Orbcomm’s AIS data is to be used by Canadian government in a year’s contract extension to secure borders and track maritime traffic. Photo Credit: Orbcomm

Orbcomm has announced that the government of Canada has exercised the option for another year on its contract through Orbcomm’s Canadian partner Maerospace, a global supplier of advanced data analytics and maritime domain awareness solutions.

Through its Canadian subsidiary SkyWave, Orbcomm will provide satellite Automatic Identification System (AIS) data used for ship tracking and other maritime navigational, and safety efforts to the government of Canada for monitoring marine traffic. The government of Canada contract award was the result of a competitive procurement process among providers and integrators of space-based AIS data service, and is a multi-year contract with options through 2020.

According to Orbcomm, its AIS service provides global coverage and processes more than 26 million messages from more than 200,000 unique vessels per day through a combination of satellite and terrestrial AIS data.