(WASHINGTON) — GPS disruption affects maritime navigation in various parts of the world. Mariners are encouraged to take the following precautions:
• Develop plans for responding to GPS disruptions that affect safe navigation of vessels prior to getting underway.
• When a GPS outage occurs, incidents should be reported as soon as safely possible to the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center (NAVCEN) through its online reporting form or via phone at (703) 313-5900, 24 hours a day. Incidents reported to NAVCEN will also be disseminated to the NATO Shipping Centre. NATO Shipping Centre reporting information is available here.
Automatic identification systems (AIS) are open, unencrypted and unprotected radio systems intended to operate on non-secure VHF FM channels. As such, AIS signals can be spoofed, resulting in incorrect or missing AIS data. Also, AIS devices do not always have virus or malware protection installed, so cybersecurity best practices against hacking should be adhered to if you connect your AIS to a network or update it using removable electronic devices (e.g. USB drives). AIS, while an invaluable situational tool, should never be solely relied upon for collision avoidance or navigational decision-making.
The Maritime Industry Cybersecurity Resource Center website at serves as a one-stop shop for maritime industry stakeholders to find trusted maritime cybersecurity tools and resources, including government points of contact and current industry-focused cybersecurity resources critical to protecting the Marine Transportation System (MTS) from cyberthreats. Additionally, information on the importance of multi-factor authentication is available here.
The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) publishes weekly Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) reports, which provide information on piracy and armed robbery at sea activity, trends, and details of recent incidents. The reports can be found on ONI’s “Shipping Threat Reports” website.
NGA’s Publication No. 117 (Radio Navigational Aids) provides communications and other
important information for mariners. This resource is available here and has been corrected to September 2021 as noted in the preface of the publication.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Treasury Department administers and enforces economic sanctions based on U.S. foreign policy and national security goals, including those related to specific countries and governments, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other threats to the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States. In some cases, these sanctions may affect maritime trade.
Maritime industry information on tools to counter current and emerging trends in sanctions evasion related to shipping and associated services can be found here. Additional OFAC sanctions information and notices can be found here. Questions relating to OFAC sanctions may be emailed to: ofac_feedback@treasury.gov.
The Maritime Global Security website offers industry-issued best practices and guidance to mariners by geographic region and provides contact and subscription information for regional maritime security reporting centers, particularly in high risk-areas.
Maritime industry stakeholders who wish to receive U.S. maritime alerts and advisories must self-register by following the subscription instructions here. Please note that this self-registration system utilizes a govdelivery.com URL, but future U.S. maritime alerts and advisories sent via this system will arrive from the marad@info.dot.gov email address, which should be added to the approved senders list within your email account to ensure that future alerts and advisories sent to you are not blocked.
– U.S. Maritime Administration
