Loran Information

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in a recent policy decision announced the implementation of an independent national position, navigation, and timing (“PNT”) system that complements the GPS in the event of an outage or disruption in service. The enhanced Loran, or eLoran, system will be a land-based, independent system and will mitigate any safety, security, or economic effects of a GPS outage or disruption. In addition to providing backup coverage, eLoran will provide support to operators in environments that GPS cannot support.

The General Lighthouse Authorities in the United Kingdom view eLoran as an independent, dissimilar complement to Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) that allows users to retain their GNSS-levels of navigational safety even when their satellite services are disrupted. They strongly advocate that the international maritime community in its future digital eNavigation environment needs an internationally agreed alternative system to GNSS and that eLoran is the only viable candidate.