Tag: ECDIS

Meeting regarding shipboard navigation issues , such as ECDIS and GPS The second meeting of the Navigation Safety Advisory Group (NSAG) was held on 21 February in Sydney at the offices of Carnival Australia. Twenty-two attendees, either navigation practitioners or representing organisations with an interest in safety of navigation, from all over Australia attended the meeting. The Australian Hydrographic Service, port and state marine authorities, Carnival Australia, Shipping Australia Limited, Australian Shipowners Association, shipping companies and marine pilots were represented. During the day-long meeting the group dealt with safety of navigation matters in two parts.The morning session (lead by AMSA's Ship Safety section) dealt with shipboard navigation issues, including progress with the development of e-navigation, implementation of Electronic Chart Display Information Systems (ECDIS), positioning, navigation and timing matters, water space management and outcomes from recent International Maritime Organization (IMO) and International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) meetings.The afternoon session (lead by AMSA's Aids to Navigation and Vessel Tracking and Pilotage sections) dealt with AMSA's management of its aids to navigation network, new and altered aids, AMSA's aids to navigation operational plan 2011/12 - 2015/16, vessel tracking and pilotage, related national working group meetings and highlights ...

ECDIS training for all seafarers Videotel, the world's largest multi-media producer of high-quality maritime safety training software and materials serving the maritime community on board over 10,000 vessels today, together with Safebridge GmbH, providers of specialised Online training for navigational equipment and its sister company MSG Marine Serve GmbH, are bringing their unique skills together to provide, via a truly blended learning approach, completely flexible generic and product specific ECDIS training for all seafarers.There is no question that the implementation of ECDIS as the primary means of navigation will place enormous pressure on the maritime industry, due to complex training and ISM compliance issues. The lack of a common standard for ECDIS makes the challenge even greater. With significant differences between manufacturers models, as well as significant variances in model and software versions from the same manufacturer, but all complying with IMO Performance Standards, the difficulties of effective and relevant training could not be more obvious.Videotel, Safebridge and MSG's joint expertise will offer a focussed pathway through what is essentially a training minefield. With the support of the IMO, Videotel are updating their original ECDIS course to follow the new STCW Manila amendments and the proposed new IMO Model Course ...

Helping shipping companies plan for digital navigation Admiralty brings free Digital Integration Workshop to CMA Shipping 2012 to help shipping companies plan for digital navigation.Admiralty announced today the next Digital Integration Workshop will be held at the Connecticut Maritime Association's Shipping 2012 show in March. The Workshops, which are free to attend, help shipping managers effectively plan for the integration of digital technology into bridge operations to meet the requirements of the ECDIS Mandate. The Workshops will take place at Stamford Hilton Hotel on the 19th (at 14.00hrs), 20th (at 12.00hrs) and 21st March 2012 (at 12.00hrs). Attendance is free, but spaces are limited and anyone wishing to attend should register via the online registration form.The Workshops have been developed in conjunction with Captain Paul Hailwood, a renowned expert on ECDIS and integrated bridge operations, and provide a simple, step-by-step process to support the planning and delivery of compliance with the ECDIS Mandate.A key message, says Captain Hailwood, is start planning now; "It's easy to underestimate how long the transition to digital navigation will take, until you fully understand what ECDIS compliance requires. I've worked with many companies where the process has taken twice as long as first thought, resulting ...

Appointed as official training agent by ChartWorld MSG MarineServe GmbH, one of Hamburg's leading training companies, is pleased to announce that it has been appointed as official training agent by ChartWorld to provide ECDIS training services locally and worldwide.The agreement is part of a comprehensive arrangement involving MSG itself, its sister company Safebridge GmbH and ETC to ensure that ChartWorld is able to offer a complete equipment training service in support of its global customer base configured on a single, comprehensive, training structure and methodology. This approach guarantees the quality and consistency of the training whilst allowing ChartWorld to monitor content, quality standards and recordkeeping through a single point of contact.One of the attractions of the MSG/Safebridge arrangement is the online E-Learning concept offered by Safebridge, which provides a perfect match to ChartWorld's own marketing strategy for the eGlobe ECDIS unit whilst still providing full coverage for more traditional classroom training that can include generic ECDIS training if required. Commenting on the new collaboration, Stephan Dimke, ChartWorld Sales Director, said:"A core part of the service and support concept behind the e-Series "ECDIS as a Service" offering is the training collaboration with MSG Marine Serve and Safebridge. The unique blend of ...

Issues of training and competency for ECDIS A number of shipping related organisations, including the International Group of P&I Clubs have issued a guidance note on the issues surrounding the training and competency for Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS).The Guidance note covers issues of training and competency for ECDIS and helps interpret IMO requirements for ECDIS training. There have been variances between flag states' on their interpretation on how to comply with the IMO standards in respect to the ECDIS regulations and training.These discrepancies have led to a concern that the interpretation of the training requirements might not meet with the minimum standards and this is concern. The guidance also defines training and familiarisation issues and makes recommendations to owners, trainers and equipment manufacturers and that other industry stakeholders.For more information, click hereSource: The Standard P&I Club

The Nautical Institute to address confusion in regard to ECDIS training The Nautical Institute announced today publication of Industry Recommendations for ECDIS Training to address confusion in regard to ECDIS training. The guidance has been issued by an industry group made up of leading international shipping industry organisations and organised and coordinated by The Nautical Institute.The guidance covers issues of training and competency for ECDIS and helps interpret IMO requirements for ECDIS training. Discrepancies have arisen between flag states' regulations and training that is aimed at meeting the IMO standards. Such discrepancy has led to a concern that training might risk not meeting the minimum standards - something of great concern to the shipping industry.There are two key dates for ECDIS this year - in January 2012 ECDIS Training came into force as part of the STCW 2010 Manila amendments and, from July 2012, mandatory carriage requirements start to be phased in.The organisations supporting this guidance want the industry to understand that ECDIS must be taught in the context of navigation, rather than just ECDIS operation. Ship owners and operators will require those who have taken generic training to be capable of demonstrating, in full, the competencies required by the ...

ECDIS training at Seagulls shore-based training centre in Norway Maritime Information Systems AS (MARIS) has signed an important agreement with Seagull AS covering cooperation on product specific ECDIS training at Seagull's shore-based training centre in Norway.The agreement between the two Norwegian maritime industry specialists marks the latest initiative by MARIS to develop a standard training package by assimilating information on leading training centres and approaching those in the ECDIS training business to offer cooperation and market MARIS' products and services."Our strategy is to identify crucial safety and environmental issues facing the hazardous cargo sector and develop and publish recommended criteria that will serve as benchmarks for the industry," said Steinar Gundersen, Deputy Chief Executive (Corporate), MARIS AS."There is demand for product specific ECDIS training and our strategy is to work with leading training institutes around the world to offer the end-users such product specific training."In conjunction with the International Maritime Organization and regional and national regulatory bodies MARIS supports the development of international conventions and global regulations that enhance the safe operation of vessels."We support global enforcement of conventions and regulations and encourage industry-wide acceptance of guidelines and recommendations. It is vital for MARIS to offer product specific training to ...

Aims to integrate the navigation and communications systems onboard ship Consilium and Orange Business Services have launched Current At Sea, a combined ECDIS and VSAT satcom package that aims to integrate the navigation and communications systems onboard ship.Consilium will provide dual-ECDIS systems which will be integrated with Orange's VSAT service and fully managed network (both terrestrial and satellite, including Inmarsat FleetBroadband connectivity), with the package being offered with a flat-fee.The modular system can also include voyage optimisation programs, fleet and ship management systems, and real-time monitoring applications."Current At Sea is a one-stop-shop solution that is not about simply replacing paper nautical charts with digital ones but is about completely rethinking business processes in order to improve safety, efficiency and costs," said Nicolas Roy, head of the network solutions business unit at Orange Business Services."This bundled, fixed-price offering with Consilium will help shipping companies revolutionise the way their vessels operate and significantly improve the way they do business."This new product will build on a June 2011 global cooperation agreement between Consilium and Orange through which Consilium globally markets Orange marine VSAT communication solutions through its 34 offices in 19 countries.Source: Digital Ship

Including STCW requirements on ECDIS training and certification MSG is pleased to have been chosen by BG Verkehr to provide training to help them fulfill their inspection obligations under the newly effective ECDIS mandate and the STCW requirements on ECDIS training and certification. Following discussion on the particular nature of BG Verkehr's responsibilities under both the ECDIS mandate for SOLAS vessels in accordance with the Paris MOU for equipment inspection and their approach to the responsibilities in the context of STCW, MSG MarineServe created a course tailored to those specific needs. The course was then delivered on 3 separate occasions covering 36 inspectors.According to Ulrich Schmidt, Head of the Ship Safety Department of BG Verkehr: "The training provided us, given the imminent requirement that most SOLAS ships be equipped with ECDIS, with first class preparation for the future controls in accordance with STCW." MSG, as authorised training agent for NG Sperry Marine, Transas Marine, Raytheon Anschuetz, JRC, Imtech und ChartWorld, was able to capitalize on its many years of experience on multiple ECDIS brands to demonstrate both flexibility and responsiveness in generating the complete course with full supporting documentation in a short period of time to allow BG Verkehr to ...

Class NK also issues MLC Certification ClassNK announced yesterday that it had issued generic training course approval to an Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) course offered by K Line Maritime Academy (Philippine) (KLMA (Phili)), a group company of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. The approval, which certifies that this course complies with International Maritime Organization (IMO) standards and the leading classification society's new Standard for Maritime Education & Training, is the first of its kind issued by ClassNK in the Philippines.ClassNK also issued certification for seafarer recruitment and placement service providers in line with the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC 2006) to another member of the "K" LINE Group, Manila-based manning company Ventis Maritime Corporation (VMC). The approval confirms the company's conformance with the standards set forth in Regulation 1.4 (Recruitment and Placement) of the MLC 2006 which was adopted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2006 to help ensure the safety and protect the rights of seafarers. New requirements for the installation of ECDIS systems are due to be phased in from July of this year. Under these requirements, it will become mandatory for vessels to use ECDIS as their primary means of navigation. In line with ...