Russia's possible disconnection from GPS not to affect navigation safety - agency

MOSCOW. April 25 (Interfax) - Possible disconnection from or possible disruptions in the operation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in Russia will not affect navigation safety, Russia's Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport (Rosmorrechflot) told Interfax.

"[Disruptions] will have no impact. One must realize that the safety of navigation is based on a package of measures and equipment systems, in which respect satellite navigation is only one of the components. When sailing in open waters, each ship owner must have and be able to apply necessary skills to determine the vessels' positioning using traditional navigation methods," Rosmorrechflot said.

"In closed waters, seaports and at the approaches to them, at narrows, etc., the systems of vessel traffic control operate, such as using information about the vessel's positioning obtained through radar and optical systems," it said.

"Receivers of the [Russian Global Navigation Satellite System] GLONASS are installed on board all Russian vessels," it said.

Satellite navigation systems used in international navigation also include systems not linked to the United States' GPS, such as China's Beidou and the European Union's Galileo, it said.

As some media reported earlier, Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) earlier recommended that airlines prepare for flights without the U.S.-based satellite navigation system GPS.