ELECTRONIC CHART DISPLAY AND INFORMATION SYSTEM (ECDIS) A NAVIGATIONAL TOOL...

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ELECTRONIC CHARTDISPLAY AND INFORMATION SYSTEM (ECDIS)

A NAVIGATIONAL TOOL TO FURTHER ENHANCE SAFENAVIGATION

By Capt. Wilson Chua

Chief Hydrographer

Maritime and PortAuthority of Singapore

INTRODUCTION

1       TheElectronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) is a ship-bornereal-time electronic navigational system that is capable of integratingnavigational positioning system and ship sensors with the electronicnavigational charts (ENCs).  TheInternational Maritime Organization (IMO) had adopted it as a paper chartequivalent in November 1995.

2.      Eventhough IMO had approved ECDIS as a paper chart equivalent, its use by marinershas been slow.  This could be attributedto several factors, among them are the lack of official ENCS, high cost of ECDISand the reservation of acceptance of the new technologies by the traditionallyminded maritime community.  This paperoutlines the usefulness of ECDIS and the need to promote its usage for safernavigation and protection of the marine environment.

USEFULNESSOF ECDIS TO REDUCE NAVIGATIONAL WORKLOAD

3       Abouteighty percents of reported marine accidents were attributed to human error asa consequence of factors like fatigue, navigation workload, etc.  The number of marine accidents could bereduced with the introduction of electronic navigational systems such as theECDIS, which would help alleviate fatigue or workload of mariners.

4          ECDISis an advanced navigational tool that provide 24-hour real-time positioning andanti-grounding capabilities.  Thesefeatures could be effectively used in confined waters like the Malacca and Singaporestraits and in the ports, especially during periods of poor visibility likehaze and night-time.  Satelliteposition-fixing system like the Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS)is an essential navigational equipment complementing the use of ECDIS as itprovides continuous and accurate positions of the ships.  In this respect, the Maritime and PortAuthority of Singapore (MPA) has set up DGPS facilities to broadcastdifferential corrections in October 1997.

5       TheDGPS corrections to be applied to receivers are transmitted in the mediumfrequency (MF) band at 298 kHz.  The DGPSmessage format containing the corrections is based on internationallyrecognised standards from the Radio Technical Commission for Maritime Services,Special Committee 104.  These correctionsare transmitted without charge by MPA to the shipping community and the publicand could be received at a distance of at least 200 km from Singapore.

6  Moreover, the ECDIS when integrated with anAutomatic Radar Plotting Aid (ARPA) would be able to provide anti-collisionaudio or visual alarms.  The recentapproval of performance standards for Automatic Identification System by theIMO would extend the usage of ECDIS between ship to ship.

7  The automatic real-time updating of ship'spositions on the ECDIS allows the mariner more time to keep vigilant visuallook out instead of being buried in chart work. Likewise, the anti-grounding and anti-collisions features are importantin areas with either heavy vessel traffic, restricted visibility or confinedwaters.  Under these conditions, theECDIS would certainly enhance safe navigation and help prevent marine accidentsand protect the marine environment.

ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE THE USE OF ECDIS

Production of Official ENC data

8  Oneof the significant problems that prevents the widespread use of ECDIS is thelack of official ENC data covering major shipping routes and ports.  The main concerns on the use of non-officialdigital chart data are the issues of quality and source material used in theproduction of data, including updating.

9  SomeHydrographic Offices (HOs) still have difficulaties in producing ENC dataconforming to IHO performance standards S57 Edition 3 due to the lack oftechnical expertise and funding.  Toproduce and maintain another hydrographic end product would require additionalequipment and personnel.  Other H0s arereluctant to release their ENC data to the market, as they do not have thecapability to check the accuracy and ensure quality assurance of theirdata.  One of the reasons for the slowdevelopment of official ENC is a general lack of training courses on ENC dataproduction and validation.  Besides thelack of official data, HOs have expressed concern on the slow development ofmechanisms for ENC data distribution and updating.

10        Singapore has been fortunate incomputerising hydrographic survey and nautical charting in the mid-1980s.  The early start in computerisation has helpedin expediting the production of ENC data covering the Electronic NavigationalChart (ENC) of the Singaporewaters and its approaches, making Singapore the first HO toofficially release large-scale ENC.

11       However; not all HOs are placed in thesame position due to reasons such as the large extent of sea space, heavycapital involvement in computerisation or the lack of funding to support thetraining of personnel.  In order toovercome some of these difficulties, new and creative ideas like joint collaboration,interim digital chart data standards like the raster format have to becarefully considered.

InternationalCollaboration - SHARED PROGRAMME

12     Ademonstration programme on the use of ECDIS with integrated official raster andvector charts (ENCS) is a hybrid electronic chart system on board ships plyingbetween Southampton, Singaporeand Hong Kong was jointly initiated by MPA andUKHO in Sep 96.  It was called theSouthampton-Hong Kong Admiralty Raster ENC Demonstration (SHARED) Programme.

13     Thesuccessful demonstration led to the formation of an informal meeting of theHydrographic Offices of Singapore, United Kingdom,Australia, Hong Kong, SAR, Indonesia, Malaysiaand the Philippines and theInternational Hydrographic Organisation in Singapore in January 1998.  The interest and status of the SHAREDProgramme have grown.  At the 2ndSHARED meeting held in October 1998, thirteen countries namely, Australia,Chile, China, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand,Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom, USA and Singapore and theInternational Hydrographic Organization (IHO) participated in the meetingagreed that the demonstration programme be extended to include the shippingroutes between South Korea and Australia.

14    Atthe 3rd SHARED meeting held in Singapore in October 1999, theparticipants unanimously agreed to formalise the programme as one of thesub-committees of the Worldwide Electronic Navigational Chart Database (WEND)Committee under IHO.  The participantsalso agreed that a coordinated approach should be developed with Singaporeplaying the role of Programme Co-ordinator to monitor and update the SHAREDactivities.

InternationalECDIS Conference and Exhibition (IECE)

15     AnInternational ECDIS Conference and Exhibition (IECE) was organised jointly byMPA and the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office in October 1998 with an aim topromote the use of ECDIS with official ENCS. The IECE, which was sponsored by IHO attracted more than three hundredparticipants from thirty-seven countries.

16     Themain objective of the IECE was to bridge the gap between Hydrographic Offices(HOs), ECDIS manufacturers and the end users, particularly the mariners.  Additionally, the IECE has highlighted thecontinuous effort and commitment of HOs to produce official ENC data.

17    Besides-bringing together the users, equipment manufacturers and HOs, the othersignificant achievement of the Conference is that the participants are nowaware of ENC development and use of official digital data with ECDIS.

ECDISTraining

18     Trainingof mariners in the use of ECDIS is an important area to be addressed as moresystems are installed onboard ships.  Itwas evident from the IECE that mariners were unaware of issues regardingofficial ENC data, legal definition and development of the ECDIS.

19       It is recognised that there is a need toprovide proper courses for mariners on the use of ECDIS.  Therefore, IMO has recently approved an ECDIStraining syllabus.  In this regard, theIMO has developed ECDIS training syllabus under the Standard TechnicalCertification for Watchkeeping (STCW).

20       ECDIS training is an essential componentto ensure that mariners understand both the capabilities as well as thelimitations of the equipment.  Therefore,priority should be assigned to development of accredited courses in accordancewith the IMO approved syllabus.

CONCLUSION

21       Singapore has developedcapabilities for ENC production, and provided infrastructure such DGPS tosupport the use of ECDIS to promote navigational safety and protect the marineenvironment.

22       Initiatives to encourage internationalcollaboration among HOs, such as the SHARED programme is an importantillustration of a proactive approach adopted by the HOs to increaseavailability of official digital electronic chart data covering major shippingroutes and ports.  With the proposal toformalise the SHARED programme as an official IHO sub-committee, it is hopedthat use of ECDIS with official ENC would be further promoted.

23       Besidespromoting the use of ECDIS, it is important to ensure that proper trainingcourses are made available to train mariners to better understand thecapabilities and limitations.  Moreover,it should be recognised that in order for ECDIS to be an efficient navigationaltool for enhancing the conduct of safe navigation, infrastructure such as DGPSand use of official ENC data are important complementary factors.

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