KRISO, leading the international standards of the maritime PNT service

▶ Positioning augmentation message type developed by KRISO was registered as RTCM international standard

▶ Centimeter-level positioning augmentation service will be provided in Korea’s territorial waters from 2025

□ The Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (KRISO, President Keyyong Hong) announced on January 17, 2024 that it had developed a broadcasting message type for an advanced high-accuracy maritime positioning service to provide accurate position on the sea and successfully registered it as an international standard with the Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services (RTCM).

□ The RTCM, an international organization for official technical standards for maritime navigation and positioning, defines a series of message types and standards for transmission of position correction data. Generally, ships and airplanes obtain accurate position using the GPS and the RTCM correction information. Maritime international organizations such as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) have also adopted the data transmission standards of the RTCM.

□ The RTCM standards define the augmentation service message types containing the error corrections, satellite status information, and base station information to improve the positioning accuracy of various navigation satellite systems such as GPS. When the augmentation messages are transmitted, the identification information of the service providers, including the country and institution, is provided.

< Message types exclusively allocated by RTCM>

□ In collaboration with the Maritime PNT Research Office, KRISO is developing a high-accuracy maritime positioning service technology to reduce the positioning error of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) to less than 10 cm. In addition, KRISO has developed a message type for positioning augmentation information broadcasting.

< Conceptual diagram of the graound-based centimeter-level maritime high-accuracy positioning service >

□ As the positioning augmentation message type has been registered as an international standard, the message type provides a basis for broadcasting centimeter-level maritime high-accuracy positioning service information to all ships sailing in the territorial waters of Korea.

□ Since Korea has complicated shorelines and many islands, it is critical to provide high-accuracy positioning service for the safe sailing of future ships including autonomous navigation ships. Accurate position is also essential at harbors where ships often come in and go out.

□ When the positioning service is provided at a centimeter-level accuracy in the message type developed by Korea, the national competitiveness will be increased in not only maritime affairs such as pilotage support, hydrographical survey, maritime construction, and dredging but also maritime mobility technologies including autonomous navigation ships. In addition, the service will significantly contribute to the development of the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies such as smart harbors and marine drones.

□ The centimeter-level high-accuracy positioning service will be provided from 2025 through the high-speed maritime wireless communication network (LTE-M).

□ Keyyong Hong, the President of KRISO, said, “With the Maritime PNT Research Office, KRISO will continue to take efforts to develop positioning service technologies in pursuit of maritime safety, such as the Korean Positioning System (KPS), and take the initiatives in preparing the international standards.”