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General
ECDIS allows for monitoring of a ship’s position in real-time throughout the voyage
and integrates information from GPS, Gyro, Radar, ARPA, AIS and other
navigational equipments into a single display. It has several advantages over paper
charts as listed below;
3. Sub menus can be very complex, for which familiarity with the equipment is
required.
4. The size of chart displayed on the screen monitor is much reduced compared
with the paper chart
ELECTRONIC CHARTS
The displayed data is merely a digital copy of the original paper chart, the image has
no intelligence and other than visually, cannot be interrogated.
LIMITATIONS OF RNCs:
Without selecting different scale charts the look-ahead capability may be limited.
An RNC is intended to be used at the scale of the equivalent paper chart. Excessive
zooming in or zooming out can seriously degrade the displayed image.
ENCs are official vector charts that have been issued by or on behalf of a national
hydrographic authority and confirm to strict International Hydrographic
Organisation (IHO –S57 compliant) specifications.
ENCs are the only vector charts that can be used for primary navigation in place of
paper charts.
Each point on the chart is digitally mapped, allowing the information to be used in a
more sophisticated way, such as clicking on a feature (for example, a lighthouse) to
get all the details of that feature displayed.
An ECS may be able to use either official Electronic Charts (ENCs), Raster
Navigational Charts (RNCs) or other chart data produced privately and could have
functionality similar to ECDIS.
To ensure conformance with IMO requirements, ECDIS must pass type approval
and test procedures based on IMO ECDIS Performance standards and applying IHO
requirements S-52, S-57,S-58 and S-63 in particular.
Approval Documentation:
For vessels fitted with only one ECDIS, paper charts SHALL be used as the primary
means of Navigation and must be kept fully updated at all times.
– The vessel has two independent approved ECDIS with back-up arrangements.
2. Training requirements
a. Generic Training:
Master and all Navigating Officers are to undergo an ECDIS training course,
complying with IMO Model Course 1.27 at the company’s training institute or at
one of ECDIS training institutes, approved by an flag administration on IMO White
list, in order to use ECDIS as a primary mean of navigation.
Master and all Navigating Officers shall undergo necessary formal training in that
particular ship-specific equipment i.e. the training should relate to the make and
model of the equipment fitted onboard. The equipment specific training should be
of minimum 8 hours duration.
ECDIS Interface
As per IMO performance standards, following minimum interfaces shall be provided
to an ECDIS:
b. Gyro compass
d. Echo Sounder
e. NAVTEX
1. Gyro Failure: Course over ground (COG) information (from GPS) will be
displayed by the ECDIS
2. GPS Failure: The ECDIS will run in DR mode with position being displayed basis
heading and speed log input.
3. Speed Log Failure: ‘Speed Over Ground’ (SOG) instead of Speed Through Water
(STW) will be displayed by the ECDIS.
In case of sensory input failure, the Master shall carry out ‘Risk Assessment’
considering following points;
– Identification of sensory input failure and has the failed sensory input affected
the navigation of the ship?
CHART PROCUREMENT
With electronic chart data, all charts are preloaded in the ECDIS equipment using
the base CD available onboard, but use can only be made of those for which
licenses have been activated. The navigating officer shall consult the digital chart
catalogue and required charts for the forthcoming voyages can be activated almost
immediately by purchasing the license to activate them.
For areas covered by ENC, only ENC shall be used for the navigation.
CHART CORRECTION
ENCs are updated by weekly ‘Notices to Mariners’ issued by HOs and corrections
are received on the vessel either by email or data file (Update CD). The actual
updating is either applied to the ECDIS chart database by the user. The ECDIS
generates error message when the update is unsuccessful or when a chart is in use
and hasn’t been corrected up to date.
After updating ENC charts, modification to the passage plan may be necessary to
accommodate new chart features such as reporting schemes, traffic separation
schemes, isolated dangers etc. A route check shall be carried out to ensure that any
new dangers, which may have been added don’t present a risk to the ship.
Notices to Mariners (NTM): Much of the information in NTM is only for use on paper
Notices to Mariners (NTM): Much of the information in NTM is only for use on paper
charts and is not applicable to ENCs or RNCs. However, vessels navigating solely on
ECDIS are still required to carry latest NTM (paper copy or digital) to obtain
information such as ‘Radio Navigational Warnings’, ‘Amendments to Admiralty
Sailing Directions/ Admiralty List of lights and Fog Signals/ Admiralty List of Radio
Signals’.
Temporary & Preliminary Notices (T&P): All hydrographic offices do not provide ‘T&P’
Notices in ‘Marine Information Overlay’ (MIO) format. Thus, the navigating officer
shall check if applicable T&P notices are shown as ‘MIO’ or ‘Admiralty Information
Overlay’ (AIO) format. If not done automatically, T&P data shall be manually
inserted into the ECDIS using ‘Manual Update and Mariner’s Notes’ facilities.
When paper charts are used as a back up to Raster Charts, such paper charts must
be updated to the latest Notices to Mariners onboard.
As of now, ENC charts do not cover all sea areas. ECDIS charts provided on board
are a combination of ENC and RNC. The Navigating Officers should bear in mind
limitations of RNC
ECDIS may not display some isolated shoal depths when operating in ‘base’ or
‘standard display’ mode. As a result, route planning and monitoring alarms may not
‘standard display’ mode. As a result, route planning and monitoring alarms may not
always be activated
The Hydrographic offices of various countries process official charts and take on
the responsibility of maintaining their accuracy. However, corrections made by
these offices might only be available at certain fixed intervals and reliability/ margin
of error of a position-fix must be borne in mind.
3. Positions:
Positions are primarily derived from the GPS/DGPS. Therefore any GPS/DGPS
alarms must be immediately investigated in order to avoid error in position and the
possibility of the vessel running into danger.
There is a risk of running too close to danger with a zoomed-in chart scale. The
Navigating Officer should alternatively switch to a smaller chart scale to appraise
the situation. All bridge team members shall be aware of the vertical lines indicating
over-scale. Using the SCAMIN process, system automatically filters information
from ECDIS display. When the display is underscale then certain features are
suppressed and the operator runs the risk of not seeing all relevant and possible
safety critical information. Autoload and autoscale features are used to minimize
the SCAMIN affect. The operator should be careful of the overscale/ underscale
the SCAMIN affect. The operator should be careful of the overscale/ underscale
effects and select the compilation scale (1:1) for display. The primary ECDIS
terminal should, where possible, always be set to the compilation scale (1:1).
5. Radar Overlay:
Positions of other vessels and targets displayed on the ECDIS might be obscured
because of improperly tuned radars or improperly set anti-clutter on either the
radar or ECDIS. The possibility of offset error is eliminated during the installation
phase and later can be recalibrated using the administrative rights in ECDIS.
6. AIS Input:
AIS displays target course and speed over ground as well as heading. However, such
target information shall not be used for collision avoidance as the AIS data is based
on sensory inputs which may be erratic/ faulty.
7. RADAR Input:
8. Depth Units:
Depth unit information is displayed in ECDIS console indicating the depth units in
use (meters,feet or fathoms). In case of any changes, the OOW must inform the
same to the relieving OOW at the time of handing over the watch.
The ‘Zones of Confidence’ (ZOC) indicates that particular ENC meets minimum
The ‘Zones of Confidence’ (ZOC) indicates that particular ENC meets minimum
criteria for position and depth accuracy. It can be looked upon as the survey
accuracy. There are six category levels (A1, A2, B, C, D and ‘Unclassified’ wherein
A1 is the most accurate survey information). The navigating officer shall be aware
of the ZOC for the areas of navigation.
Following checks should be carried out by the Navigating Officer while carrying out
passage planning on ECDIS:
a. Not all sea areas are covered by ENC charts. The electronic chart coverage for
the voyage must be adequate and all relevant charts must be fully corrected. For
areas covered by ENC, it is mandatory that they be used instead of RNC. If RNCs
are to be used, a set of updated paper charts for those areas shall be available
onboard and office shall be informed prior commencement of the passage.
b. Check local requirements of coastal states that may require carriage of additional
publications or local charts.
c. Check that electronic charts have been updated to the most recent version and
chart permit licenses have been bought.
d. The vessel’s controlling operational parameters (maximum draft, air draft, turning
data, minimum under keel clearance required, ‘look ahead’ distance etc.) should be
entered.
f. The alarm functions of the ECDIS should be fully operational; they will alert the
operator of any danger exposed in good time during the voyage.
g. Carry out ‘Route Check’ to ensure that vessel will not encounter navigational
hazards on the planned route.
h. When planning new waypoints and courses, always use the largest scale possible
so all features of the chart can be readily identified.
i. Ensure that the plan takes into account sufficient cross-track error (XTE) to
accommodate any deviations for collision avoidance or currents.
j. Ensure adequate values are inputted for safety contour and depth alarms.
ECDIS provides many benefits for route planning; a few of which are:
1. A quick and easy to select saved routes and prepare new ones.
2. Routes can be easily modified with the use of the planning graphic tool.
However, planning a safe route requires experience, time and adequate familiarity
with the general principles of ECDIS and navigators should be aware of the
following:
a. Check Route Function: The navigating officer should make use of the check route
function after passage planning to ensure that vessel will not encounter
navigational hazards on the planned route. These hazards would be mainly
pertaining to grounding dangers, crossing TSS line/ boundary and user defined
alarms.
b. On coastal passages, ENCs will be populated with many area related cautions.
These may result in numerous warnings being generated during the planning stage
leading to missing out of critical item alert. It is important that all warnings/ alarms
are carefully checked.
f. The finally approved route should then be appropriately saved and also copied to
the back-up system.
g. Speed Plan: The planned speed for the leg, which will always be at or below the
safe speed, after considering the proximity of navigational hazards along the route,
the depth of water and the manoeuvring characteristics of the vessel.
b. Parallel index lines (not from floating objects unless they have been first checked
for position)
for position)
c. No go areas
Open
a. For change of watch, company checklist to be complied with for carrying out
checks on ECDIS.
b. Check that the display has been set-up properly prior to sailing, otherwise
important information may not be displayed. There are generally three default
settings of the layers of an ENC i.e. Base, Standard and Full. The ENCs should
normally be in full access mode. In case the text information clutters the other chart
information, the text layer may be disabled.
c. Day/ Night Settings: The display should be set up to meet the appropriate
conditions on the bridge. There are three main viewing modes available: daytime,
dusk and nighttime.
CAUTION – When using night/ dusk settings, background colours get altered and shoals/
other dangers may not be readily apparent. Until good orientation is achieved, it is
advisable to switch to Day settings occasionally.
d. Always use ENC on the best scale possible to avoid crucial information being
autofiltered and subsequently not being displayed.
e. When executing a route, progress against the original plan must be constantly
monitored.
g. Data input from the gyro compass, speed log, echo sounder and other electronic
equipment to the ECDIS should be periodically monitored to ensure accuracy using
‘Sensor Monitor’ window.
‘Sensor Monitor’ window.
h. The look-ahead facility should warn of any hazards ahead off screen but do not
rely on it; always use the zoom and scrolling facility to look ahead. Look-ahead
range time range for route monitoring is an operator specified parameter. It is
important that this time or distance is carefully set to meet the particular
circumstances. If set too long it will create numerous alerts that may distract the
navigator.
i. Frequent checks should be made of the ECDIS position fixing system (normally
GPS) by the use of other means to cross-check and determine vessel’s position.
Such checks should include:
j. If ARPA overlay is used, targets not acquired by the ARPA will not appear on the
ECDIS.
Similarly targets not fitted with AIS will not appear on ECDIS. Therefore, ECDIS
should not be used as primary means of collision avoidance.
When using ENCs, an alert will be given when charted hazards enter the safety
domain, even if the hazard is not visible on the displayed portion of the ENC. The
alarms listed below should be kept activated at all times.
Alarms are to be set by the navigating officer at the time of passage planning and
once the Master has reviewed the passage/ alarm settings, they should be locked
once the Master has reviewed the passage/ alarm settings, they should be locked
where such a facility is available.
Open
The alert will be an alarm or indication, depending on the circumstances and user
settings:
a. There are generally three contour settings available to the user for highlighting
available depth. The contours are differentiated by colours and if a guard zone
touches the safety contour it will give an alarm. The contour will be selected only
for that value for which a contour exists on the ENC. If any other value is selected,
it will then select the next available contour.
i. Safety Contour:
This is a user entered depth that ideally coincides with the contours, giving an
adequate safety allowance for the dynamic draft of the vessel.
This is user entered depth that will affect the appearance of spot soundings. It uses
just two colours. All areas deeper than safety contour are shown in white/ black
(depending on day /night settings); all areas shallower than the safety contour are
shown in blue.
The navigator emphasizes deep and shallow areas by use of contrast colour using
this mode.
b. Safety Depth:
This function is primarily used for the route check and an alarm will be generated
upon encountering shallower depth in look-ahead area. The spot soundings below
the specified values will appear bold.
Shallow Contour: This value should not be less than the gross UKC +max draft.
Safety Contour: This value should not be less than the shallow contour setting value
+ safety margin (minimum 2 metres)
Safety Depth: This value should not be more than the safety contour setting.
Safety Height: This value should not be less than the air draft of the vessel + 1 metre.
Deep Contour: This value should be more than safety contour and not be less than at
least 2 times the draft of the vessel.
An alarm or indication, as set by the user, will be given if, within a specified time or
distance, own ship would cross the boundary area of a geographic area for which
special condition exist such as Traffic Separation Zone, Caution area, anchorage
area, Particularly Sensitive Sea Area, Military practice area.
Recommended Settings: To be set at time greater than Position Fixing Interval
(PFI) for particular leg of the passage plan.
An alarm will be given if the specified cross track limit for deviation from the
planned route is exceeded.
An alarm will be given by the ECDIS when the ship reaches a specified time or
distance, set by the mariner, in advance of a critical point on the planned route.
Recommended Settings: To be set at time greater than PFI for particular leg of the
passage plan.
From data contained within the RNC, ECDIS equipment automatically performs the
datum conversion from WGS84 or else it will provide a continuous indication that
the referencing cannot be performed. If the datum between RCS and position fixing
system is different, it will cause an alarm to be generated to alert the navigating
officer.
officer.
7. ECDIS failure:
Similar to other electronic navigational equipment, ECDIS can fail, either outright
or in a way that can give misleading information. The navigator shall transfer
navigation to the back-up system.
An indication will be given if, continuing on its present course and speed, over a
specified time or distance set by the mariner, own ship will pass closer than a user
specified distance from a danger (for example obstruction, wreck, rock or an aid-to-
navigation) that is shallower than the mariner’s safety contour or an aid-to-
navigation.
The anti grounding cone (safety frame) is the setting for size of area that will be
used by ECDIS for generation of anti grounding alarm, area alert or navigational
alarm based on the chart data analysis or the user set safety parameters. The size
of anti grounding cone will depend upon ECDIS system in use as well as the size,
manoeuvrability and speed of the vessel.
The navigating officer should never rely solely on automatic alerts as the alert may
not give sufficient time or space to avoid the hazard.
The recommended settings mentioned above do not alter the Master’s prerogative
to modify or augment anti-grounding cone settings.
Tagged with: ANTIGROUNDING CONE, SAFETY DEPT, NOTICE TO MARINERS, NTM, NAVTEX, CHART
CORRECTION, SCAMIN, RADAR OVERLAY, ZONE OF CONFIDENCE, ELECTRONIC CHART SYSTEM, IHO, S57,
SENC, ECDIS INTERFACE, RNC, RASTER NAVGATIONAL CHARTS, ECS, ROUTE, NAVIGATING OFFICER, ENC,
ELECTRONIC CHART, SHALLOW CONTOUR, SAFETY CONTOUR, ecdis, ecdis failure
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