China's first universal automatic identification system (AIS) for ships should be operating by July. Officials with the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration say the new system is able to keep track of ships, their countries of origin, their size and number of crew. "It can be used to prevent terrorism . . . we could precisely identify the target," said Liu Gongchen, executive deputy director of the Maritime Safety Administration of China.

Liu was attending a three-day meeting of the 34th Council of the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA). It closes today.

Liu said that the system, which is still being adjusted, is set up in accordance with the International Maritime Organization standards.

Another AIS will be built in Guangzhou to identify the ships sailing waterways in the Pearl Delta.

Some 1,100 Chinese oceangoing vessels carrying cargo, containers and oil are required to have the tracking devices installed before July 1, Liu said.

All foreign ships that sail into China must have the devices. Ships without them will be prohibited from entering Chinese territorial seas.

According to the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration spokesman, all of the country's 6,000 oceangoing ships will be required to complete installation of tracking devices by July 1, 2005.

"We plan to build more than 100 tracking stations along the coastlines by 2008," Liu said.

By then, the country's maritime safety administration organizations will be able to identify all the ships along the coastlines with tracking devices, ranging from the Bohai Sea to Fujian and the Qiongzhou Straits.

"The state will provide financial support to the AIS project in order to keep oceangoing freighters safe on the way to China," he said.

Liu said the current council meeting is a stimulus to China's efforts to improve its navigation aids and lighthouses.

"We will develop a sophisticated digital navigation system by importing foreign technologies and contribute to the world's maritime safety," he said.

Shanghai, as host to the 16th IALA Conference in 2006, is advancing its navigation aids and lighthouse facilities to meet the requirements of becoming an international shipping center.

IALA Secretary General Torsten Kruuse praised the city's preparations for the conference, saying, "Everything is absolutely perfect."

(China Daily May 26, 2004)