Kongsberg Seatex AS has signed an agreement with the GJU to lead the Maritime Galileo (MARGAL) consortium which will address the future use and standardisation of Galileo Maritime services based on early use of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS).

Galileo will provide the first highly accurate, guaranteed global positioning services under civilian control. The fully deployed Galileo system will consist of 30 satellites and associated ground infrastructure and is scheduled to be fully operational by 2008. While providing autonomous navigation and positioning services utilising EGNOS, Galileo will also be inter-operable with American government run GPS and Russian government run GLONASS.

EGNOS is Europe's first foray into satellite navigation, under development by ESA in a tripartite agreement between the European Commission and the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol). Complementing existing GPS and GLONASS services, EGNOS will make use of correction data to improve the accuracy of current services.

EGNOS will cover all European states and could be extended to include other regions.

As part of MARGAL, Kongsberg is jointly responsible for addressing challenges related to port and harbour approach, navigation, precise navigation, monitoring, calamity abatement and inland waterways monitoring. Within this remit Kongsberg will address functionality, security, surveillance and safety with key elements involving accuracy, integrity, continuity and availability.

A major challenge faced by MARGAL is to provide identical basic solutions to both ports/ harbours and inland waterways in order to provide a harmonised seamless service for both sectors.

MJ Information No: 19104