The number of disruptions has been steadily increasing during the first half of the year and intensified further in June. GNSS interference makes navigation more difficult for ships, increasing the risk of accidents, including serious environmental damage.
The time and location data provided by GNSS systems are widely used in navigation systems, and signal disruptions can cause unexpected failures in positioning and ship autopilot systems.
Due to the increased frequency of disruptions affecting maritime safety, Finland and Estonia have issued a navigation warning for the Gulf of Finland. The warning covers the territorial waters and exclusive economic zones of both countries. Ships sailing in the Gulf of Finland can also receive information about GNSS interference through the publication Notices to Mariners (TM) and via electronic navigation charts (ENC), which now include a designated danger zone.
“Since May 2024, Estonia has been continuously informing ships about the interference. Both a navigation warning and a notice in the TM have been published. The growing number of disruptions increased the need to share more information with ships, which is why we are working with our Finnish colleagues and have added a specific danger area to the electronic charts and updated the message in the Notices to Mariners,” said Olavi Heinlo, Head of the Cartography Department of the Estonian Transport Administration, noting that issuing warnings about various hazards is part of the routine daily work of authorities in both countries.
Finland and Estonia are also reporting the disruptions to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which distributes the information to all 176 of its member states.
