Category : Navigation

Articles relatifs à la navigation maritime

BBC Radio 4 – The Shipping Forecast celebrates its 100 years old

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2025 marks the 100 years of the broadcast of marine weather forecasts The Shipping Forecast on BBC Radio 4. This emblematic transmission, produced by the UK Met Office on behalf of MCA_media, continues to be a vital safety service for mariners along our coasts.

I had written an article at the beginning 2010 (¹) on the gradual disappearance of radio weather forecasts in France, and praised the consistency of the BBC bulletin. Fifteen years later, the marine weather forecast is still broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Long Waves at the same unchanging times. Hats off ! Read more …

Galileo completes his constellation [Update]

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On September 5 th 2024, the last two satellites launched during the 12th launch of Galileo the 28 th, were officially integrated into the Galileo constellation, thus ensuring the sustainability of all services in orbit.

Now Galileo has 25 operational satellites out of 30 satellites placed in orbit. 5 satellites being currently considered unusable for some or unavailable for others (¹). Read more …

R-Mode, future alternative to Positioning System

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Global navigation satellite systems GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), have become the primary source of Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT1) for ships and marine operations. GNSS is also used for the automatic identification system (AIS2). Unfortunately, GNSS is recognized to be vulnerable to jamming and spoofing, intentional or not, that may result in the loss of positioning information, or, still worse, inaccurate positioning information. Read more …

Sargassum, North Atlantic calamity

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During this period of major departures towards the southern islands before reaching the Antilles, It seems useful to me to relaunch this article which went unnoticed in the heart of summer.

Sargassum (sargassum) are brown algae that grow in the Sargasso Sea, off the coast of Florida and the Bahamas, where they get their name from. Some floating species then drift in a long belt that sometimes extends for thousands of kilometers on the surface of the sea depending on ocean currents and winds.. Many browsers have unfortunately encountered it. Read more …

For eco-responsible pleasure. Part 2 – Nav&Co

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Boaters and water sports enthusiasts now have two applications helping them to better understand and protect the increasingly fragile marine environment.. Nav&Co is an initiative 100% public composed of SHOM, of the OFB (French Office for Biodiversity), of the State Secretariat for the Sea and DGAMPA, with co-financing from the European Union. DONIA (*) is a private initiative of the company Andromeda Oceanology which received the support of the Rhône-Mediterranean-Corsica Water Agency. If DONIA is dedicated mainly to the western Mediterranean basin, Nav&Co currently covers all metropolitan France, Corsica and Guadeloupe. Read more …

For eco-responsible pleasure. Part 1 – DONIA

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Boaters and water sports enthusiasts now have two applications helping them to better understand and protect the increasingly fragile marine environment.. DONIA is a private initiative of the company Andromeda Oceanology which received the support of the Rhône-Mediterranean-Corsica Water Agency. Nav&Co (*) is an initiative 100% public composed of SHOM, of the OFB (French Office for Biodiversity), of the State Secretariat for the Sea and DGAMPA, with co-financing from the European Union. If DONIA is dedicated mainly to the western Mediterranean basin, Nav&Co currently covers all metropolitan France, Corsica and Guadeloupe. Read more …

A new Expert Guide from Voiles editions & Voiliers

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Navigate with a Digital Tablet and a Smartphone has just been published by Voiles & Voiliers, available in bookstores and specialist stores, since the Sails and Sailboats store, on FNAC Books and Amazon.

A digital version is online at Apple Books Store and also pour Kindle.

 

  1. Tablets and smartphones : choose your device and the essential accessories on board carefully.
  2. Navigation applications : review and detailed description according to your types of navigation, for the day, coastal, or offshore.
  3. Integration from mobile devices to on-board instruments : understand and implement.

An educational step-by-step 128 pages to keep up to date with the latest developments and equip yourself wisely today (19,90 € version papier, 19,99 € sur Apple Books Store). Read more …

COLREGS: Still Fit for Purpose ? [Update]

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We can only observe, for three decades, the phenomenal increase in global maritime commercial traffic, The recent proliferation of maritime drones, for scientific and miscellaneous research purposes, automated and remotely submarines civilian, Military, and even for traffickers usage, and soon the inevitable coming into service of fully unmanneded merchant ships. This evolution is directly linked to the multiplication of satellites communication and positioning means allowing remote control of mobiles at sea.

Même avec le confinement pendant la pandémie Covid-19 le trafic maritime ne cesse jamais. Vue Marine Traffic

Even with the lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic, maritime traffic never stops. Marine Traffic View

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