ORBCOMM (News - Alert), a global satellite data communications company focused on two-way machine-to-machine communications and leading provider of space-based Automatic Identification System services, announced that ORBCOMM AIS data was used to help rescue two yachters in distress and in detecting low power search and rescue transponders from space.

In a report, dated Dec. 31, 2009, to the International Maritime Organization’s Sub-Committee on Radio communications and Search and Rescue, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority highlighted the use of ORBCOMM’s satellite AIS data by Australia’s Rescue Coordination Centre to execute a search and rescue in August 2009.

Marc Eisenberg, CEO of ORBCOMM, said that they were pleased that ORBCOMM’s satellite AIS technology has being applied to maritime safety applications, both live and simulated. It clearly demonstrates the usefulness of space-based AIS technology in conducting search and rescue operations. He said, “We are proud that ORBCOMM’s satellite AIS receivers were able to collect messages from the low wattage search and rescue transponders. The fact that our satellite AIS capability is saving lives is a testament to the reliability of our satellite AIS technology and can significantly benefit Safety of Life at Sea in the future.”

The report explains that ORBCOMM’s satellite AIS data was used to “identify a merchant ship not otherwise known to RCC Australia.” The AIS data was then used to direct the ship to the scene of a yacht in distress off the northern Australia coast, where two people were rescued. ORBCOMM’s satellite AIS data, which was easily incorporated into AMSA’s commercial AIS display tools and Australia’s in-house maritime domain awareness tools, “appeared identical to terrestrial data, with the ‘time from last update,’ ranging from two seconds to over nine minutes. When an AIS satellite was over a region where an ORBCOMM ground station had satellite visibility, the AIS traffic had latency in the order of seconds.”

As part of a recent test, ORBCOMM’s satellite AIS data successfully detected one-watt search and rescue transponders from space, which were meant to simulate a life raft and a person in the water. This task was conducted by participants from the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.K.’s Northern Lighthouse Board, Germany’s Waterways and Shipping Administration, and the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities on Jan. 20 and Jan. 21, 2010, off the coast of Hawaii.

Read here all about how Proactive Communications, a provider of enterprise-class communication capabilities, reportedly announced that it is deploying a new automated remote management system that uses satellite data links provided by Iridium (News - Alert) Communications Inc. for out-of-band backup access to remote communication network sites.