It is suspected that two different AIS transmitters were in use on the Chinese-owned ship that damaged the telecommunication submarine cable north of Taiwan. Suspicions were raised when the ship’s identification number sent by the ship suddenly changed.
After the cable broke, the Taiwan Coast Guard stopped a ship moving nearby, but was unable to board the ship due to rough seas. The ship continued its journey towards Busan, South Korea, where the local authorities promised official help to investigate the case.
After the encounter, the Coast Guard used the name Shunxing-39 for the ship, which is not found in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) ship register. The vessel’s correct registered name is Xing Shun 39, whose ID is IMO 8358427, but it sometimes also sent a similar fake name Shunxing-39 on the AIS system.
FACT
AIS (automatic identification system) is a maritime traffic management system. With just an AIS receiver, you can see the information of other ships. The sending device can also share the situational information of your own ship with others. In addition to the ship’s location, the transmission tells the direction and speed of the ship.
The International Maritime Organization IMO maintains a ship register. The IMO number does not change even if the ship changes owner or country.
Using a transmitter and registering the ship with the IMO is mandatory in many countries for larger ships.
Semaphore Maritime Solutionsin analyst William Conroy told for the New York Timesthat the vessel appeared to be changing the AIS transmitter at the same time as a Taiwan Coast Guard vessel asked it to stop for an inspection. “Shunxing-39” disappeared from AIS tracking and about a minute later Xing Shun 39 appeared on the map 15 meters away.