VMS users warned of potential outages

Following initial advice published in March, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) has again warned users of the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) that outages could occur during a coming satellite changeover.

Airtime provider Inmarsat is expected to begin a transition of satellite C services from its I-3 satellite constellation to the I-4 constellation in the Australian region at the end of June 2018.

When the transition begins, users might experience periodic outages to Inmarsat C VMS units.

The AFMA said that it has been advised there may be a risk that older VMS models, such as the Thrane & Thrane 3022 and 3026 models, could encounter problems during the transition.

There’s even a possibility that some older devices may become incompatible and require replacement.

The authority has said that it “will continue to closely monitor the Commonwealth fleet during this transition to ensure any issues are detected early and will work with any fishers affected”.

The AFMA has advised users who encounter problems to contact the unit manufacturer, a marine technician or AFMA VMS staff.

Image credit: ©iStockphoto.com/Sjoerd van der Wal

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