Japan Coast Guard tests tech to automatically track suspicious ships

Japan will begin testing an artificial intelligence-assisted system next fiscal year to automatically detect and track suspicious foreign vessels in its territorial waters, Japan Coast Guard officials said. It is hoped the system will help ease the burden on maritime law-enforcement operations as Japan faces an increase in intrusions into its waters and illegal activities in its exclusive economic zone, particularly by Chinese vessels, they said. The AI-based integrated system, which will monitor satellite data, will enable early detection and prediction of intrusions by analyzing ships' navigation data such as speed, location and direction. The system is expected to have the capability to process data from multiple ships at once, they said. Once a suspicious ship is detected, the coast guard will dispatch vessels.