New Tracking Service for Shipowners

During the Maritime Safety Committee's 88th session, held at the International Maritime Organization headquarters in London, the Republic of Panama announced that it will begin providing shipowners with access to the four position reports per day received via the Long-Range Identification & Tracking (LRIT) system.

Shipowners can request secure logons. Following security and verification formalities each shipowner is granted access to the track data for their ships only.

There is no charge to shipowners in obtaining access to this service.

"This provides a tangible benefit to the shipping industry following the introduction of the LRIT system in 2009", said John Ramsauer, Managing Director of AMTS. As the authorized LRIT provider to Panama, Absolute Maritime Tracking Services (AMTS) is providing the fleet monitoring service to shipowners on behalf of the Panama Flag Administration.

Following the announcement, AMTS moved immediately to begin trials with leading shipowners. The new service is accessed through Absolute's Fleet Information System - a web based fleet monitoring product that is compatible with all major internet browsers including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari. Feedback from the trial phase will be used to refine the service before a full launch scheduled for the first quarter of 2011.

The LRIT system currently monitors the locations of most large merchant maritime vessels every six hours, with over six thousand of these ships monitored via the Panama National LRIT Datacenter. With this announcement approximately 20% of the worlds merchant maritime fleet can now leverage the LRIT system to track their ships; enhancing operational efficiency and providing important security and safety benefits.

Shipowners wishing to participate in the beta program may email activations@absolutemaritime.com. Initially access will be granted only to the Document of Compliance holder. The access holder may subsequently designate agents, charterers or others whom they wish to provide access to - and alter or revoke that access at any time.

Further details are available in the following brochure: http://absolutesw.comhttp://web-assets-production.s3.amazonaws.com:80/documents%2Ffis_shipowner_brochure.pdf