Feds scrap marine nav system
A 53-year-old marine navigation system is being shut down, despite protests from Maine companies that develop the technology.
The Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security today will publish in the Federal Register their decision to end radio broadcasts on the Long Range Navigation System on or around Feb. 8, according to the Portland Press Herald. The system would be then be eliminated by Oct. 1. The agencies say that GPS has made the system obsolete, and have scrapped plans to develop an advanced LORAN system as a backup. The Department of Homeland Security would save $190 million over five years by eliminating the system, according to the paper.
The decision puts 70 to more than 100 jobs at stake in Maine, which is home to two of the nation's 25 LORAN transmitters, in Caribou and Cape Elizabeth. While LORAN is still used in other countries, the United States' decision to shut down its system puts the future market in question, Zachariah Conover, president of CrossRate Technology LLC in Windham, told the paper. CrossRate develops hybrid LORAN-GPS navigational equipment.
Maine officials, including Gov. John Baldacci, have protested the move, arguing that some Maine commercial fishermen and mariners still use the technology, and that retaining it as a backup system is crucial.
Go to the article from the Portland Press Herald >>
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