a tablet to provide you with information
about traffic around you. Accessing these
websites from the boat can be an inexpensive
alternative to buying a Class B “receive
only” unit, but you must have a tablet
aboard, no-one will be able to see you
because you are not transmitting your position,
but you will be able to avoid the traffic
around you in crowded areas with cell
phone coverage. Note, cell phone coverage
may be effective only on Inland waters.
Class E AIS, the newest addition to the
AIS pantheon, builds on the tablet idea by
using the cell phone network to provide
your position information to others. The
Smart Chart AIS app (www.smartchart ais.
com) is downloaded to your smartphone
or tablet, and it accesses the online tracking
Section 4: Navigation Rules 61
websites to provide you with information
about the traffic around you. But it
also transmits your position over the cell
system, so others using the Class E AIS on
their phones will be able to see you. But,
since the Class E signal is not a VHF signal,
your boat will not appear on Class A and B
AIS receivers on vessels around you. That
ferry bearing down on you will not know
you are there—unless the captain happens
to be looking at the Smart Chart AIS
app on his cell phone while driving, which
wouldn’t be such a good idea. Class E AIS is
an accessible, affordable way to avoid collisions
in crowded waterways, but users need
to understand its limitations and confuse it
with Class A and B transceivers.
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/(www.smartchartais.com
