For users of AVCS and the

ADMIRALTY ECDIS Service

Upgrading to S-63 1.1 & AVCS 1 DVD

Questions and Answers
June 2013

On 18th July 2013 AVCS will be made available on 1 DVD and from January
2014 the latest version of the IHO standard (S-63 Edition 1.1) will become
compulsory.
If the ECDIS on your vessels have not been upgraded to S-63 Edition 1.1 by
January 2014, they will no longer meet the IHO standards and may not be
carriage compliant.
Although this change from CD to DVD is being driven by the regulations,
there are significant advantages of reduced data handling, faster loading
speeds and fewer warning messages when you upgrade to AVCS on 1 DVD.

What is this This document contains answers to questions that you

document may have as an AVCS customer.
about?

Who is this Shipping companies and end users of AVCS.

document for?

What are the AVCS – ADMIRALTY Vector Chart Service

key acronyms? ECDIS – Electronic Chart Display and Information System

IHO - International Hydrographic Organisation

IMO – International Maritime Organisation
OEM – ECDIS Manufacturer

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1.0 General Q&A
What is The IHO has announced that as of 1st Jan 2014, all data providers and
happening? OEMs should provide equipment and data services to the S-63 1.1
standard.

Why must ECDIS The ECDIS Performance Standards circulated by the International
be approved to Maritime Organization (IMO) require that the chart information used in
work with IHO ECDIS should be the latest edition and conform to IHO standards (IHO
standards? Special Publication S-52 and S-57).
ECDIS must also be capable of accepting both non-encrypted ENCs and
ENCs encrypted in accordance with the IHO Data Protection Scheme
(Special Publication S-63).

What is S-63? S-63 is the IHO standard for the protection of ENC information.
S-63 provides Hydrographic Offices with a specification detailing how ENC
data can be protected from unauthorised use. Helping to reduce the risk
of data piracy and the distribution of unofficial dangerous ENCs to the
Mariner.
AVCS is currently based on S-63 edition 1.0. It defines the encryption
algorithms used to protect the data, the format of the permit files required
to unlock the ENC data and the file and folder structure of the ENC data on
transfer media.
All type approved ECDIS are manufactured to accept official ENC data
services that conform to requirements in IHO S-63.
Note: The original edition, S-63 1.0, was introduced in December 2002 and
a revised edition, S-63 1.1, was published in March 2008. A minor update
to S-63 1.1.1 was made in 19 April 2012.

Why does AVCS It was principally a decision made for our customers. AVCS currently uses
currently use S-63 S-63 1.0 to ensure that the data can be used in the widest possible range
1.0? of ECDIS equipment as older ECDIS were designed to use S-63 1.0 and
some are not compatible with the newer version.

What advantage S-63 1.1 offers improvements over the older version including:
does S-63 1.1 1. The ability to support large media formats allowing the entire ENC
offer? dataset to be distributed on a single DVD every week, removing the
need for base disc re-issues.
2. Improved data loading means newer ECDIS are designed to load
S-63 1.1 data more efficiently than was possible with S-63 1.0.
3. There will be fewer warning messages.
4. There will be no need to change the security scheme certificate
because newer ECDIS are supplied with the IHO certificate used
by S-63 1.1 (IHO.CRT) pre-installed.
All of this results in an improved customer/user-experience whilst
delivering the same safe and secure information.

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How are the UKHO The UKHO have set up a project to help manage the move from S-63 1.0
preparing to to 1.1. The key objective of the project is to provide support to all
manage this customers and end users as they upgrade to S-63 1.1, some examples of
transition? work undertaken are;
• Our systems, products and services are being upgraded to not only
be able to comply with S-63 1.1 but also to be able to deliver a
seamless service during the transition period.
• Fleet Manager is being updated to allow vessel’s upgrade for S-63
1.1 to be recorded in the License Record form. This allows the
UKHO to issue the correct format data and permits for each end
user and the correct level of support.
• For a transition period of 6 months, the UKHO will provide S63 data
in both 1.0 and 1.1 formats to ensure smooth operations during the
transition to the new standard.
• The UKHO will provide appropriate technical support material to
help all customers and end users manage this upgrade. This will
comprise written instructions, videos, installation guides and of
course 24/7 support. The packaging of the AVCS product will also
be updated with new branding at the same time.
Please see section 2.0 for answers to technical questions

What do I need to You will need to start planning for the migration from July 2013 onwards.
do? So please contact your Chart Agent and OEM to ensure your ECDIS and
ENC related systems are ready for the transition to S-63 1.1.
Immediately: please provide your Chart Agent details (make, model and
software version) of the ECDIS on board your vessels and check that they
are compatible with S-63 1.1 (see below). If they are not compatible you
will need to contact your ECDIS providers for advice on any needed
upgrades for S-63 1.1, before the end of December 2013.
From July 2013: Each ECDIS machine on board the vessel will need to
install the IHO.CRT in order to authenticate S-63 1.1 data. UKHO will
provide this file, and instructions on how to install this on the vessel’s
ECDIS, which is a simple one-off task. Once the vessel upgrades to the
S63 1.1 DVD, they must inform your Chart Agent to ensure they receive
the correct version permit files and if they are a Planning Station user, that
they get the correct S-63 1.1 data and updates.
From October 2013: Any ECDIS still using the AVCS CD service will
need to install the IHO.CRT file in order to authenticate S-63 1.1 data. Any
ECDIS that cannot install the IHO.CRT file will require an upgrade
because the IHO is withdrawing S-63 1.0 at the end of 2013. Contact your
ECDIS provider and Chart Agent to arrange any necessary updates and
supply of S-63 1.0 data until the end of the year.
From 1st January 2014: S-63 Edition 1.0 will have been withdrawn by
the IHO and all users need to have upgraded to S-63 Edition 1.1.

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When are the key From 18 July until 17 October 2013, the UKHO will offer AVCS on both S-
dates? 63 1.0 CDs and S-63 1.1 DVD.
From 17 October until the 31 December 2013, the UKHO will offer AVCS
on S63 1.1 DVD and S-63 1.1 CDs, with S-63 1.0 CD images available for
download.
From 1 January 2014, the UKHO will only offer AVCS on S-63 1.1 DVD
and S-63 1.1 CDs, so by 31 December all customers will need to have
upgraded to S-63 1.1 DVD or CD service.

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2.0 Technical Q&A
Can my ECDIS It depends on when your ECDIS was approved.
be upgraded If your ECDIS was approved on or after 2009 it will support the S-63
to S-63 1.1? Edition 1.1.
If your ECDIS was approved before 2009 and it has not been upgraded
then it may not support S-63 edition 1.1 or the S-52 Presentation Library*
3.4.
Checking the ECDIS wheel mark will inform the user of the year of
production and the Notified Body number.

1. The four digit number identifies the Notified Body who performed the
conformity evaluation procedure for the ECDIS (eg 0849 - ).
2. The two digit number identifies the production year (eg 2012).
*The Presentation Library defines a set of colours, line styles, fill styles, point symbols and a set of
symbology instructions and look-up tables for the translation of ENC objects into symbology
instructions. Edition 3.4 of the Presentation Library was set force in conjunction with S-57 Supplement
No. 1 on the 1st January 2008 to meet IMO requirements for depiction of archipelagic sea lanes and
particularly sensitive sea areas.

Why will I receive Under S-63 1.1, ENCs are authenticated against the IHO's digital
fewer ECDIS Error certificate. On the current S-63 1.0 CDs, the ENCs are authenticated
messages when against the PRIMAR digital certificate. All newer ECDIS are required to
using the DVD produce a warning message when loading ENCs that are not
authenticated against the IHO certificate. Therefore warning messages
compared to the
are currently generated whenever an AVCS ENC is loaded (in common
current CD? with those from the majority of other service providers).
These warning messages will not be generated when S-63 1.1 data is
loaded, significantly reducing the number of warnings received by the user.

I don’t have a DVD S-63 1.1 will be available on CD as well as DVD for those unable to take
reader. Will CDs advantage of the DVD service.
still be available?

Are SENC Yes they are. SENC services deliver ENCs in proprietary ECDIS
services affected Manufacturer formats that are not linked to S-63. However some ENC
by the transition producers do not allow their ENCs to be included in SENC services and
to S-63 Edition these ENCs have to be supplied using S-63. Therefore the format that the
S-63 ENCs are delivered in will need to be upgraded to S-63 Edition 1.1 by
1.1?
the end of 2013.

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 Will I need to No. The end user will need to change the digital certificate in their system
install new from PRIMAR.CRT to IHO.CRT as a one-off task. After that S-63 1.1 data
Permits and cell will load using either S-63 1.0 (v1) or S-63 1.1 (v2) permits. The UKHO
data when they will then switch to v2 permits to complete the transition.
receive the S-63
1.1 data?

Will there still be a New ENC base cells are released every week, as they become available.
week for main These will be made available immediately on both the DVD and CD. The
release of new current process of re-issuing the Base CDs every 8 weeks will not be
base cells even required for the DVD.
though they’re on
the DVD?

Will the CDs Yes, the IHO.crt file will be included on the DVD and the 1.1 CDs until the
included the transition is complete.
IHO.CRT?

Is there still a Yes, AIO will continue on a separate disc for technical reasons related to
need for the AIO exchange sets.
disc when using
the DVD?

Are there any Disc images will continue to be on the FTP site which provides more
plans for a special robust downloads. End users are expected to download smaller exchange
download tool, for set related to their specific areas using e-Navigator or EOUS.
end users with
slower
broadband?

When will be the Planning Station v3.1 will be released on 27th June 2013 (Week 26/2013).
new Planning Benefits for vessels upgrading to Planning Station v3.1 include the ability
Station version 3.1 to view ADMIRALTY Total Tide over digital chart data and compatibility
be released? with the new AVCS DVD, which provides all ENC data and updates on a
single disk every week. Planning Station v3.1 also supports the latest
edition of the IHO Data Protection Scheme for ENCs, S-63 Edition 1.1.

What size DVD will We are using the standard 4.7Gb DVD size.
be used?

Will any other The ADMIRALTY Products that use the IHO Data Protection Scheme (S-
ADMIRALTY 63) are AVCS, AIO and the ADMIRALTY ECDIS Service (ENC content).
Products / This change affects all of these products and the systems that support
Services be them: e-Navigator Fleet Manager, e-Navigator Planning Station and the
ADMIRALTY Updating Service. Other ADMIRALTY products do not use
affected by this
S-63 and are not affected.
change?

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 The default media for the ADMIRALTY ECDIS Service will remain as CD
Will the to ensure the widest possible compatibility with user equipment and to
ADMIRALTY simplify the transition to S-63 1.1. The ADMIRALTY ECDIS Service CDs
ECDIS service will transition to S-63 1.1 at the same time as the AVCS CD service, in
include the AVCS October. From October 2013, the AVCS DVD will work for ADMIRALTY
DVD? ECDIS Service customers whose equipment is compatible with the DVD
format.

Will the The installation process for the DVD is simpler than for the CDs. With the
installation DVD, only one disc needs to be installed because it contains all the base
processes be ENCs and updates up to the date of its issue. In addition, there is no need
different on ECDIS for new users to change the certificate in their ECDIS because the DVD
uses the IHO certificate that is pre-installed on all new ECDIS.
machines using
the DVD? The loading process within the ECDIS will be very similar to that required
for CDs and we have produced a number of system-specific guides and
videos that are available at www.ukho.gov.uk/AVCS.

Where can I get The certificate is available from the IHO website (insert URL from transition
the new IHO.CRT guide) and can be found in the root folder on the AVCS DVD and S-63 1.1
certificate to CDs.
replace the
PRIMAR.CRT on
my ECDIS?

Will the DVD Yes, the DVD will contain all the base ENCs and updates that are currently
contents be the on the 9 Base CDs plus the Update CD. It will also contain the catalogue
same as the and other files that are in the INFO folder on the CDs.
current AVCS
base and update
CDs – e.g. will it
still contain the
ADC catalogue
update?

Will the new Yes, the ADMIRALTY Digital Catalogue can read both S-63 1.0 (version 1)
Permit files still be permits and S-63 1.1 (version 2) permits.
able to be entered
into the
ADMIRALTY
Digital Catalogue
(ADC)?

Will I be able to Yes. It will be the same as usual.

burn extra copies
of the AVCS DVD
if I require them,
like we do now
with the AVCS
CDs?

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 I use an online Contact your online update service provider to find out about their S63 1.1
update service upgrade process, which will inform you when you should change over to
from another the new service. You should not change over before they tell you as you
supplier and I may not be able to receive updates once you upgrade. If you have
upgraded and can no longer receive updates, you need to reinstall your
want to migrate to
PRIMAR certificate as shown in the user guide or contact your supplier for
S63 1.1. What further information.
should I do?

Where can I find more information?

• In the DVD Guide in the new DVD Media Pack

• On the AVCS website at www.ukho.gov.uk/AVCS
• From your ADMIRALTY Chart Agent

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