diff --git a/AIS/SQL/ais_initial.db b/AIS/SQL/ais_initial.db
index b3fca5d5..844e6a30 100644
Binary files a/AIS/SQL/ais_initial.db and b/AIS/SQL/ais_initial.db differ
diff --git a/AIS/SQL/ais_initial.db.sql b/AIS/SQL/ais_initial.db.sql
index aa9271f1..17b3c11d 100644
--- a/AIS/SQL/ais_initial.db.sql
+++ b/AIS/SQL/ais_initial.db.sql
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS "alarm" (
 	"id"	INTEGER NOT NULL,
 	"zone_assignment_id"	INTEGER NOT NULL,
 	"timestamp"	TEXT,
-	"type"	INTEGER,
+	"type"	TEXT,
 	"acknowledged"	INTEGER,
 	FOREIGN KEY("zone_assignment_id") REFERENCES "zone_assignment"("id"),
 	PRIMARY KEY("id" AUTOINCREMENT)
diff --git a/AIS/bsmd.AIS2Service/AIS_SQLiteStorage.cs b/AIS/bsmd.AIS2Service/AIS_SQLiteStorage.cs
index c9074636..0cfb94a1 100644
--- a/AIS/bsmd.AIS2Service/AIS_SQLiteStorage.cs
+++ b/AIS/bsmd.AIS2Service/AIS_SQLiteStorage.cs
@@ -8,12 +8,14 @@ using System.Threading;
 using System.Data.SQLite;
 using log4net;
 using System.Collections.Concurrent;
+using System.Runtime.Remoting.Messaging;
 
 namespace bsmd.AIS2Service
 {
     /// <summary>
     /// This class handles the (short-time) storage of AIS targets with a limited
     /// past track. It is just intended to function as a "saving  the state" of the AIS situation.
+    /// Attention: Alarm zones / alarms are also stored here. This might or might not be such a great idea.
     /// </summary>
     internal class AIS_SQLiteStorage : IAISThread
     {
@@ -41,6 +43,10 @@ namespace bsmd.AIS2Service
 
         #region public methods
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// monitor zone loader func for the zone alarm watchdog (doesn't need groups or such)
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <returns></returns>
         public List<MonitorZone> LoadMonitorZones()
         {
             List<MonitorZone> monitorZones = new List<MonitorZone>();
@@ -113,6 +119,64 @@ namespace bsmd.AIS2Service
             return monitorZones;
         }
 
+        #region Alarm
+
+        public List<Alarm> LoadAlarms(MonitorAssignment assignment)
+        {
+            List<Alarm> result = new List<Alarm>();
+            string loadAlarmString = "SELECT id, timestamp, type, acknowledged FROM alarm WHERE zone_assignment_id = @ID";
+            SQLiteCommand laCmd = new SQLiteCommand(loadAlarmString, _connection);
+            laCmd.Parameters.AddWithValue("@ID", assignment.Id);
+            SQLiteDataReader reader = laCmd.ExecuteReader();
+            if (reader.HasRows)
+            {
+                while (reader.Read())
+                {
+                    int id = reader.GetInt32(0);
+                    Alarm alarm = new Alarm(id, assignment);
+                    alarm.Timestamp = reader.GetDateTime(1);
+                    alarm.ZoneMonitorType = (MonitorAssignment.ZoneMonitorType)reader.GetInt32(2);
+                    if(!reader.IsDBNull(3))
+                        alarm.Acknowledged = reader.GetDateTime(3);
+                    result.Add(alarm);
+                }
+                reader.Close();
+            }
+            laCmd.Dispose();
+            return result;
+        }
+
+        public bool Delete(Alarm alarm)
+        {
+            if (alarm == null) return false;
+            string deleteAlarmString = $"DELETE FROM alarm WHERE id = {alarm.Id}"; 
+            SQLiteCommand cmd = new SQLiteCommand(deleteAlarmString, _connection);
+            int affectedRows = cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
+            return (affectedRows == 1);
+        }
+
+        public bool Save(Alarm alarm)
+        {
+            if (alarm == null) return false;
+            if (alarm.Id <= 0)
+            {
+                // insert 
+                string saveAlarmString = $"INSERT INTO alarm (zone_assignment_id, timestamp, type, acknowledged) VALUES ({alarm.Assignment.Id}, {alarm.Timestamp}, {alarm.ZoneMonitorType}, {alarm.Acknowledged})";
+                SQLiteCommand cmd = new SQLiteCommand(saveAlarmString, _connection);
+                int insertedRows = cmd.ExecuteNonQuery();
+                return (insertedRows == 1);
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                // update
+                // TODO
+
+                return false;
+            }
+        }
+
+        #endregion
+
         #endregion
 
         #region private methods
@@ -334,7 +398,8 @@ namespace bsmd.AIS2Service
 
         public void Start()
         {
-            if (_thread != null) return; // may not run twice            
+            if (_thread != null) return; // may not run twice
+            if (_inputQueue == null) return; // run thread only if we have a queue
             ThreadStart runReader = new ThreadStart(this.ReadQueue);
             _thread = new Thread(runReader);
             _thread.Start();
@@ -343,7 +408,7 @@ namespace bsmd.AIS2Service
         public void Stop()
         {
             if (_thread == null) return;            
-            _stopFlag = true;
+            _stopFlag = true;            
             _thread.Join();
             _thread = null;
             _connection.Close();
diff --git a/AIS/bsmd.AIS2Service/MonitorZone.cs b/AIS/bsmd.AIS2Service/MonitorZone.cs
index 6767ca67..2cf6d456 100644
--- a/AIS/bsmd.AIS2Service/MonitorZone.cs
+++ b/AIS/bsmd.AIS2Service/MonitorZone.cs
@@ -144,13 +144,14 @@ namespace bsmd.AIS2Service
             _id = id;
         }
 
+        [Flags]
         public enum ZoneMonitorType
         {
-            INACTIVE,
-            ENTER,
-            EXIT,
-            PASSTHROUGH, // outside - enter - inside - exit - outside
-            LEAVE_AND_RETURN // inside - exit - outside - enter - insider
+            INACTIVE = 0,
+            ENTER = 1,
+            EXIT = 2,
+            PASSTHROUGH = 4, // outside - enter - inside - exit - outside
+            LEAVE_AND_RETURN = 8 // inside - exit - outside - enter - inside
         }
 
         public int Id { get { return _id; } }
@@ -163,4 +164,27 @@ namespace bsmd.AIS2Service
 
     #endregion
 
+    #region class Alarm
+
+    public class Alarm
+    {
+        private readonly int _id;
+        private readonly MonitorAssignment _assignment;
+
+        public Alarm(int id, MonitorAssignment assignment) { _id = id; _assignment = assignment; }
+
+        public int Id { get { return _id; } }
+
+        public MonitorAssignment Assignment { get { return _assignment; } }
+
+        public DateTime Timestamp { get; set; }
+
+        public DateTime? Acknowledged { get; set; }
+
+        public MonitorAssignment.ZoneMonitorType ZoneMonitorType { get; set; }
+
+    }
+
+    #endregion
+
 }
diff --git a/AIS/bsmd.AIS2Service/Util.cs b/AIS/bsmd.AIS2Service/Util.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ee98981a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/AIS/bsmd.AIS2Service/Util.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Text;
+using System.Threading.Tasks;
+
+namespace bsmd.AIS2Service
+{
+    public static class Util
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// To test if flag is set please use framework method Enum.HasFlag()
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <typeparam name="T"></typeparam>
+        /// <param name="flags"></param>
+        /// <param name="flag"></param>
+        /// <param name="value"></param>
+        public static void Set<T>(ref T flags, T flag, bool value) where T : struct
+        {
+            int flagsValue = (int)(object)flags;
+            int flagValue = (int)(object)flag;
+
+            if(value)
+                flags = (T)(object)(flagsValue | flagValue);
+            else
+                flags = (T)(object)(flagsValue & (~flagValue));
+        }        
+    }
+}
diff --git a/AIS/bsmd.AIS2Service/bsmd.AIS2Service.csproj b/AIS/bsmd.AIS2Service/bsmd.AIS2Service.csproj
index 98fee541..8506f25b 100644
--- a/AIS/bsmd.AIS2Service/bsmd.AIS2Service.csproj
+++ b/AIS/bsmd.AIS2Service/bsmd.AIS2Service.csproj
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@
     <Compile Include="SerialTCPReader.cs" />
     <Compile Include="SitRep.cs" />
     <Compile Include="StartupWebAPI.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="Util.cs" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <None Include="..\SQL\ais_initial.db">