Asia/Pacific News
Chinese AIS Outages Prompt Compliance Headaches in Bunker Industry
The recent shutdown of AIS data providers in China is causing compliance headaches for the bunker industry, according to brokerage NSI.
There has been a sharp reduction in terrestrial positions tracking AIS signals in China this month after a new law came into effect governing the sharing of data with foreign companies.
The bunker market has already noted the drop-off in data quality in the region, NSI said in an emailed note on Tuesday. AIS data is typically monitored to check where a vessel has been trading, for compliance purposes.
"We are seeing an increasing number of requests from bunker suppliers to fill in the gaps where AIS data has not been available, despite the subject vessels having not switched off AIS the data has not been transmitted to usual tracking systems such as Lloyds Seasearcher and Kpler," the company said.
"If your vessel is transiting or working in these areas please ensure that vessels keep suitable records that these queries may be answered, typically log book copies are being accepted as proof of sanctions compliance."
