While China’s development of natural resources in the South China Sea is drawing international attention from a security perspective, from a domestic socio-economic point of view the importance of resource production cannot be ignored. Especially, under the national “honebuto” strategy for promoting growth and distribution, technological progress is bringing about a virtuous cycle that makes even further maritime advance possible.

Although AIS, the ship location data exchange infrastructure for prevention of collisions, is at present the core component for ascertaining ship movements, VDES, which augmented the capabilities of AIS, is now undergoing specification by IALA (International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities) and others. In this article, the author provides an overview of VDES as well as his expectations regarding its spread.

The history of humans and ships goes far back in time, but opportunities to come in contact with history that involves ships are extremely limited. In 2017, the Japan Society of Naval Architects and Ocean Engineers, on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of its founding, launched a project to recognize and publicize those ships and related objects that have played important roles in shipping and other maritime fields as “Ship Heritage.” This article discusses the significance of the project and introduces the 32 Ship Heritages recognized as of 2020.