This project provides real-time information on the movements of ships and the current location of ships in harbours and ports.

AIS Applications


The original purpose of AIS was solely collision avoidance but many other applications have since developed and continue to be developed. AIS is currently used for:

Collision Avoidance

AIS was developed by the IMO technical committees as a technology to avoid collisions among large vessels at sea that are not within range of shore-based systems

Fleet Tracking

AIS is widely used by authorities to track and monitor the activities of ship fleets. AIS enables authorities to reliably and cost effectively monitor vessel activities along their coast line.

Search and Rescue

For coordinating on-scene resources of a marine search and rescue (SAR) operation, AIS can provide additional information and enhance awareness of available resources, even if the AIS range is limited to VHF radio range


Eyes at Sea Project


Since the first implementation of the Community Empowerment thru Science and Technology (CEST) in 2012 up to the second quarter of 2017, technology assistance and intervention focusing on the five entry points (Health and Nutrition, Water and Sanitation, Basic Education Literacy, Economic Enterprise Development, and Disaster Risk Reduction/Climate Change Mitigation) of the program have been initially deployed in PoGI municipalities (Burdeos, Jomalig, Panukulan, Patnanungan, and Polilio).

Based on the Community Needs Assessment (CAN) conducted last 2017 in the five municipalities, fiberglass rescue boats are deemed necessary for rescue operations especially in inter-island transport across island barangays. This is related to DRR/CCA component of CEST – one of the key areas that the project aims to address. The five rescue boats are set to be deployed before the end of December 2019.

Mapua University (MAPUA) will supply and install the tracking system for the rescue boats in PoGI municipalities using the Automatic Identification System (AIS) technology. The AIS instrument functions by acquiring the global positioning system coordinates and exchanging real-time data with other ships and maritime authorities through the use of radio transmissions. The AIS broadcasts its vessel’s information, its identity, type, position, course, speed, heading, and other navigation information.


Meet the Team

Engr. Febus Reidj Cruz

Engr. Cruz leads the Eyes at Sea Team. He is a Registered Electronics Engineer, senior researcher and professor of Electronics Engineering at Mapua University.

Engr. Bryx William Garcia

Bryx is responsible for the establishment of the web/cloud server that will host/store the data received from the AIS receivers to be installed.

Engr. Jared Christian Nob

Jared Personnel is responsible for the Design, Layout, and Fabrication of the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) required to facilitate the operation of the AIS transciever to be installed on the target vessels.

Engr. Ryan Christohper Gania

Ryan is responsible for the reception, parsing, aggregation, and wireless transmission of received AIS Data to the web application.

Alyssa Lois Dolor

Alyssa does administrative work suc as processing of Purchase Orders, maintenance of financial reports, and other secretary work

Our Objectives

This project aims to provide a tracking system for the five rescue boats to be deployed in Polilio Group of Islands. The tracking system will use the local Automatic Identification System (AIS) technology.

With AIS, we have eyes at sea. Boats with AIS can see each other, promoting safety of life at sea. Moreover, the authorities can receive the AIS signals for monitoring and tracking.



Implementing Institutions: