Maritime Future Navigation Needs and Plans

Nelson H. Keeler

Abstract:	How will the mariner navigate in the future? With the same basic elements as he does today. There will still be short.. and long-range aids to navigation; technology will just change the way they are used. There will be less dependence on short-range aids due to the improvements and availability of the long-range aids; however, there will always be the need for the reinforcement received from visual aids. Radiobeacon coverage will be limited to single line availability and used mainly for homing. OMEGA may be phased out as early as 2005 unless retained as a backup to satellite navigation. Loran-e will be around until 2015 and maybe longer. Transit will be phased out by 1996. When the Global Positioning System becomes operational, it could answer all the mariners' navigating needs. The real determinant will be necessity and cost. There is an international sentiment to retain a terrestrial system to complement the emerging satellite systems. vessel traffic services will remain as long as there is a mandate for safety and efficiency in hazardous areas. The prudent navigator will find his destination just as he has done beginning of time. The navigation systems of the future should make his job more of a science and less of an art.
Published in:	Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1987) June 23 - 25, 1987 Dayton, Ohio
Pages:	13 - 16
Cite this article:	Keeler, Nelson H., "Maritime Future Navigation Needs and Plans," Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Meeting of The Institute of Navigation (1987), Dayton, Ohio, June 1987, pp. 13-16.
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