Development of Aids to Navigation Information System: A Case Study of Kenya Coast Waters

Abstract

Aids to Navigation is an information service facility which is set up to help sea fairing vessels sail safely, economically and expediently by its visual, sound and wireless signals. In Kenya the marine safety along the coast has deteriorated gradually due to destruction, obstructions and lack of Aids to Navigation. Navigation charts, which are the basic Aids to Navigation, are still in analogue paper format, making them cumbersome and inefficient for use on board the marine vessels. The aim of this research study was to develop web-based Aids to Navigation Information System for the Kenya’s coastal waters. All the published nautical charts covering the coastline and survey plans were used. ArcGIS software was used to digitize and create spatial and non-spatial attributes of the existing Aids to Navigation. PostGIS for postgreSQL 9.2 was used as a relational database management system where PgAdmin III was used to host the database. Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 was used to develop the web interface. Bitnami WAMPstack was used to host the web interface in the local computer. Mobile application for the system was developed and hosted by Net beans IDE 7.0. A spatial database, user interface and a mobile application were the results of the development. The research also brought into revelation that most of the physical aids to navigations (beacons and lighthouses) were not functional due to obstruction by built-up developments along the coastline. The developed system facilitates easy updates, maintenance and monitoring of aids to navigation. There is need for integration of the Aids to Navigation System with Automatic Identification System (AIS) for effective marine navigation.