The Automatic Identification System or AIS, is a VHF-based ship recognition system that has been in use since 1999. It's a mandatory requirement for most ships of over three hundred gross tons cruising in international waters. The AIS system has proved to be a blessing for collision prevention between vessels and is also widely applied in aiding Vessel Traffic Services (VTS).

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Very recent updates in AIS technology came up with the Virtual Automatic Identification System which utilizes the concept of Pseudo AIS messaging. PAIS is mainly an AIS content relayed by VTS stations to supply approaching vessels with a map that includes the specific location of virtual buoys (indicates channel margins), and crafts without AIS capabilities. The VTS center dispatches a PAIS message on behalf of the towing vessel to ships in the vicinity so that they can give the towing vessel a wide clearance.

PAIS innovation gave birth to Virtual Buoys and Pilots. A Virtual Buoy is still an AIS message sent by the VTS to ships in the harbor. It relays information regarding the location of buoys that are virtually plotted. Vessels equipped with AIS transponders can use this information to safely cruise through pegged lines and keep off obstacles. This technology renders favorable navigation as buoys are readily shown on AIS-linked radar monitors regardless of visibility or atmospheric conditions. A different application of Virtual AIS is that of the Virtual Pilot. In this system, the pilot base would broadcast a series of navigational way points to the ships concerned and the ships merely have to head for this way point. This will help ships to navigate successfully in waters without the active presence of a pilot on board.

Automatic Identification Systems paired with a unified Bridge System will assist the Pilot base to take in the latest data pertaining to all the navigational parameters of the ship thus, helping it to safely direct the ship to its lane. Although legal complications of Virtual Pilot still remains subject for debate, price benefits to ship owners in terms of pilot costs and ROIs, will, in all probability, guarantee that Virtual Pilots will likely turn into a very genuine proposition in the up-coming years.