Ship management company EuroShip is trialling eLoran technology on its ships operating off the coast of the UK, with a view to rolling it out across its entire fleet.

The UK’s eLoran system, which has been developed as a critical backup to GPS, has reached Initial Operational Capability on the east coast of the country, covering the busy waters of the English Channel and the North Sea.

 The General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) of the UK and Ireland is urging France not to close down its old Loran stations, which could instead install new technology to provide a back-up for GPS and ensure safe navigation in European waters.

The General Lighthouse Authorities of the UK and Ireland (GLAs) report that they have begun working with The Internavigation Research and Technical Centre in the Russian Federation to improve shipping safety across hazardous new high Arctic routes by introducing compatibility in advanced navigation technologies.

The United Kingdom is to install seven eLoran stations on its southern and eastern coasts, offering passenger and cargo ships sailing the busy waters of the English Channel and the North Sea a backup to their GPS systems.

ACCSEAS, a project funded in part by the European Union, has carried out a successful trial of a prototype resilient PNT system at sea, using eLoran to automatically step in when GPS service fails.

Ships in the UK’s Port of Dover, its approaches and part of the Dover Strait can now use eLoran radio navigation technology as a backup to satellite navigation systems like GPS and Galileo.

On-air tests are being conducted from the former Loran Support Unit site in New Jersey, as a result of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between the US Coast Guard and UrsaNav, which could lead to the system being offered as a potential back-up to the Global Positioning System (GPS).