Baltic and Nordic countries point at growing risks to maritime safety

RIGA - Coastal states of the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, including Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the United Kingdom with Iceland are approaching the International Maritime Community, especially flag and port states, national authorities, flag registries, classification societies, shipping companies, managers and operators as well as seafarers, with an open letter, pointing at growing risks to maritime safety, LETA learned from the Transport Ministry.

The letter noted that modern maritime transport is fundamentally built on the reliability of satellite-based navigation. For over three decades, global shipping has advanced by developing vessel operations to increasingly depend on the position, timing, and navigation (PTN) data provided by satellite systems. This shift has brought great efficiency but has also created a new dependency.

The accurate and uninterrupted functioning of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) is not a technical luxury; it is a critical safety requirement. GNSS signals support not only ship navigation but also precise time synchronization vital for systems such as the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS). Disruption of these signals is a risk to the safety and reliability of maritime transport.

Equally vital is the integrity of the Automatic Identification System (AIS), which plays a key role in traffic coordination, enhances situational awareness and emergency response. Spoofing or falsifying AIS data undermines maritime safety and security, increases the risk of accidents, and severely hampers rescue operations.

The countries therefore call upon the international maritime community and national authorities to recognize GNSS interference and AIS manipulation as threats to maritime safety and security; to ensure vessels have adequate capabilities and properly trained crew as required by international conventions to operate safely during navigation system outages; and to cooperate on the development of alternative terrestrial radionavigation systems which may be used in place of GNSS in the event of disruption, loss of signal or interference.

Furthermore, recognizing the essential role of maritime transport in global trade and the economy, and emphasizing the importance of safe, efficient, and environmentally sustainable shipping, we stress that the full and consistent implementation of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations is fundamental to ensuring maritime safety, the smooth functioning of shipping, and the protection of seafarers and the marine environment, especially in the new emerging situations affecting safety at sea, such as the increasing use of shadow fleet vessels to circumvent international sanctions.

As reported, the Global Positioning System (GPS) disturbances in Latvian airspace were recorded 1,276 times last year, which is 55.6% more than in the previous year, representatives of Latvijas Gaisa Satiksme (LGS) air traffic controller told LETA earlier.

The Civil Aviation Agency (CAA) previously told LETA that the CAA examines and analyses reports of GPS signal disruptions in Latvian airspace. Although they affect normal civil aviation processes, GPS signal disruptions do not pose a threat to the safety of aircraft in transit to and from Latvia.

The CAA stresses that several systems are used to ensure flight safety, so GPS interference does not affect flight safety. Every case of GPS disruption is centrally collected and analyzed by the European Aviation Safety Agency.