Tag: ECDIS

Integrated bridge systems (IBS) for the new class of patrol boats for the Swedish Coast Guard Sperry Marine reports that it is to supply integrated bridge systems (IBS) for the new class of patrol boats being built for the Swedish Coast Guard.The IBS for the patrol boats is based on the company's VisionMaster FT technology, which integrates the vessels' navigation and ship control functions within an Ethernet network.Each vessel will be equipped with three TotalWatch multifunction workstations, which include ECDIS, navigational radars, GPS positioning, autopilot, steering control and conning information. Voyage data recorders (VDR) will also be supplied to the ships.The contract includes five new vessels, with the first vessel, built by Baltic Workboats in Estonia, recently delivered to the Swedish Coast Guard.CA Clase Marinelektronik AB, Sperry's sales and service representative in Sweden, will provide technical support to the Swedish Coast Guard for the project."Our state-of-the-art navigation technology will provide optimum situational awareness for the ships' watch officers in carrying out their missions on these new patrol boats," said Hans Rasmussen, director of global business development, Sperry Marine.Source: The Digital Ship

From the e-navigation firm Navtor A system that allows the most up to date electronic charts (ENCs) to be uploaded directly to an ECDIS console from a USB device has been announced by recent start-up e-navigation firm Navtor.In a conventional set-up, navigators have to work out exactly which ENCs they require for an upcoming voyage, order them in advance and then upload them from CDs that are posted out to them. Navtor argues this is an inefficient and needlessly time-consuming way of doing things and ripe for streamlining.The USB system, christened NavSync, has been developed to work in tandem with Navtor's recently launched pay-as-you-sail DNV-approved ENC service, which allows access to charts through a subscription-based model (see MITE Feb/Mar 2012).Navtor's Børge Hetland explains how it works: 'When a new subscriber signs up to our service, we distribute the ENCs on the NAVTOR NavSync USB compatible device, the NavStick. By using the USB port, ENCs can be installed in one simple operation, as opposed to loading multiple CDs. Updates can then be downloaded to the NavStick via any on-board PC with Internet connectivity and transferred to the ECDIS on a rolling basis.'As an added feature, NavSync also offers a print function ...

90th SESSION 16 18 and 21 - 25 May 2012 The IMO's Sub-Committee on Maritime Safety (MSC) held its 90th session from Wednesday 16 through Friday 25 May 2012 under the Chairmanship of Mr Christian Breinholt (DENMARK). A Drafting Group of Amendments to Mandatory Instruments and three Working Groups were convened on:(1) Passenger Ship Safety(2) Goal-based Standards and Formal Safety Assessment, and(3) Measure to enhance Maritime Security and PiracyPrior to sending out the Working Groups, the Committee (in Plenary) engaged in a long debate which was reinforced by high-level (Ministerial/Ambassadorial) participation from governments on the issue of privately contracted armed security personnel (PCASP) on board ships. Three main issues were addressed in the high level debate:1. Guidance and standards for private maritime security companies (PMSC) providing PCASP2. Issues related to PCASP of concern to littoral states, and3. Guidelines on the use of firearms.It was agreed that:the carriage of firearms by seafarers should continue to be strongly discouraged;the use of PCASP is an exceptional measure to be used only in exceptional circumstances in a high-risk area and that use of armed personnel on board ships should not become institutionalised;following a thorough risk assessment exercise and consultations with the shipowner concerned, the ...

As with all electronic equipment, ECDIS can go wrong In little more than three months we will see the carriage requirements for the Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) begin its phased introduction. ECDIS is a notable advance to be welcomed by all of those who believe that eNavigation is a step in the right direction, making navigation yet more precise.But like all navigational advances from the introduction of the gyro-compass to satnav and advanced radars, the latest improvement comes with a number of important "health warnings". As with all these advances, complete reliance is to be avoided and the practices of good seamanship, which insist on alternative systems for checking, must still be followed assiduously. Training is clearly essential, both in terms of the generic understanding of the systems and complete familiarity with that aboard ship.As with all electronic equipment, ECDIS can go wrong and too much reliance will lead to a complacent attitude that is unprepared for the (hopefully rare) incident. Pilots are already reporting occasional instances of ECDIS errors and anomalies, which may be difficult to detect in the open sea but become much more obvious with the ship in restricted waters and the scale of ...

25 new ECDIS training systems Kelvin Hughes has supplied Singapore's largest maritime training institution, the Singapore Maritime Academy (SMA), with 25 new ECDIS training systems in combination with Chartco's Passage Manager in a breakthrough contract. Kelvin Hughes has supplied 25 MantaDigital ECDIS Training Systems with Chartco's Passage Manager to the Singapore Maritime Academy (SMA), the country's main maritime training institution and one of only three training centres approved for generic ECDIS training by the Singapore Maritime Port Authority.SMA recently updated its facilities, opening a new training laboratory at the end of August last year. "We are committed to ensuring that our simulators are always updated, so that our graduates always meet the exacting standards of IMO and industry," says Captain Gopala Krishnan, SMA's Senior Manager, SMART Center and Maritime Simulation Division. Kelvin Hughes has provided the SMA with a competitively priced and flexible system that meets all the academy's requirements," says Lawrence Lai, Kelvin Hughes Area Sales Manager, Singapore. "This is a prestigious order for Kelvin Hughes, as it is the first time that the company has supplied systems to Singapore's key maritime academy."He added that the SMA wanted a 'student-proof' ECDIS that wouldn't allow access to the main operating ...

Chart companies join forces Thomas Gunn Navigation Services and Transas Marine Ltd announce today a new industry leading partnership which will bring significant benefits to customers of both organisations. Thomas Gunn will now offer Transas Navi-Sailor 4000 ECDIS as part of its total navigation solution, whilst Transas will offer Thomas Gunn's paper chart management service - which includes Admiralty and International HO's paper charts and paper publications - as a part of its ECDIS package.This partnership sees two industry experts in the emerging ECDIS market teaming up to offer complete solutions for ECDIS implementation in accordance with the IMO Carriage Requirement. That will not only support both Thomas Gunn and Transas customers throughout the whole life cycle of purchased products but will also service those needs to the same high standard of quality, in whatever country their customers operate."We are really pleased to be working with Transas," says Thomas Gunn, founder and managing director of Thomas Gunn. "Our key priority has always been to offer our customers the best products with the best global service engineering in the industry. The advance of digital navigation has meant that we must continually evaluate our product offering - and of course good products ...

FMD-3200 and FMD-3300 Japanese manufacturer Furuno is to launch a new ECDIS, said to deliver a significant enhancement over its predecessor in terms of user interface and functionality, in readiness for forthcoming carriage requirements.The new model comes in two versions, the FMD-3200 with 19in LCD display and FMD-3300 with 23.1in screen. It is said to offer a streamlined chart management scheme, providing easy chart management independent of the chart providers. It will be compatible with Jeppesen Dynamic Licensing and support the Admiralty Information Overlay (AIO), and satisfies requirements for paperless ship operation.According to Furuno, the FMD-3200 and FMD-3300 employ intelligently arranged graphic user interface elements: a status bar and an instant access bar that deliver task-based operation scheme to give the operator direct access to necessary operational procedure. The status bar at the top of the screen provides operating status, including modes of operation and presentation. The instant access bar on the left edge of the screen provides quick access to functions available in each of the ECDIS operating modes. The contents of the instant access bar change according to the operating modes selected on the status bar. The company says that this streamlines the navigation monitoring procedure, by avoiding ...

Online package - eight hour training course Alewijnse Marine Systems has launched a Raytheon Anschütz Online ECDIS Familiarisation Course, the first of its kind. The course enables navigators to complete their official ECDIS training online for Raytheon Anschütz ECDIS. One of the first customers for this service will be Vliet Shipping, which currently has two 3850 DWT coasters in build at Damen Bergum to which Alewijnse will fit Raytheon Anschütz bridge systems.The Alewijnse online package will allow the navigators to undertake an eight hour training course remotely on the internet. They will be able to log in at any time and then pause whenever they wish, as long as they complete the course within three weeks. A credit card login ensures that the person is actually who they claim to be, and the result is an approved familiarisation certificate for the Raytheon Anschütz ECDIS.The rationale for this new service is that while navigators already require an STCW 1.27 ECDIS certificate, these may be several years old and taken on a different ECDIS system from the one with which they are now sailing. As ECDIS systems manufactured by different brands often have different HMIs (human-machine interfaces), qualified navigators on new vessels ...

Policy and procedure Pursuant to Regulation I/15 of the Manila Amendments to the STCW Convention and Code, IMO circular STCW.7/Circ.16, and IMO circular STCW.7/Circ.17, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Maritime Administrator (the "Administrator") has established the following policy and procedure:1. Requests for endorsements of Certificates of Competence (CoC) for all deck officers will be initially evaluated for training in operation of Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS) as required by the Manila Amendments to STCW, which entered into force on 1 January 2012;2. Certificates for Receipt of Application (CRAs) may be initially issued without a limitation referencing ECDIS training and operation;3. If applications do not contain evidence of ECDIS qualifications as required and outlined in Marine Safety Advisory (MSA) No. 6-12, the endorsement to the officer's CoC issued by the Administrator will contain a limitation as follows:a. Certificates will be endorsed with a limitation for vessels not equipped with ECDIS; orb. At the request of the applicant or assigned agent, and if qualified in accordance with transitional provisions of STCW Regulation I/15, a certificate may be endorsed with a limitation stating that it was issued in compliance with STCW '95 requirements. Such certificates cannot be valid beyond ...

The West of England P&I club- Loss Prevention Bulletin The West of England P&I Club issues Loss Prevention Bulletin regarding The use of ECDIS Alarms as follows:Although many vessels have been fitted with Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS) on a voluntary basis, the use of such equipment will increase significantly once passenger vessels, tankers and dry cargo ships begin to comply with mandatory SOLAS requirements for ECDIS which are due to be phased in as from 1 July 2012. ECDIS equipped vessels have been involved in a number of groundings which may have been avoided had it not been for failures in the set-up and use of ECDIS alarm systems.IMO performance standards require the equipment to include a function whereby the user can select a safety contour from the depth contours available on the Electronic Navigation Chart (ENC). ECDIS should permanent-ly display this contour, empha-sised by a thicker line and a prominent change in colour for the depths on either side. If no safety contour is selected, the depth should default to 30m in keeping with International Hydrographic Office (IHO) recommendations.The performance standards also require ECDIS to sound an audible alarm, which may be combined with a visual ...