Research into vessel behaviour pattern recognition in the maritime domain: Past, present and future.

A comprehensive literature review on vessel behaviour pattern recognition in maritime and littoral environments, spanning a period of three decades, is presented. A vast majority of research focuses on anomalous vessel behaviour detection from Automated Identification System (AIS) data, using artificial intelligence (AI), Bayesian networks and machine learning based methods. AIS is a cooperative system that employs VHF transceivers to share vessel information through terrestrial and satellite communication networks. To track small boats not fitted with AIS, uncooperative surveillance systems are employed. These systems have been studied in a relatively small number of publications. In vessel behaviour pattern recognition, target classification is critically important, particularly, in asymmetric warfare situations. The paper concludes with a discussion of future outlook in vessel behaviour pattern recognition research. • Vessel behaviour pattern recognition in maritime and littoral domains is reviewed. • Most of the research considers the use of Automated Identification System (AIS). • Uncooperative surveillance that does not solely rely on AIS is more challenging. • Future research will focus on persistent/high-density sensing and big data analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]