Initially instituted as a service to monitor the safety of our local and surrounding shorelines during the World Cup last year, the Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) system is a welcomed spin-off from a successful local concept for maritime protection. It will also help to track shipwrecks and oceanic pollution.

Karl Otto, head of the South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA), spoke at a conference for the Responsible Packaging Management Association of SA in Durban:

This is a revolutionary development in the security of our seas. Until now, we had very limited capacity to identify, track and monitor beyond the horizon. Many ships have sailed our waters without our knowledge.

That last sentence is fact worthy of elaborating on. Why, because anyone who has spent a little time at night on our more ‘removed’ areas of coastline like the Transkei will have noted the illegal fishing vessels, reportedly from China and the like, cruising close to the shoreline with no lights on.

LRIT is tracking vessels that roam south of the equator in our direction. It has a range that reaches up to 1 000 nautical miles (1850km) from South Africa’s coast and is meant to be an alert system for potential pirate vessels, as well as assisting pollution and shipwreck tracking.

Reports indicate roughly 400 piracy incidents have take place off the horn of Africa in about the last year, resulting in $238 million in ransoms being paid. Also reported is that pirates off the Somalia coast are in currently in control of 30 ships, containing 660 hostages.

[Thanks MC Hammer]

[Source: FastCompany]