Fishermen say Woods late with safety warning

Fishermen have criticised the "tardy" safety warning issued by the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources about a Y2K-type threat to navigational equipment later this month. Satellite positioning equipment may be affected at midnight on August 21st when the US-backed Global Positioning System (GPS) week-counter rolls back to zero.

The potential problem, known as EOW (end of week) rollover, is set to occur every 1,024 weeks or just under 20 years.

As a result, GPS receivers giving latitude and longitude on fishing vessels, yachts and boats around the coastline may not be able to locate the satellites, resulting in a malfunction, or there may be a delay in locating the satellites.

A more serious problem for those relying on GPS only is that the receiver might appear to be working, but could display inaccurate positions, times or dates.

The Minister, Dr Woods, issued a statement three days ago alerting boat-owners to the potential risk, and emphasised that information available from the US government, as owner of the satellites, was that the date changes were unlikely to affect the operation of the satellites or ground control centres.

The Minister urged all owners to contact their receiver manufacturer or supplier to confirm that the equipment was EOW rollover and Y2K-compliant.

The Irish South and West Fishermen's Organisation (IS&WFO) expressed concern yesterday that no marine notice had been issued and that the Department had not given an earlier warning.

"Some individual agents and suppliers have contacted skippers, but there are others who will have got a shock this week," Mr Jason Whooley of the IS&WFO said. "There could be a big rush to the manufacturers next week."

Most experienced vessel-owners do not rely on GPS alone, as most electronic equipment is still categorised as an aid to navigation.

Receivers manufactured in the past two to three years may not be affected. Owners of older receivers may have to reboot their equipment to ensure that it functions accurately, as the GPS system relies on accurate time measurement.

The effects of the change may vary, depending on individual receiver design, but in the worst case the errors may occur in the week before August 21st and for up to a week after that.

Mr Gary Delaney of Charternav, the Cork navigational consultancy, said he did not expect a major problem, but the difficulty was that the US government could not guarantee its satellites were rollover-compliant.

The Commissioners of Irish Lights have ensured that their systems will be compliant for both EOW and Y2K, and said they did not consider a marine notice necessary.

The Irish Sailing Association (ISA) said it was in the interests of boat-owners to ensure that their equipment was serviced regularly, and stressed that GPS was an aid to navigation and should not be relied on solely.