Why vessels switch off AIS, ignore VHF calls in GoG — Captain

A former Director at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Captain Warredi Enisouh has revealed reasons vessels switch off their Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) and refuse to respond to VHF calls once they enter the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune exclusively, the former NIMASA Director of Operations explained that international law allows a captain of a vessel to switch off the AIS of a ship or refuse to respond to VHF calls once the ship is in unsafe territory.

According to Captain Warredi Enisouh, “It is entirely at the discretion of the vessel captain to either switch off or switch on AIS and refuse to respond to VHF calls once in unsafe waters. The GoG is noted for its volatility in terms of insecurity, even though recent development is suggesting that the trend is declining.

“However, international law allows the captain to switch off or switch on the vessel AIS if he is unsure of the safety of where the ship is. There was a time the Nigerian Navy took some vessels to court for switching off their AIS, but the Navy lost all the cases, I think eleven of them. The Nigerian Navy lost all the court cases because the decision to switch off or switch on AIS is entirely at the discretion of the vessel captain.”

When pressed further on why a vessel captain will switch off the vessel AIS or refuse to respond to VHF calls, the former NIMASA Director of Operations explained that, “You see, AIS and VHF communication are not encrypted. Because they are not encrypted, criminals use them to communicate with ships.

“In the last piracy incident that I handled, the pirates requested the ship to stop via VHF, saying ‘We are the Nigerian Navy. Stop your ship’.

“The problem with VHF is that you cannot identify who is broadcasting. It could even be the criminals that are broadcasting to you and giving you instructions.

“The problem with AIS is that everybody with the right receiver can access your ship’s information. And that includes the criminals. This is the reason the AIS is switched on or off at the captain’s discretion by international regulation.”

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