SHANGHAI, May 22 (Xinhua) -- China's new digital lighthouse system passed its first major test with tropical storm Chanchu last week, guiding all vessels in Chinese waters to safety.

    Chanchu, the first tropical storm of the year in the South China Sea, sank at least 10 vessels off Vietnam and left dozens of seamen dead or missing.

    No casualties were reported in Chinese waters primarily due to the automatic identification system (AIS) adopted by China's Maritime Safety Administration (MSA), said Liu Gongchen, MSA executive director-general, on Monday.

    He told the ongoing 16th Conference of the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) that the AIS had given advance warning to all vessels at sea in the path of Chanchu.

    Using digital communications technology, the AIS records and reports information on vessels, including speed and course, and receives other maritime information from onshore control stations and vessels linked to the AIS network.

    During the three days that Chanchu swept Chinese seas, local maritime safety administrations in south China's Guangdong Province and the eastern Shanghai Municipality sent wind speeds and directions through the AIS to both Chinese and foreign vessels in Chinese waters at risk from Typhoon Chanchu, giving instructions to those under more imminent threat.

    Mo Qi, deputy director of the Guangdong maritime safety administration, said all vessels that had been in the path of Chanchu had survived.

    China launched the concept of "digital lighthouses" in the IALA in 2003 and promoted technological research within the association. All members agreed with the concept at the ongoing conference, said Liu.

    Since the end of 2004, the MSA had established and connected to the network 50 onshore AIS stations, covering all important ports and sea lanes, said Han Wei, an official with the MSA.

    Han said the MSA planned to construct 25 more stations to coverall coastal waters and the lower Yangtze River by the beginning of next year.

    Held for the first time in China, the conference of the IALA runs from May 22 to 27, with more than 500 representatives from nearly 50 countries and regions discussing "lighthouses in the digital world". Enditem