Spire Global has announced that LatConnect 60, an Australian-based satellite data and insights provider, has extended its subscription to Spire’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel tracking data.

LatConnect 60 and Curtin University, Western Australia’s largest university, have recently been awarded a federal grant from the Australian Research Council (ARC) to conduct research on maritime collision avoidance in shipping lanes.

LatConnect 60 and Curtin University’s Intelligent Sensing & Perception Laboratory, led by Professor Ba-Ngu Vo, are creating sensor fusion algorithms to help solve this industry-wide issue, using data from satellite sensors, primarily Spire’s maritime domain awareness information. Incorporating this intelligence into maritime traffic monitoring systems is expected to result in more effective collision and contact avoidance strategies and contribute to more accurate predictions of traffic patterns for ship owners and insurers.

LatConnect 60 will use Spire’s space-based data as a foundation on which to layer other data sources like satellite imagery, drones, and IoT sensors, to get near real time appraisal of movements in specific areas of interest. Regular and timely AIS data like Spire’s is a critical piece of this solution to support the accuracy and reliability of collision, contact, and traffic prediction algorithms, decreasing the risk of collisions in narrow shipping lanes, and in turn lowering insurance premiums for operators that adopt the solution.

“LatConnect 60 is a valuable and long standing Spire customer. We’re thrilled to expand our relationship with them to help power the important research at Curtin University,” said Mark Dembitz, APAC sales director of maritime solutions. “Partnerships between government, academia, and industry can tackle tough challenges. With this initiative, we will work to lower the risk of maritime collisions to make Australia, and the world, a safer place.”

“Spire’s advanced AIS data has provided significant value to us and we’re thrilled to build on our partnership to enhance our capabilities,” said LatConnect 60 CEO, Venkat Pillay. “Incorporating Spire’s proprietary data into our research work with Curtin University will allow unprecedented insight into the real-time location of vessels, helping avoid collisions and create a safer and more profitable maritime industry.”