Method and system for marine vessel tracking system

Abstract

A marine ship tracking system automatically and accurately monitors ship movements utilizing a limited number of reports from a marine ship and is easily installed and operated. Ships utilizing the marine ship tracking system periodically transmit reports to a remote tracking center. A ship sends a report to the remote tracking center when there is a significant change in the ship's movement or position, or if a predetermined amount of time has elapsed since the ship last sent a report to the remote tracking center. The report includes current ship information, such as current position and current movement information. Because the ship sends a report each time a significant change in movement occurs, the remote tracking center may accurately extrapolate the position of the ship between the transmissions of the reports. In this manner, the remote tracking center may retain an accurate history of the ship's position and movements at all times.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method of utilizing reports periodically sent from ships to a remote tracking center for identifying ships that cause an environmental spill, comprising: 
 receiving ship reports including current position data from ships; said ships sending the ship reports when current ship data exceed at least one predefined tolerance;    storing said ship reports in a storage database;    inputting an origination time and an origination point of an environmental spill; and    comparing the origination time and the origination point with said ship position reports saved in said storage database; and    selecting at least one ship that is the mostly likely ship to have caused the environmental spill.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising extrapolating the positions of the ships between reports sent to the tracking center.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the predefined tolerances include a speed tolerance, a change in track tolerance, a time tolerance and a distance traveled tolerance.  
     
     
         4 . A method of utilizing reports periodically sent from ships to a remote tracking center for aiding in search and rescue efforts, comprising: 
 receiving ship reports comprising current position data from ships; said ships sending the ship reports when current ship data exceeds at least one predefined tolerance;    storing said ship reports in a storage database;    inputting a last known position of a ship in distress;    comparing the position of the ship in distress with the ship reports stored in said storage database;    determining a ship best suited to aid the ship in distress based upon a plurality of factors, said plurality of factors including the distance between the ship in distress and the best suited ship, the size of the best suited ship, the current track of the best suited ship and the speed of the best suited ship; and    communicating the position of the ship in distress to the best suited ship.    
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising: 
 searching said stored data base for a last known position of said ship in distress.    
     
     
         6 . A method of utilizing reports periodically sent from a ship to a remote tracking center for projecting the progress of the ship, comprising: 
 preparing a model ship voyage;    storing said model ship voyage in a storage database;    receiving ship reports including current position data and current speed data from a ship; said ship only sending said reports when a predefined tolerance is exceeded;    comparing said ship report with said model ship voyage;    computing a planned arrival time of said ship at a final destination based upon the comparison between the ship report and said model ship voyage.