Expanding the possibilities of AIS data with heuristics

Automatic Identification System (AIS) is primarily used as a tracking system for ships, but with the launch of satellites to collect these data, new and previously untested possibilities are emerging. This paper presents the development of heuristics for establishing the specific ship type using information retrieved from AIS data alone. These heuristics expand the possibilities of AIS data, as the specific ship type is vital for several transportation research cases, such as emission analyses of ship traffic and studies on slow steaming. The presented method for developing heuristics can be used for a wider range of vessels. These heuristics may form the basis of large-scale studies on ship traffic using AIS data when it is not feasible or desirable to use commercial ship data registers.