International Maritime Organization

RECOGNITION OF THE GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM STANDARD
POSITIONING SERVICE (GPS-SPS) AS A COMPONENT OF
THE WORLD-WIDE RADIONAVIGATION SYSTEM
  1. At its sixty-sixth session (38 May 1996) the Maritime Safely Committee, pursuant to operative paragraph 4 of resolution A.815(19) on the World-Wide Radionavigation System, recognized the Global Positioning System Standard Positioning Service (GPS-SPS), proposed by the United States Coast Guard, on behalf of the United States Administration in a letter written to the Secretary-General of IMO, as a component of the World-Wide Radionavigation System.
  2. The Committee’s decision was based on the recommendation and assessment made by the Sub-Committee on Safety of Navigation at its forty-first session (18 to 22 September 1995). The NAV Sub-Cornminee assessed the offer of the. United States Coast Guard in accordance with the requirements of the Annex to resolution A.815(19). The NAV Sub-Committee had agreed that the GPS-SPS meets the operational requirements of the appendix to resolution A-815(19) for navigation in other waters (general navigation).
  3. Administrations should note that the static and dynamic accuracy of the system is 100 m (95%) and is therefore not suitable for navigation in harbour entrances and approaches, and other waters in which freedom to manoeuvre is limited.
  4. GPS-SPS does not provide instantaneous integrity warning of system malfunction Administrations may wish to note that Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring (RAIM) can provide this facility. It should also be noted that the accuracy and integrity of the system can be greatly enhanced by the use of differential correction techniques using either local or wide area augmentations, or both.
  5. Member Governments are invited to bring this information to the attention of their maritime communities.

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Last Updated: 2002-05-18