Tag: e-navigation

During his presentation at 2019 SAFETY4SEA Hamburg Forum, Capt. Mark Bull, Director, Trafalgar Navigation, gave an insight concerning e-navigation, pointing out that we are on the threshold of a major change in our industry; it has already started and it is now picking up speed.

NAPA, a maritime software, services and data analysis provider and ChartWorld, a digital chart agent, announced their partnership to provide artificial intelligence-driven voyage planning and optimization. The solution incorporates modules for evaluating the operational efficiency of past voyages. It then uses this data to improve the efficiency of future transits where there are similar variables and trends.

Lloyd’s Register announced a MoU with ICT provider ST Engineering Electronics Ltd. (STEE) and Japanese logistics company Mitsui & Co., Ltd., to collaborate on the ‘Development of Ocean-going Autonomous Navigation System on a Marine Asset’.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore is co-organising a workshop with the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) to support the operationalisation of e-navigation solutions. This is the first workshop since Singapore's election to the IALA Council in 2018. The MPA-IALA e-navigation workshop will take place from 8 to 10 April.

During the 2019 SMART4SEA Conference, Børge Hetland, Director of Sales & Marketing at NAVTOR, shared the company’s experience from its’ involvement in European Research & Development projects to describe how the emerging technology is expected to transform the four stages of the Passage Planning procedure in the very near future. His conclusion was that e-Navigation has already started to transform the passage planning process, and it will result in enormous time savings for navigators when preparing voyages – which means increased efficiency and consequently cost savings.

Although modern satellite systems have reached a landmark for maritime navigation and navigators vastly rely on ECDIS data, safe navigation requires also from mariners to take into consideration the accuracy and reliability of the source hydrographic data, Capt. Yves Vandenborn, Director of Loss Prevention at Standard P&I Club, highlighted. 

Mr. Tor Svanes, CEO, NAVTOR, notes that passage planning is a huge administrative burden for operators and further talks about key issues to consider when providing e-navigation solutions for vessels. In addition, he mentions that although technology offers benefits for shipping and automation is approaching, human element should always be at the center of attention.

Digitalisation is throwing up daily challenges to the shipping industry’s established order with faster connectivity and enhanced functionality driving the transparency of information flow across almost every area of the business, argues Mr. Jan Thordan Hansen, director, Global Business Development, Sperry Marine.

As mentioned in the previous article of our Bridge Procedure series, since ECDIS is a complex system, it is critical to clarify what should be done in cases of an emergency situations. Intermittent signal and GNSS failure while using the ECDIS is one of them.

Ships are increasingly using systems that rely on digitization, integration, and automation. As a result, security of data and other sensitive information has become a major concern of maritime. Certainly, there are many key issues with respect to cyber risk management in the maritime.