A special safety bulletin to all mariners that use GPS to prepare for a rollover event that will occur on 6 April.
On this date, navigation data from some older GPS systems might become inaccurate due to the ‘week number’ rollover event, the Coastguard has warned.
This could cause stand-alone GPS receivers and systems using GPS chips, to produce data that is 19.7 years either in the past or future, therefore generating errors in both the GPS position and time. However, if onboard equipment has been installed after August 1999, or has regular firmware updates from the manufacturer, there should be minimal risk of an error occurring.
Luke Hallett of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: ‘If your GPS is more than 10 years old or it’s had no firmware updates then you’re definitely at higher risk of you GPS not working from 6 April. If your GPS falls into either of those categories you need to check with the manufacturer before April 6, otherwise time and position data used for navigation could become inaccurate. It’s important that GPS users check their systems as soon as possible to ensure that they won’t be affected by the impending rollover.’
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here