The Council of American Master Mariners wrote to Senator John Thune and the other members of the Senate Commerce Committee today expressing support for provisions in a House bill calling for an eLoran system to complement GPS. Their concerns are bout the impact of GPS jamming and spoofing of marine systems and the letter cites real world examples of problems:
- Port facilities have been disabled by small jamming devices carried by truckers.
- A professor at the University of Texas has demonstrated how easy it is to commandeer a vessel at sea with a GPS “spoofing” device. He has even published a paper entitled “Hostile Control of Ships Via False GPS Signals.”
- It may well be that U.S. Naval vessels were “spoofed” into Iranian waters last year on the same day as the President’s State of the Union address.
The Council of American Master Mariners, Inc (CAMM) is a non-profit organization which represents licensed Master Mariners, licensed Deck Officers, and Maritime Professionals working ashore in the Maritime Industry and the waterfront business communities.
