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GPS requires: Clear view of the sky, working satelites, working batteries in your receiver Maps require: A map Juergen Nieveler

I've even seen civilian painters on a military ship docked in Malta. OTOH, a busy crew is a happy crew :-) Juergen Nieveler

Sepnt too much time over in SMN, it seems - merchant crews probably do a lot less painting than their military cousins, who paint everything that doesn't run away and isn't clearly marked :-) Indeed, and I don't blame anybody - I just wanted to point out that tracking is useless unless you can...

Sounds interesting. Also would help with those containers that go overboard and drift along - they sometimes are a navigation hazard all by themself :-) Juergen Nieveler

The areas are known, but patroling an area like the Malacca Straits isn't THAT easy, both politically and technically. Most notably, the countries in that region won't really allow foreign navy ships into their regional waters but lack a big enough navy to patrol these waters alone. Add to that...

Not THAT many, actually I can see a lot of spots that AREN'T available. Of course, and that would be done anyway. The question then is: How fast can naval units reach the spot where you lost contact. Let's take a container ship as an example. Most of the deckspace is used for containers...

How widespread is use of these systems? Once all ships are equipped with them, pirates will be forced to adapt and react... If the crew don't know where the antenna is, how do you stop them from painting it accidentally? It would have to be marked as "Do not paint"- spot, just like all other...

Being dishonest and not getting caught has rather more long term advantages. The transmitter location would have to follow some requirements, which severly limits the choice of spots. And unless there are anti-piracy- patrols, alerting the owner will only allow him to call his insurance...

Ships move relatively fast nowadays, and the ocean is huge. And the units that would do the tracking don't move at the speed of sound either, they'd be frigates or destroyers, doing maybe 30 knots. Tracking ships via satellite images isn't THAT easy, even if you had access to military...

Difficult, but not impossible - which is my point. ROTLMAO. As a rule, smart dishonest people don't get caught and thus appear to be honest people. The keel is the part of the ship that is hardest to reach unless in drydock. But a satellite antenna would be rather useless mounted under the...

Of course, you'd know where the ship was captured, and in what direction it was heading at that time. But what good would this do, unless you have patrol aircraft or destroyers nearby to go looking immediately? Every hour that the pirates get away from the point of capture without being traced...

Not THAT hard, given that the choice of spots will be rather limited. You can hide it on the deck of a freighter, but you'll find the available spots on a container ship are somewhat more limited. To everybody who knows that the antenna would have to have clear view of the sky. Lots of space...

But they all have one thing in common: They require antennas... No doubt you can hide the main component from people who don't belong on the ship - however, Pirates could (and probably WOULD) use the old- fashioned rubber-hose attack to find it.... With the antenna sitting on top of the...

Unless the pirates disable the system No. No system, however advanced, can be protected completely against human intervention - especially not if it requires communication with satellites. The Pirates will have ways to persuade the crew to disclose the whereabouts of such a system, or will...

Indeed, a brain is needed as well. Which shows us the root of your navigation problem... Juergen Nieveler

A ship will still report its position after being stolen by pirates? Only if the pirates are extremly stupid... Juergen Nieveler

The original information was that the White House reserves itself the right to shut down GPS in emergency situations. You then claimed that this would cause more damage than a terrorist attack. And it has been shown that those who need that precision (aircraft and cars) can achieve it without...

Uh... WHY? Ships can simply stop where they are, they don't sink if they slow down you know :-) Juergen Nieveler

Ships will go down when they hit rocks that aren't on the map... but GPS makes sure that you'll know exactly where the wreck is ;-) Juergen Nieveler

You're the one making big claims. Own up or shut up. Which types? Navigation means "Getting from Point A to Point C via Point B" - that was possible in the 19th century without GPS, and it is still possible today, without GPS. Maps don't loose their value, so the risk of ships hitting reefs is...