Ships may face similar problems to those caused by the millennium bug when the satellite systems used by seafarers, the Global Positioning System (GPS), rolls back to zero.
GPS allows seafarers who use electronic receivers to determine the location of their vessels. The potential problem, known as EOW (End Of Week) rollover, occurs every 1,024 weeks, about once every 20 years.
The GPS system calculates time by counting the number of weeks since January 6th, 1980, to a maximum of 1,023 weeks. At midnight between August 21st and 22nd the GPS week counter will roll back to zero weeks.
Receivers which are not EOW-compliant may experience inability to locate the satellites, resulting in the receiver not working.
There may also be an increase in the time taken to locate the satellites, and some receivers may display inaccurate positions, times or dates.
The Minister for the Marine, Dr Woods, urged all owners of vessels which have GPS equipment to check with their receiver manufacturer or supplier to confirm that the receiver and applications were EOW-compliant.