to faster search and rescue of distressed vessels.
This will bring India in line with latest guidelines of the Safety of Life at Sea (Solas) convention administered by global regulator International Maritime Organization (IMO).
India, a signatory to Solas, expects the tracking system—long-range identification and tracking of ships, or LITS—to be in place by the first week of November. IMO has asked member countries to activate LITS by December this year.
“The aim is to eliminate chances of terrorism by preventing terrorism-related materials and contraband cargo from coming into our country through ships,” says P.H. Krishnan, the country’s deputy director general of shipping. “The law mandates us to stop such vessels from entering our territorial waters.”Antrix Corp., the commercial arm of the country’s space agency Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), is implementing the system for the directorate general of shipping. LITS would be integrated with future land-based vessel-tracking systems, including that of the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy.The system is expected to cost around Rs60 crore and would come up in Mumbai with a remote data centre for disaster recovery in New Delhi. Antrix has called for expressions of interest from Indian technology firms to build the data centre for LITS.