The following paper reports on the progress of a large collaborative project in the UK to investigate novel strategies for the implementation of GNSS within all phases of marine navigation. The project is funded by the UK Government (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) under the leadership of the IESSG at the University of Nottingham. The project receives the support from a prestigious team of collaborators which include the UK Ministry of Defence Hydrographic Office, Trinity House Lighthouse Service, Northern Lighthouse Board, Commissioners for Irish Lights and the Port of London Authority. This consortium is of strategic importance, as their operations encompass the provision of aids to navigation for all phases of marine transport within the UK and elsewhere.

Russia has had a quite unique development as a sea power. The 20th of October 1696 has been considered as the date of the Russian Fleet's creation when the supreme legislative body of Russia – the Boyar Duma – decreed that there should be a ship-building programme for the State's need. So, in 1996, we celebrate the tercentenary of the founding of the Russian Fleet (Figure 1).