Recent high profile incidents have raised the issue of training both in terms of systems and also ENCs. What is available in terms of training? What are the training considerations when transitioning from paper to e-Navigation? What’s available? What’s needed? What do you need to know to manage it well and what are the implications of getting it wrong?
Watch the video of a Panel Discussion and Audience Q&A from Session 4 from IEC09 on the subject of ECDIS Training, or read the full transcript below. Mark Broster from ECDIS Ltd is on the panel of experts.
20 Oct 2009 14:40 GMT
Video Duration: 26 mins 05 secs
http://insitu.mediasite.com/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=874b1971f3e74fe187fd73a2da06bc2b
Panel:
Melissa Hyak, Host (MH)
David Patraiko, Director of Projects, Nautical Institute (DP)
Captain Petter Brandt, Navigation Superintendent, Stolt Tankers BV (PB)
Mark Broster, Managing Director, ECDIS Ltd (MB)
MH: When you get software and hardware the manufacturers provide some form of training. Surely the motivation for these manufacturers is to provide training that would not sabotage their products so that you can use them safely. So, what is the difference between manufacturers training and specialised training? David.
DP: Yes, thank you. Not an area of particular expertise, but manufacturers are only required to provide documentation according to the IMO requirement. They are not required to provide training. Some of them do, some of them may even offer it for free but this is something that certainly the industry will have to develop as we get more complex systems. And I know that once we start going into areas like the INS standard there actually is a very mature requirement for familiarisation that will be built into that, but I know that one of the challenges for the manufacturers of course is that manufacturers fundamentally are not trainers. They tend to be engineers and if you want good training material there have to be resources to develop that.
MB: Can I have 30 seconds to introduce myself?
MH: Of course.
MB: Hi, my name is Mark Broster and I’ve spent the past six years either at sea working with ECDIS or delivering the Flag State approved course to just over a thousand mariners over the past six years. I’m an ex Royal Navy Fleet Navigator and recently I’ve been augmented back into the Royal Navy through the Reserves to basically take them through the whole Electronic Navigation process. I work for ECDIS Ltd which is a company that has pooled together the leading experts in ECDIS training at sea and ashore and we deliver training mobile. I would like to answer the question now, thank you. I think basically what you’re saying is ‘what is the difference between type specific and generic ECDIS training and what is the requirement?’ I’d like to make it quite clear that I think generic training is the most important thing, obviously as that is what’s mandated. It’s the principles of how to do electronic navigation that is the important bit. The type specific is really just a menu structure that can be conducted by either the manufacturers themselves or even a manual, dare I say it. The actual principles of navigation haven’t changed at all. How we’ve been navigating at sea for over a hundred years hasn’t changed in any way whatsoever, and the generic course takes those base principles and converts them into ECDIS. So, really, in answer to the question the generic ECDIS course is the most important thing, the type specific, the Rolls Royce scenario would be to have a full 5 day type specific course on the kit you’re going to use. But I don’t think that is practical so I suggest that ships do the full generic course and then request the manufacturers go onboard and show them through the menu structures should they not have the manual available.
MH: Captain Brandt, in your experience what value can you add in going outside for training?
PB: Well, our approach has been to, a little bit doubt the generic ECDIS training so, that is why we pull all our people through a CBT course as well as a refreshment training. For ships sailing on paper full ships, if you want to call it that, we put a lot more gunpowder into the type specific training course where we go through as much as possible of what’s in the IMO model course but adjusted to suit our needs from a commercial point of view as well. So that way we sort of gain benefits from both ends and it becomes rather efficient.
MH: David, from what you have said, how would you characterise this? Would you say that the knowledge gap on shore about ECDIS is greater than at sea?
DP: I think there are probably two different types of knowledge gap. I think that there is generally a misunderstanding with many shore management and particularly the purchasing department on what can be used for navigation and what can’t be used for navigation and what training requirements are there. Quite often we see that companies who aren’t as aware of the issues will budget for hardware and installation but then assume that either the training is included or that the training is not required, and then that comes outside the budget and there are pressures there. In terms of knowledge gap at sea, like I said, one of the most important things is that there is very much of a misunderstanding of most mariners as to what it is and what it can be used for. Like I said, most of the systems out there today are not ECDIS and should not be used for navigation. It is illegal to use it for navigation under SOLAS requirements and yet that is very much misunderstood, I think.
MH: People can’t tell the difference between ENCs and ECS. Why do you think unofficial data seems to be so popular, vis a vis official charts?
DP: I think there are two main reasons, one is cost, that they can be cheaper and two, is their functionality. They can be easier to use. You have a seamless vector catalogue for your trading pattern, particularly if you’re going around the world. It’s quite frankly much easier to use than something like a dual-fuelled.
MB: I honestly don’t know to be honest with you. It should be fairly obvious whether it is an ECDIS or not. You usually see the great big DNV badge on the system and hopefully people know. I’ve seen a huge general shift in trends now and people are wanting more and more ECDIS obviously, and all the stuff we talked about over the last two days makes absolute perfect sense, reducing costs etc. But, it is an educational process making sure people understand the difference between them. But, I’m not overly sure why that’s happening.
PB: Well, we are being scrutinised every other week. We have so many different organisations coming onboard doing inspections so we have procedures in place and our guys know.
MH: With the mandation of ECDIS we’re looking at something like, I read somewhere, correct me if I’m wrong, something like three hundred thousand people who have to be trained worldwide. So, we are looking at huge training capacity. Now, how concerned are you that there will be enough so called official trainers or correct trainers of correct quality, or could it happen that you might have sort of the case with ECS that you have so called cowboys coming onboard and saying, look, we can train you very well on ECDIS as well?
MB: Well, we’re actively recruiting if anyone is interested in a job! There is definitely a potential problem for this. I’ve heard figures of more than that. I’ve heard figures up to half a million people that need to be trained in this. It is an issue, a huge issue but I think you’re right on the sort of cowboy problem that may start to come in. I think the training has to be Flag State endorsed. I think it has to have layers of quality control. I think the course also has to be pass or fail. I think we have to up the standards of the course and there has to be feedback going back to the shipping company at the end of the course telling them how the students did. But it is a huge issue but I don’t think it is going to happen overnight. I don’t think we need to train these three hundred thousand people by next year. So there should be plenty of time to implement it.
MH: Now David, in your presentation you said that there has to be a guide. So, who do you like to see take up this responsibility? Perhaps one of the official institutions, the IMO perhaps? Is it moving fast enough when it comes to training?
DP: The training has to meet the implementation, and like I was saying there aren’t that many approved systems out there. And it’s only the approved systems that Flag administrations have approved for use as the primary navigation system that actually require the training. So, you get this huge grey area between there and you’re very right that in the run up to full implementation there probably will be a log-jam of getting people trained. As Petter said, not all training organisations are capable and we’re hearing that from a lot of ship managers. There really isn’t an approval system for ECDIS courses and perhaps that needs to be something that’s brought into the white list process for the IMO training requirement.
MH: So, you would like to see some sort of accreditation system perhaps?
DP: I think that would be good but who accredits and where the resources for doing that accreditation would come from would be a big issue to get around.
MH: Petter, you talked about having to shop around the world for the right people to train. Would an official accreditation help people?
PB: It would probably improve the chances of getting a visit from us.
MH: At this moment in time let me get some comment from Captain Ward about that. Captain Ward is from the IHB.
CW: I’m not in a position to really comment directly on the provision of training. You may recall yesterday I said that the IHO and its member states certainly have a very important role in advising the trainers on the appropriate use and interpretation of the chart information that is provided in ENCs. But, it would not be our role, I think, to actually either deliver the training or how to operate the ECDIS in a competent fashion, nor to be an endorsing authority for that. But I do know already that under the current regulations a number of maritime administrations have validated and authorised training based on the IMO model course. So there already is an accreditation process in place from a number of administrations, primarily those who have already issued implementation instructions for the use of ECDIS under the current SOLAS regulations.
QQ: Question from a member of the audience representing Singapore Maritime Academy, for PB. Normally, our safety training we normally always try and calibrate or, let’s say, validate it by talking to shipping companies and inspectors and other things. So, I just want to check from Stoldt, what is your experience from your internal auditors and your SIRE/CDI inspectors, are they able to do a very successful navigation audit onboard your ships which are paperless? Are they able to give you good feedback as to how the people are managing the paperless ship?
PB: Well, it’s difficult to qualify or quantify how successful the inspectors are, how good they are but, of the track records we have from our ships both from a safety point of view but also from an inspection remark point of view our paperless ships have been very successful. We had no value from either SIRE or CDI or state control inspectors and that is usually a good sign because you only hear the bad things from those people so they very seldom say anything positive. But the feedback from our crew is that it’s normally fairly straightforward inspections. They are usually quite impressed or that’s the impression our crew have of the response for the CDI inspections and the SIRE inspectors. They are impressed of what we’re doing. So, I guess that’s perhaps a quality mark.
MB: That’s a very good question. Further to the question that you asked, the ships at sea potentially know more about ECDIS than some of the support mechanisms ashore. It is very interesting, and the first time I can really think that this has happened, where the actual user knows more about the product than the people that assess them and support them as such, and maybe it is just because we need those people to leave the ships at sea, the experienced mariners at sea using ECDIS and come back into the shore side establishments to assess and to train and, maybe that’s going to happen more and more over the next five or ten years, but absolutely, it’s a good question and definitely the balance of power is with those who have been using it at sea and the knowledge. So it must be quite difficult actually for a superintendent who’s never used ECDIS at sea to be able to add some value to their life. Interesting.
MH: A good question has to be answered though. So how do you include the onshore teams?
MB: I think they should do the ECDIS course.
PB: Well, it is a matter of internal marketing and training. We need our good guys onboard the ships because that’s where the action is. Obviously, you need some experience shore side as well but we also do have a pretty good cooperation with our people, with our new building team, our take out team and such and they regularly come into the office and we have good communication, so we do share the experience internally.
MH: You talked about extensive familiarisation before people are let out but what are you referring to when you say extensive. I mean, how much familiarisation before the crew first sails on an ECDIS ship?
PB: If you talk about the ships still using paper charts which is a majority of the Fleet, although we have a programme in place now to start rolling out towards going paperless in a more larger scale, we made sure people had the basic ECDIS training when they went to ships with ECDIS. We had a number of ships that didn’t have a unit at all but when they came to serve on a ship with a chart system they also got the basic training in one way or another. Then we left them to work it out themselves, familiarise themselves with it, play around and figure it out and then, when we recruit people to go to the paperless ships they already have a lot of experience of working with the system which makes the learning process more in depth when you’re going to work solidly with the ECDIS and not have any paper charts anymore. Then that learning process is so much more successful.
MH: I can’t confess to love mathematics but I love numbers. I know that in terms of training there is a dispute out there. How many days do you train? Some seem to think a basic course of three days is enough but others say you need to do training up to two weeks, perhaps more. So, what would your recommendations be? David and then Mark.
DP: Well, as a representative of a professional body I’d probably have to extend it. But I do think the feedback that I get talking to some of the shipping companies and some of the training organisations themselves is that a potentially good, solid forty hour application generic is needed. That certainly less than forty hours for generic is too much of a challenge. Then, of course, the familiarisation aspect of it needs to be addressed on top of that and I think that is probably what we should be shooting for and probably what the market will bear.
MB: Yes. Really it depends I think, obviously as we talked about there, the standard of the students as well, and the experience of the students and also what you’re actually training. If you’ve got a five day ECDIS course and you make someone sit in a simulator for six hours watching their ship drive in and out of their base port, then you haven’t really added any value to their life on ECDIS training for the last six hours. So, if you have a good solid forty hour course and it’s pitched at the right level and the delegates for the course are of the right standard as well, which is very important, then that’s about right, I think, five days. But then as long as you have a familiarisation period at sea, as you say, before you actually go digital.
MH: Petter, your experience from day one of training to first day of sail?
PB: Well, I mean, we are not only looking at the view of safety perspective but we also have a commercial perspective. It needs to be handled in a proper way to make business sense. So, it’s quite difficult to say, it all depends on the prerequisites. If you have a person who has been working, he has been through a basic CBT which is, well, it could be debated on the quality of those but he’s been through that and been working and been a very interested person in how it works and educated himself or herself then I suppose you could go through the subject of the course rather quickly. But if you have never seen a system before, ever, then you need more training and I think we should aim at a set standard rather than a number of hours you need to go through training.
MB: Just to further enforce the point on familiarisation, I think that also has to be addressed. How long is familiarisation, as a guidance? Because it is a dangerous period, familiarisation at sea, because you’re trying to run a paper outfit and an ECDIS outfit. It really distracts the Officer Of the Watch who is trying to plot the position on two charts, effectively. I think we can give some guidance on that. Is it four months familiarisation, because that is also an equally dangerous time.
QQ: Question from Captain Saiw at APL. I would like to comment on ECDIS training. Currently, most Institute trainers are not ECDIS users themselves. I am myself involved in this ECDIS training. Actually, we learn a lot from those participants but then without experience of using ECDIS how are you going to train people? You know that the ECDIS, most of the time hangs. A lot of the time ECDIS hangs and you don’t know what to do. So, the focus on navigation most of the time is lost because they are focussing most of their time on trying to troubleshoot the ECDIS. What is wrong with the ECDIS rather than focussing on the navigation. So, I think it is very important to involve those people that are using ECDIS to conduct that part of the training.
MH: Thank you. Was there a question?
QQ: It is a comment rather than a question. One of the speakers said that it is not necessary to involve a person who has been using ECDIS.
MB: You could have made that into a question by asking how we do it. And actually you can. I think we need to work more with the Hydrographic Offices. I think the course needs to have specialists on there from the different departments, perhaps guest speakers in the middle of the course from someone who has recently done it, if not video clips or breakdowns of the recent enquiries, MAIB etc. and delegates from Hydrographic Offices. But yes, you are right, we need to make sure the instructors have practical application of ECDIS at sea.
PB: Yes, what we need to realise and be aware of is it is not enough to be very experienced to be a good trainer, you need to be a good trainer as well. You need both skills. Being a trainer is a specialist skill. So, you just can’t take anyone with experience and put that person in a classroom situation.
Debate ends.
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Adveto's New ECDIS 4000
/in Old Blog /by Neil SavagePRESS RELEASE
Thursday, 28 January 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ADVETO´s new ECDIS-4000 with unique functionalities certified by Det Norske Veritas (DNV)
DNV has certified that Adveto´s new ECDIS-4000 complies with all relevant regulations and standards for use onboard SOLAS vessels and High Speed Crafts.
ECDIS-4000 comes in three versions to give different users the most cost effective solution in relation to their needs.
In addition to all the mandatory hard- and software functionalities and features the ECDIS-4000 certificate also covers a number of unique features such as:
– ECDIS Security Internet Gate (ESIG) allowing the ECDIS to be connected to internet for both online ordering and download of charts from PRIMAR.
– Control Unit for remote quick, safe and easy selection of navigation functions
– A special Night Presentation developed in close collaboration with Norwegian High Speed Craft operators.
“With the type approval we have once again proven to be first in the world with special customer required functionalities in our systems” says Mr. Kent Sylvén, Managing Director of ADVETO. “The ESIG hardware allows the ECDIS-4000 to be connected to the internet and, after having planned the route, easily order the needed PRIMAR charts directly from the ECDIS and receive them shortly thereafter. With this tool you buy and pay only for the charts you need and you will always have the latest versions. It also reduces administrative work onboard and with the ship-owners.”
“The secure PRIMAR ECDIS Online™ service allows its ECDIS to receive real-time ENC updates directly from the PRIMAR database and thereby have the very latest navigational data at all times.” says Mr Kjell Olsen, Director of PRIMAR. “This solution has been developed and fully tested over the past year in close cooperation with Swedish ECDIS manufacturer Adveto, the first PRIMAR distributor to implement it fully and to have the Security Internet Gate (ESIG) type approved as part of its ECDIS-4000 certificate.”
“The Control Unit,” says Mr. Sylvén “can be mounted on the armrest of a bridge chair and used for remote quick, safe and easy selection of navigation functions. A tool that has been highly appreciated especially by the High Speed Craft operators.”
“The special Night Presentation was developed on a direct request from the Norwegian Fast Ferry operators to eliminate the risk for blinding the bridge crew during night navigation.” says Mr. Sylvén.
He summarizes “I’m convinced that with those and many more features in our new ECDIS-4000 we stand a good chance to be a preferred supplier of type approved ECDIS to the shipping industry.”
ADVETO
ADVETO Advanced Technology AB has been in the Electronic Navigation branch since the mid 1980´s. Adveto systems are used all across the world in and around all continents by work boats, tow boats, ferries and ocean-crossing cruise-liners, pilot boats, and training ships. They have become increasingly popular onboard High Speed Crafts and especially with those operating in archipelagos. The majority of our users are still found in Scandinavia but with a rapidly growing number of users around the world. In addition to the National Maritime Administrations in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, the corresponding bodies in Poland, Spain and Argentina are also ADVETO users and so are customers in many important harbours around the world.
For further information:
Magnus Karlsson, Marketing Manager
ADVETO Advanced Technology AB
Box 8028, SE-163 08 SPÅNGA, SWEDEN
Tel: +46 8 366905
Mobile: +46 705 366908
Fax: +46 8 361885
E-mail: magnus.karlsson@adveto.se
Web: www.adveto.com
PRIMAR
The PRIMAR ENC service is operated by the Norwegian Hydrographic Service through a regional ENC coordinator centre (RENC) regime and distributor agreements with countries and ENC
suppliers. Currently offering more than 8 000 ENCs, it works with an international network of authorised distributors. Regular updates are provided by standard CDs, the PRIMAR Chart Catalogue, PRIMAR Online remote updating and PRIMAR ECDIS Online™. ENCs from PRIMAR meet IMO SOLAS chart carriage requirements when kept uptodate and used in conjunction with a type-approved electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS) plus appropriate backup.
For further information:
Capt Sach Sharma, Market Relations Manager,
PRIMAR, Norwegian Hydrographic Service
Tel: +47 51 85 87 86
Mobile: +47 46 84 00 76
Fax: +47 51 85 87 01
E-mail: sach.sharma@statkart.no
Web: www.primar.org
ECDIS Ltd Train CERES LNG
/in Old Blog /by Neil SavagePRESS RELEASEECDIS Ltd Train CERES LNGECDIS training company Ecdis Ltd of the UK have delivered the first tranche of training with CERES LNG of Greece. Two more courses are planned. The ECDIS training course was conducted at CERES Head Office in Piraeus using ECDIS Ltd mobile training. ECDIS Ltd delivered their 5 day Flag State approved IMO 1.27 course using PC Maritime software.
In addition to the IMO 1.27 model, the course contained advanced elements of Route Planning, Pilotage, DR and EP development during GPS failure and failure of the main bridge terminals. A series of comprehensive exercises and exams was also involved. In order to develop safe Electronic Navigation operating procedures for CERES ships, the course also covered Deck Officer handover routines and the use of bespoke ‘check-off cards’.
Mark Broster, Managing Director at ECDIS Ltd said, “It is good to see that CERES LNG is using our expertise to develop their ECDIS navigation skills. It speaks volumes for our course that a company that maintains the highest of all safety at sea standards have chosen ECDIS Ltd for their training.”
“It was a pleasure to have the expertise and professionalism of ECDIS Ltd in our establishment,” says Konstantinou Iraklis, HSSE Coordinator of CERES LNG. “We share their commitment to provide the best training for safe navigation at sea and they have increased the ECDIS knowledge of our Mariners to the highest standard.”
ECDIS Ltd
ECDIS Ltd provides navigation training and consultation in Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS). They specialise in providing Flag State approved IMO model ECDIS courses to be taught on any IMO accredited ECDIS. Their equipment is fully portable which allows training to be conducted in a location of the customer’s choosing, even onboard if facilities can support it. Ecdis Ltd trainers are highly experienced in the practical use of ECDIS, and combined have taught and accredited over 1000 mariners. Their ECDIS training is endorsed and accredited by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
For further information:
Malcolm Instone
Director of Operations & Standards
ECDIS Ltd
2nd Floor
43 Broomfield Road
Chelmsford
Essex
United Kingdom
CM1 1SY
Tel: +44 203 0868880
Email: instone@ecdis.org.uk
Web: www.ecdis.org.uk
CERES LNG
Ceres LNG’s reputation has been earned as one of the world’s leading marine services providers in the LNG sector. As each ship leaves port we are keenly aware of our responsibility toward ensuring the safe passage of our people, our cargoes and our environment. Ceres LNG’s services cover every aspect of ship management. On and off-shore our employees are supported by world-class management practices, as well as state-of-the-art technologies in communications and marine safety. We are prepared and eager to forge strategic, long-term alliances with our clients, not only to meet their existing needs but also to enable them to explore new opportunities for stability, diversity and growth. Our dedication and commitment to safety is based on innovative and forward thinking. The future of Ceres LNG will continue to be closely linked with the future of the seas.
For further information:
Mr Konstantinou Iraklis
HSSE Coordinator
Ceres LNG Services Ltd
69 , Akti Miaouli
Piraeus
Greece
Tel: +30 210 4591276
Mobile: +30 6958 462710
Fax: +30 210 4591246
E-mail: ikonstantinou@cereslng.com
Web: www.cereslng.com
International ECDIS Conference 09 (IEC09)
/in Old Blog /by Neil SavageRecent high profile incidents have raised the issue of training both in terms of systems and also ENCs. What is available in terms of training? What are the training considerations when transitioning from paper to e-Navigation? What’s available? What’s needed? What do you need to know to manage it well and what are the implications of getting it wrong?
Watch the video of a Panel Discussion and Audience Q&A from Session 4 from IEC09 on the subject of ECDIS Training, or read the full transcript below. Mark Broster from ECDIS Ltd is on the panel of experts.
20 Oct 2009 14:40 GMT
Video Duration: 26 mins 05 secs
http://insitu.mediasite.com/mediasite/Viewer/?peid=874b1971f3e74fe187fd73a2da06bc2b
Panel:
Melissa Hyak, Host (MH)
David Patraiko, Director of Projects, Nautical Institute (DP)
Captain Petter Brandt, Navigation Superintendent, Stolt Tankers BV (PB)
Mark Broster, Managing Director, ECDIS Ltd (MB)
MH: When you get software and hardware the manufacturers provide some form of training. Surely the motivation for these manufacturers is to provide training that would not sabotage their products so that you can use them safely. So, what is the difference between manufacturers training and specialised training? David.
DP: Yes, thank you. Not an area of particular expertise, but manufacturers are only required to provide documentation according to the IMO requirement. They are not required to provide training. Some of them do, some of them may even offer it for free but this is something that certainly the industry will have to develop as we get more complex systems. And I know that once we start going into areas like the INS standard there actually is a very mature requirement for familiarisation that will be built into that, but I know that one of the challenges for the manufacturers of course is that manufacturers fundamentally are not trainers. They tend to be engineers and if you want good training material there have to be resources to develop that.
MB: Can I have 30 seconds to introduce myself?
MH: Of course.
MB: Hi, my name is Mark Broster and I’ve spent the past six years either at sea working with ECDIS or delivering the Flag State approved course to just over a thousand mariners over the past six years. I’m an ex Royal Navy Fleet Navigator and recently I’ve been augmented back into the Royal Navy through the Reserves to basically take them through the whole Electronic Navigation process. I work for ECDIS Ltd which is a company that has pooled together the leading experts in ECDIS training at sea and ashore and we deliver training mobile. I would like to answer the question now, thank you. I think basically what you’re saying is ‘what is the difference between type specific and generic ECDIS training and what is the requirement?’ I’d like to make it quite clear that I think generic training is the most important thing, obviously as that is what’s mandated. It’s the principles of how to do electronic navigation that is the important bit. The type specific is really just a menu structure that can be conducted by either the manufacturers themselves or even a manual, dare I say it. The actual principles of navigation haven’t changed at all. How we’ve been navigating at sea for over a hundred years hasn’t changed in any way whatsoever, and the generic course takes those base principles and converts them into ECDIS. So, really, in answer to the question the generic ECDIS course is the most important thing, the type specific, the Rolls Royce scenario would be to have a full 5 day type specific course on the kit you’re going to use. But I don’t think that is practical so I suggest that ships do the full generic course and then request the manufacturers go onboard and show them through the menu structures should they not have the manual available.
MH: Captain Brandt, in your experience what value can you add in going outside for training?
PB: Well, our approach has been to, a little bit doubt the generic ECDIS training so, that is why we pull all our people through a CBT course as well as a refreshment training. For ships sailing on paper full ships, if you want to call it that, we put a lot more gunpowder into the type specific training course where we go through as much as possible of what’s in the IMO model course but adjusted to suit our needs from a commercial point of view as well. So that way we sort of gain benefits from both ends and it becomes rather efficient.
MH: David, from what you have said, how would you characterise this? Would you say that the knowledge gap on shore about ECDIS is greater than at sea?
DP: I think there are probably two different types of knowledge gap. I think that there is generally a misunderstanding with many shore management and particularly the purchasing department on what can be used for navigation and what can’t be used for navigation and what training requirements are there. Quite often we see that companies who aren’t as aware of the issues will budget for hardware and installation but then assume that either the training is included or that the training is not required, and then that comes outside the budget and there are pressures there. In terms of knowledge gap at sea, like I said, one of the most important things is that there is very much of a misunderstanding of most mariners as to what it is and what it can be used for. Like I said, most of the systems out there today are not ECDIS and should not be used for navigation. It is illegal to use it for navigation under SOLAS requirements and yet that is very much misunderstood, I think.
MH: People can’t tell the difference between ENCs and ECS. Why do you think unofficial data seems to be so popular, vis a vis official charts?
DP: I think there are two main reasons, one is cost, that they can be cheaper and two, is their functionality. They can be easier to use. You have a seamless vector catalogue for your trading pattern, particularly if you’re going around the world. It’s quite frankly much easier to use than something like a dual-fuelled.
MB: I honestly don’t know to be honest with you. It should be fairly obvious whether it is an ECDIS or not. You usually see the great big DNV badge on the system and hopefully people know. I’ve seen a huge general shift in trends now and people are wanting more and more ECDIS obviously, and all the stuff we talked about over the last two days makes absolute perfect sense, reducing costs etc. But, it is an educational process making sure people understand the difference between them. But, I’m not overly sure why that’s happening.
PB: Well, we are being scrutinised every other week. We have so many different organisations coming onboard doing inspections so we have procedures in place and our guys know.
MH: With the mandation of ECDIS we’re looking at something like, I read somewhere, correct me if I’m wrong, something like three hundred thousand people who have to be trained worldwide. So, we are looking at huge training capacity. Now, how concerned are you that there will be enough so called official trainers or correct trainers of correct quality, or could it happen that you might have sort of the case with ECS that you have so called cowboys coming onboard and saying, look, we can train you very well on ECDIS as well?
MB: Well, we’re actively recruiting if anyone is interested in a job! There is definitely a potential problem for this. I’ve heard figures of more than that. I’ve heard figures up to half a million people that need to be trained in this. It is an issue, a huge issue but I think you’re right on the sort of cowboy problem that may start to come in. I think the training has to be Flag State endorsed. I think it has to have layers of quality control. I think the course also has to be pass or fail. I think we have to up the standards of the course and there has to be feedback going back to the shipping company at the end of the course telling them how the students did. But it is a huge issue but I don’t think it is going to happen overnight. I don’t think we need to train these three hundred thousand people by next year. So there should be plenty of time to implement it.
MH: Now David, in your presentation you said that there has to be a guide. So, who do you like to see take up this responsibility? Perhaps one of the official institutions, the IMO perhaps? Is it moving fast enough when it comes to training?
DP: The training has to meet the implementation, and like I was saying there aren’t that many approved systems out there. And it’s only the approved systems that Flag administrations have approved for use as the primary navigation system that actually require the training. So, you get this huge grey area between there and you’re very right that in the run up to full implementation there probably will be a log-jam of getting people trained. As Petter said, not all training organisations are capable and we’re hearing that from a lot of ship managers. There really isn’t an approval system for ECDIS courses and perhaps that needs to be something that’s brought into the white list process for the IMO training requirement.
MH: So, you would like to see some sort of accreditation system perhaps?
DP: I think that would be good but who accredits and where the resources for doing that accreditation would come from would be a big issue to get around.
MH: Petter, you talked about having to shop around the world for the right people to train. Would an official accreditation help people?
PB: It would probably improve the chances of getting a visit from us.
MH: At this moment in time let me get some comment from Captain Ward about that. Captain Ward is from the IHB.
CW: I’m not in a position to really comment directly on the provision of training. You may recall yesterday I said that the IHO and its member states certainly have a very important role in advising the trainers on the appropriate use and interpretation of the chart information that is provided in ENCs. But, it would not be our role, I think, to actually either deliver the training or how to operate the ECDIS in a competent fashion, nor to be an endorsing authority for that. But I do know already that under the current regulations a number of maritime administrations have validated and authorised training based on the IMO model course. So there already is an accreditation process in place from a number of administrations, primarily those who have already issued implementation instructions for the use of ECDIS under the current SOLAS regulations.
QQ: Question from a member of the audience representing Singapore Maritime Academy, for PB. Normally, our safety training we normally always try and calibrate or, let’s say, validate it by talking to shipping companies and inspectors and other things. So, I just want to check from Stoldt, what is your experience from your internal auditors and your SIRE/CDI inspectors, are they able to do a very successful navigation audit onboard your ships which are paperless? Are they able to give you good feedback as to how the people are managing the paperless ship?
PB: Well, it’s difficult to qualify or quantify how successful the inspectors are, how good they are but, of the track records we have from our ships both from a safety point of view but also from an inspection remark point of view our paperless ships have been very successful. We had no value from either SIRE or CDI or state control inspectors and that is usually a good sign because you only hear the bad things from those people so they very seldom say anything positive. But the feedback from our crew is that it’s normally fairly straightforward inspections. They are usually quite impressed or that’s the impression our crew have of the response for the CDI inspections and the SIRE inspectors. They are impressed of what we’re doing. So, I guess that’s perhaps a quality mark.
MB: That’s a very good question. Further to the question that you asked, the ships at sea potentially know more about ECDIS than some of the support mechanisms ashore. It is very interesting, and the first time I can really think that this has happened, where the actual user knows more about the product than the people that assess them and support them as such, and maybe it is just because we need those people to leave the ships at sea, the experienced mariners at sea using ECDIS and come back into the shore side establishments to assess and to train and, maybe that’s going to happen more and more over the next five or ten years, but absolutely, it’s a good question and definitely the balance of power is with those who have been using it at sea and the knowledge. So it must be quite difficult actually for a superintendent who’s never used ECDIS at sea to be able to add some value to their life. Interesting.
MH: A good question has to be answered though. So how do you include the onshore teams?
MB: I think they should do the ECDIS course.
PB: Well, it is a matter of internal marketing and training. We need our good guys onboard the ships because that’s where the action is. Obviously, you need some experience shore side as well but we also do have a pretty good cooperation with our people, with our new building team, our take out team and such and they regularly come into the office and we have good communication, so we do share the experience internally.
MH: You talked about extensive familiarisation before people are let out but what are you referring to when you say extensive. I mean, how much familiarisation before the crew first sails on an ECDIS ship?
PB: If you talk about the ships still using paper charts which is a majority of the Fleet, although we have a programme in place now to start rolling out towards going paperless in a more larger scale, we made sure people had the basic ECDIS training when they went to ships with ECDIS. We had a number of ships that didn’t have a unit at all but when they came to serve on a ship with a chart system they also got the basic training in one way or another. Then we left them to work it out themselves, familiarise themselves with it, play around and figure it out and then, when we recruit people to go to the paperless ships they already have a lot of experience of working with the system which makes the learning process more in depth when you’re going to work solidly with the ECDIS and not have any paper charts anymore. Then that learning process is so much more successful.
MH: I can’t confess to love mathematics but I love numbers. I know that in terms of training there is a dispute out there. How many days do you train? Some seem to think a basic course of three days is enough but others say you need to do training up to two weeks, perhaps more. So, what would your recommendations be? David and then Mark.
DP: Well, as a representative of a professional body I’d probably have to extend it. But I do think the feedback that I get talking to some of the shipping companies and some of the training organisations themselves is that a potentially good, solid forty hour application generic is needed. That certainly less than forty hours for generic is too much of a challenge. Then, of course, the familiarisation aspect of it needs to be addressed on top of that and I think that is probably what we should be shooting for and probably what the market will bear.
MB: Yes. Really it depends I think, obviously as we talked about there, the standard of the students as well, and the experience of the students and also what you’re actually training. If you’ve got a five day ECDIS course and you make someone sit in a simulator for six hours watching their ship drive in and out of their base port, then you haven’t really added any value to their life on ECDIS training for the last six hours. So, if you have a good solid forty hour course and it’s pitched at the right level and the delegates for the course are of the right standard as well, which is very important, then that’s about right, I think, five days. But then as long as you have a familiarisation period at sea, as you say, before you actually go digital.
MH: Petter, your experience from day one of training to first day of sail?
PB: Well, I mean, we are not only looking at the view of safety perspective but we also have a commercial perspective. It needs to be handled in a proper way to make business sense. So, it’s quite difficult to say, it all depends on the prerequisites. If you have a person who has been working, he has been through a basic CBT which is, well, it could be debated on the quality of those but he’s been through that and been working and been a very interested person in how it works and educated himself or herself then I suppose you could go through the subject of the course rather quickly. But if you have never seen a system before, ever, then you need more training and I think we should aim at a set standard rather than a number of hours you need to go through training.
MB: Just to further enforce the point on familiarisation, I think that also has to be addressed. How long is familiarisation, as a guidance? Because it is a dangerous period, familiarisation at sea, because you’re trying to run a paper outfit and an ECDIS outfit. It really distracts the Officer Of the Watch who is trying to plot the position on two charts, effectively. I think we can give some guidance on that. Is it four months familiarisation, because that is also an equally dangerous time.
QQ: Question from Captain Saiw at APL. I would like to comment on ECDIS training. Currently, most Institute trainers are not ECDIS users themselves. I am myself involved in this ECDIS training. Actually, we learn a lot from those participants but then without experience of using ECDIS how are you going to train people? You know that the ECDIS, most of the time hangs. A lot of the time ECDIS hangs and you don’t know what to do. So, the focus on navigation most of the time is lost because they are focussing most of their time on trying to troubleshoot the ECDIS. What is wrong with the ECDIS rather than focussing on the navigation. So, I think it is very important to involve those people that are using ECDIS to conduct that part of the training.
MH: Thank you. Was there a question?
QQ: It is a comment rather than a question. One of the speakers said that it is not necessary to involve a person who has been using ECDIS.
MB: You could have made that into a question by asking how we do it. And actually you can. I think we need to work more with the Hydrographic Offices. I think the course needs to have specialists on there from the different departments, perhaps guest speakers in the middle of the course from someone who has recently done it, if not video clips or breakdowns of the recent enquiries, MAIB etc. and delegates from Hydrographic Offices. But yes, you are right, we need to make sure the instructors have practical application of ECDIS at sea.
PB: Yes, what we need to realise and be aware of is it is not enough to be very experienced to be a good trainer, you need to be a good trainer as well. You need both skills. Being a trainer is a specialist skill. So, you just can’t take anyone with experience and put that person in a classroom situation.
Debate ends.
International ECDIS Conference 09 (IEC 09)
/in Old Blog /by Neil SavageView presentations and debate from IEC 09, to which ECDIS Ltd attended and contributed.
www.ecdis09.com
http://iec09live.wordpress.com
http://iec09live.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/but-who-will-guard-the-guards-themselves/
ECDIS Ltd och ADVETO tecknar samarbetsavtal
/in Old Blog /by Neil SavageECDIS Ltd i Storbritannien, som erbjuder ECDIS utbildning, och ADVETO AB har tecknat ett samarbetsavtal som innebär att ECDIS Ltd kommer att utbilda kunder på ADVETOs ECDIS 4000. ECDIS Ltd söker aktivt partnerskap med välrenommerade ECDIS tillverkare som erbjuder typgodkända system.
Malcolm Instone, Operativ chef på ECDIS Ltd säger, “Vi är glada över samarbetet med ADVETO. När kunden har köpt ett ECDIS så vill han inte bara ha ett användarvänligt och kapabelt system utan också känna trygghet i att det används korrekt och säkert. Vi kan erbjuda ADVETOs kunder myndighetsgodkänd ECDIS utbildning och träning nu när IMO har beslutat att göra ECDIS användning ombord obligatoriskt på ett stort antal fartyg”.
“ECDIS Ltd kommer i tillägg till utbildningen också att agera som ADVETOs återförsäljare vilket passar väl in i vår tillväxtstrategi” säger Magnus Karlsson, Marknadschef på ADVETO. ”Med ECDIS Ltd anställdas långa erfarenhet av elektronisk navigering känner vi oss säkra på att kunden får en bra utbildning och att ECDIS Ltd opartiskt hjälper kunderna att finna det för dem mest kostnadseffektiva ECDIS”
ECDIS Ltd
ECDIS Ltd genomför utbildning och rådgivning till användare av Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS). De genomför myndighetsgodkänd IMO reglerad utbildning på typgodkända ECDIS. Systemen som används är bärbara och utbildningen kan därför genomföras varhelst kunden önskar så även ombord. Lärarna från ECDIS Ltd har lång erfarenhet av navigering med ECDIS och har utbildat och examinerat mer än
1000 användare. Utbildningen är kontrollerad och godkänd av Kustbevaknings- och Marina myndigheter.
För ytterligare information:
Malcolm Instone
Director of Operations & Standards
ECDIS Ltd
2nd Floor
43 Broomfield Road
Chelmsford
Essex
United Kingdom
CM1 1SY
Tel: +44 203 0868880
Email: instone@ecdis.org.uk
Web: www.ecdis.org.uk
ADVETO
ADVETO Advanced Technology har utvecklat elektroniska navigationssystem sedan mitten på 1980-talet. ADVETOs system används jorden över ombord på arbetsbåtar, bogserbåtar, färjor, oceangående kryssningsfartyg, lotsbåtar, lastfartyg och tankers samt utbildningsfartyg. Systemen uppskattas i allt högre grad ombord på höghastighetsfartyg och i synnerhet hos dem som navigerar i trånga vatten så som i våra Nordiska skärgårdar. Huvuddelen av ADVETO-systemens användare återfinns i
Skandinavien men med en snabbt växande internationell kundkrets. Utöver
Sjöfartsverken i Sverige, Norge och Danmark använder motsvarande organisationer i Polen, Spanien och Argentina ADVETOs system. Dessutom finns ett stort antal användare i ett antal betydelsefulla hamnar jorden runt.
För ytterligare information:
Magnus Karlsson, Marknadschef
ADVETO Advanced Technology AB
Box 8028, SE-163 08 SPÅNGA, SWEDEN
Tel: 08 366905
Mobile: 0705 366908
Fax: 08 361885
E-mail: magnus.karlsson@adveto.se
Web: www.adveto.com
ECDIS Ltd Announces Partnership with ADVETO
/in Old Blog /by Neil SavageECDIS Ltd Announces Partnership with ADVETO
ECDIS training company ECDIS Ltd of the UK and ADVETO of Sweden have entered into partnership in order to provide customers with portable training on ADVETO’s ECDIS 4000. ECDIS Ltd is actively seeking to partner reliable ECDIS manufacturers with type approved systems.
Malcolm Instone, Director of Operations at ECDIS Ltd added, “We are delighted to form a partnership with ADVETO. When an ECDIS is sold the customer wants not only a user friendly and capable system, but also to be confident in utilising it correctly and safely. We can offer ADVETO customers our Flag State approved ECDIS training course at a time when the IMO has decided to make ECDIS carriage mandatory”.
“ECDIS Ltd will in addition to the training also act as an ADVETO retail partner, which fits well into our growth strategy” says Magnus Karlsson, Marketing Manager of ADVETO. “With ECDIS Ltd well trained staff and their Electronic Navigation experience we are certain the customers will be well trained and that ECDIS Ltd will, in a nonbiased way advise potential customers on the most cost effective ECDIS System”.
ECDIS Ltd
ECDIS Ltd provides navigation training and consultation in Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS). They specialise in providing Flag State approved IMO model ECDIS courses to be taught on any IMO accredited ECDIS. Their equipment is fully portable which allows training to be conducted in a location of the customer’s choosing, even onboard if facilities can support it. Ecdis Ltd trainers are highly experienced in the practical use of ECDIS, and combined have taught and accredited over 1000 mariners. Their ECDIS training is endorsed and accredited by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
For further information:
Malcolm Instone
Director of Operations & Standards
ECDIS Ltd
2nd Floor
43 Broomfield Road
Chelmsford
Essex
United Kingdom
CM1 1SY
Tel: +44 203 0868880
Email: instone@ecdis.org.uk
Web: www.ecdis.org.uk
ADVETO
ADVETO Advanced Technology AB has been in the Electronic Navigation branch since the mid 1980´s. Adveto systems are used all across the world in and around all continents by work boats, tow boats, ferries and ocean-crossing cruise-liners, pilot boats, and training ships. They have become increasingly popular onboard High Speed Crafts and especially with those operating in archipelagos. The majority of our users are still found in Scandinavia but with a rapidly growing number of users around the world. In addition to the National Maritime Administrations in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, the corresponding bodies in Poland, Spain and Argentina are also ADVETO users and so are customers in many important harbours around the world.
For further information:
Magnus Karlsson
Marketing Manager
ADVETO Advanced Technology AB
Box 8028, SE-163 08 SPÅNGA
SWEDEN
Tel: +46 8 366905
Mobile: +46 705 366908
Fax: +46 8 361885
E-mail: magnus.karlsson@adveto.se
Web: www.adveto.com
ADVETO enters the Indian Marine Market
/in ECDIS Ltd /by Neil SavageADVETO enters the Indian Marine Market
ADVETO and Navtek in India have entered into an agreement giving ADVETO sales and service coverage in and around India. ADVETO is expanding its presence throughout the globe by partnering with well known, reliable companies within the field of Marine Electronics. This is a direct consequence of the rapid growth of ADVETO’s ECDIS-4000 users.
“The renowned ECDIS from ADVETO and the company’s long experience in maritime navigation makes it a perfect fit into our offer to the Shipping Industry” says Shiva, GM sales of Navtek. “The timing is perfect with the growing number of ships in the Indian waters using ECDIS.”
“We couldn’t have found a better partner than Navtek with its sales and service centres covering all important cities and ports of India” says Magnus Karlsson, Marketing Manager of ADVETO. “The Indian shipping industry is one of the fastest growing and with the IMO decision to make ECDIS mandatory onboard all SOLAS ships above 500 gt we expect to see a continues growth of our ECDIS-4000 users also in India”.
ADVETO
ADVETO Advanced Technology AB has been in the Electronic Navigation branch since the mid 1980´s. Adveto systems are used all across the world in and around all continents by work boats, tow boats, ferries and ocean-crossing cruise-liners, pilot boats, and training ships. They have become increasingly popular onboard High Speed Crafts and especially with those operating in archipelagos. The majority of our users are still found in Scandinavia but with a rapidly growing number of users around the world. In addition to the National Maritime Administrations in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, the corresponding bodies in Poland, Spain and Argentina are also ADVETO users and so are customers in many important harbours around the world.
For further information:
Magnus Karlsson, Marketing Manager
ADVETO Advanced Technology AB
Box 8028, SE-163 08 SPÅNGA, SWEDEN
Tel: +46 8 366905
Mobile: +46 705 366908
Fax: +46 8 361885
E-mail: magnus.karlsson@adveto.se
Web: www.adveto.com
Navtek
Specialised in marine communication & maritime security, Navtek is a company based out of Chennai with service centres in all major ports of India and sales offices in Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, Vishakapatinam & Kakinada. Run by Radio Officers with years of experience in marine electronics, Navtek provides service to commercial & military vessels. Our service engineers are factory and GMDSS trained. We sell and maintain a wide range of equipments for commercial shipping like, ECDIS Satellite communications, GMDSS consoles, MF/HF, Radars , SVDRs, VDR, AIS, etc. In the Maritime security front we offer secure AIS, AIS base stations, under water diver detection systems, underwater netting, anti terrorist boat barriers and more…
For further information:
Mr. Shiva Shaktivel
General Manager
Navtek
T-29, 7th Avenue, Besant Nagar,
Chennai, 600 090 Tamil Nadu, INDIA
Tel: +91 9840089426
Fax: +91 44 24331326
Email: info@navtek.in
ADVETO expand into the West Coast and Alaska
/in ECDIS Ltd /by Neil SavageADVETO expand into the US West Coast and Alaska.
ADVETO and Harris Electric in Seattle are partnering to give ADVETO sales and service coverage in the North Pacific. ADVETO is expanding its presence throughout the globe by partnering with well known, reliable companies within the field of Marine Electronics. This is a direct consequence of the rapid growth of ADVETO’s ECDIS-4000 users.
“The idea of partnering with an innovative, high tech navigation firm like ADVETO is exciting.” says Erik Sundholm, President of Harris Electric. “Also, with the implementation of ECDIS and growing demand for vessel tracking systems, it is the perfect time for ADVETO to expand its global sales and service network.”
“We are pleased to have found such a strong partner with long and good reputation in one of our most important markets” says Magnus Karlsson, Marketing Manager of ADVETO. “The North Pacific is one of the most dense populated Fast Ferry regions in the world and with the IMO mandate to use type approved ECDIS we expect to see a continues growth of our ECDIS-4000 users.”
ADVETO
ADVETO Advanced Technology AB has been in the Electronic Navigation branch since the mid 1980´s. Adveto systems are used all across the world in and around all continents by work boats, tow boats, ferries and ocean-crossing cruise-liners, pilot boats, and training ships. They have become increasingly popular onboard High Speed Crafts and especially with those operating in archipelagos. The majority of our users are still found in Scandinavia but with a rapidly growing number of users around the world. In addition to the National Maritime Administrations in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, the corresponding bodies in Poland, Spain and Argentina are also ADVETO users and so are customers in many important harbours around the world.
For further information:
Magnus Karlsson, Marketing Manager
ADVETO Advanced Technology AB
Box 8028, SE-163 08 SPÅNGA, SWEDEN
Tel: +46 8 366905
Mobile: +46 705 366908
Fax: +46 8 361885
E-mail: magnus.karlsson@adveto.se
Web: www.adveto.com
Harris Electric
Harris Electric Inc. is a diverse company that has a marine orientation and more than 80 years experience. In addition to electrical contracting and a UL listed electrical panel manufacturing division, Harris Electric Inc. is one of the largest servicing marine electronics dealers on the US West Coast with locations in Seattle, Washington and Dutch Harbor, Alaska. For decades it has been serving a wide variety of marine customers in commercial fishing, work boats, passenger vessels and yachts all over the world, with a particular concentration on the North Pacific.
For further information:
Erik Sundholm, President
4020 23rd Avenue West
Seattle, WA 98199
Tel: +1 206-282-8080
Mobile: +1 800-319-8908
Fax 206-284-5521
E-mail: esundholm@harriselectricinc.com
Web: www.harriselectricinc.com
MaxSea and Ecdis Ltd Partnership
/in ECDIS Ltd /by Neil SavageMaxSea and Ecdis Ltd PartnershipWe are pleased to announce that MaxSea has formed a new partnership with ECDIS training company Ecdis Ltd, in order to provide customers with portable training on its Time Zero software. Ecdis Ltd will be exclusive MaxSea trainers in the UK.
ECDIS Ltd was formed to provide training, consultation and accreditation solutions in electronic charting. The company is accredited by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and employs a team of navigators and master mariners, who have between them taught and accredited over 1,000 seafarers. Ecdis Ltd equipment is fully portable so they can conduct training in a location of your choosing, even onboard if your facilities can support it.
“We have chosen Ecdis Ltd as our exclusive trainers in the UK because of their unique ability to take the training to the customer. The training they give and their experience will allow the customer to get the very best out of our products,” said MaxSea Managing Director Frederic Algalarrondo.
Malcolm Instone, Operations Director of ECDIS Ltd, added, “We are delighted to form a partnership with MaxSea. Whether you are yacht racing, commercial or more leisure inclined, Time Zero is a superb tool worth consideration for all your navigation requirements.”
Instruction in use of Ecdis is tipped to be on IMO agenda despite adding to owners’ costs
/in ECDIS Ltd /by Neil SavageTuesday 15 September 2009 Lloyds List by Craig Eason
Instruction in use of Ecdis is tipped to be on IMO agenda despite adding to owners’ costs
TRAINING in the use of electronic chart display and information systems could become mandatory for seafarers, adding to the expense of shipowners already facing the costs of compulsory Ecdis equipment on their vessels.
Next January, the committee within the International Maritime Organization that deals with standards in training and watchkeeping will meet and industry experts believe the lack of formal training in Ecdis will be high on the agenda.
Earlier this year, the IMO formally agreed to make the installation of Ecdis equipment mandatory on all ships that fall under the requirements of the Solas convention.
In many cases, with the requirement for back-up services and the move to paperless navigation, this will mean that ships will require two systems to be installed.
Equipment makers are now rushing to get their systems fully approved to meet this burgeoning market in what is seen as the most significant change in navigation since the invention of the radar about 100 years ago.
To date, there are understood to be about 25 fully compliant Ecdis models on the market. But each will vary in the systems they offer. The most basic could cost about $17,000 while the top of the range system, with a host of additional features and data inputs, could set a shipowner back $220,000 per unit. A small fortune if the vessel is to require two systems to be able to eliminate the use of paper charts.
But with the range of systems there is the need for training. There is an IMO model course, but this is neither mandatory nor, in some experts’ opinions, does it cover the key issues.
“It is woefully inadequate. It does not cover the reason why ships ground at all,” said one ex-navigator, who has worked on a range of Ecdis systems. He said there was a huge lack of understanding of the functions of Ecdis and supported the move to create a formal level of training for ships’ navigators. He added that traditionally cadets spend months at college learning about navigation with paper charts, yet there are only vague guidelines on teaching the use of a technology that is supposed to replace them.
Some flag states could be developing rules to make Ecdis training mandatory already, and more advanced shipping companies are believed to have placed Ecdis training as part of their International Safety Management code.
But such rules are not specified as mandatory, nor widespread, and often refer to officers requiring only a degree of familiarisation with Ecdis, such as in the port states inspection criteria for countries in the Paris Memorandum of Understanding.
Seafarer training colleges around the world have started offering Ecdis courses, as have a range of other providers. These are not compulsory, and in some cases not approved by a flag state.
There are concerns that should Ecdis training become mandatory, there are not enough training facilities, approved or not, to cater for the demand that could ensue. Experts think there could be up to half a million seafarers, who would need to be trained over the coming eight years.
The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency has approved a number of courses, one of which is a private training specialist, Ecdis Ltd. A founder of the company, Mal Instone, said seafarers were left with too little training and develop too much faith in the system.
He cited the incident in January 2008 when the P&O ferry Pride of Canterbury hit a submerged but charted wreck because the bridge team had been relying on an Ecdis, which was not being used on the best settings.
One of the limitations of an Ecdis chart, said Mr Instone, is the reduction of information available as a user zooms into a specific chart area — a little like using a larger scale chart but zooming in on a web based map on the internet. Known as scamin, or scale minimum, crucial information, which could include depth data, can be lost, as the screen would otherwise become too cluttered. “You have to understand the system, and you still have to understand navigation. The same skills are required,” Mr Instone said.
Ecdis Ltd insists on a five-day training course for navigators on the use of the technology. This includes learning how to use the Ecdis system without having a satellite fix input.
According to Mr Instone, many bridge teams rely too heavily on their global positioning satellite position fixes, which can be disrupted or inaccurate. Therefore, navigators should be able to use other data inputs to the Ecdis system to create a position fix.
According to the rules of the International Maritime Organization, all owners must have their vessels’ electronic chart display and information systems compliant between 2012 and 2018, depending on vessel type.
There have to be approved systems, knowledge of how to use the systems, and the right electronic charts to put into the hardware. There is currently a scramble to get the charts ready.
A proper Ecdis chart is known as S57 compliant, referring to the specifications set by the International Hydrographic Organization. Hydrographic offices of coastal states are converting their charts to this format, or getting more experienced hydrographic offices to do it for them.
An S57 compliant electronic navigation chart has to be deployed in an Ecdis, otherwise the system is considered a raster chart display service — raster charts are a scanned replication of the paper chart in an electronic display over which the vessel’s position can be laid, along with a voyage route.
Ecdis charts are more like databases of information that can be interrogated. They provide all of the navigation functionality of the raster chart but add capabilities such as additional alarms triggered by the chart data and the ability to remove some chart information to simplify the display. They also allow additional features to be used, such as weather routing, light and buoy details and even three-dimensional mapping.
Chart providers are in a position to make a lot of money with mandatory Ecdis, as a vessel sailing in a particular cell, a term for the specific Ecdis chart area, has no choice but to use it.
Hydrographic offices have been active in converting their paper charts to Ecdis versions. However, this means using an approved datum, a kind of zero sea level point and position, to ensure all the areas match each other. There are many paper charts that have areas that have not been surveyed for centuries. To become Ecdis compliant, such a chart could need to be resurveyed to ensure it is reported at the right datum, allowing vessels to sail in and out of cells seamlessly.
Mal Instone, a co-founder of the training provider Ecdis Ltd, said shipowners and ship masters are unaware of the issues at stake in the deployment of Ecdis and the lack of coverage that might still be lacking once Ecdis becomes mandatory.
The more profitable busy sea routes will have been converted to the right format, less-used charts will probably be last, if at all, he suggested.
The UKHO has its own brand of Ecdis data, and has signed contracts with other government HOs to develop and use its data, but it admits to having a programme of developing the major sea routes and ports first.
It has also set itself the ambitious target of achieving full coverage by the end of the year and to date has 9,500 encs in its vector chart service, covering 1,800 ports.
PC Maritime and Ecdis Ltd Partnership
/in ECDIS Ltd /by Neil SavagePartnership for ‘portable’ ECDIS training
(Sep 11 2009)
PC Maritime has formed a new partnership with specialist training company ECDIS Ltd, in order to provide its customers with ‘portable’ approved generic ECDIS training that can be conducted at a location of their choice.
ECDIS Ltd was formed in 2007 to provide training, consultation and accreditation solutions in electronic charting. The company employs a team of navigators and master mariners, who have between them taught and accredited over 1,000 seafarers.
“For many of our customers, getting their navigating officers to colleges for the generic ECDIS training is a major logistical problem, as well as a significant expense,” said PC Maritime marketing director Anne Edmonds.
“ECDIS Ltd, on the other hand, takes the training to the customer. We think this is a convenient and less expensive solution which will help our customers achieve the required training for their officers in time for the introduction of mandatory ECDIS.”
Malcolm Instone, operations director of ECDIS Ltd, added: “We are delighted to be able to offer our Flag State approved ECDIS training to PC Maritime customers. Our equipment is fully portable so we can conduct training in a location that suits the customer, even onboard if the facilities can support it.”
Ecdis Ltd feature in the Nautilus Telegraph
/in ECDIS Ltd /by Neil SavageRead “Not Just ECDIS Problems, but Solutions” by Peter Thornton of Ecdis Ltd as it appears in the Nautilus Telegraph at the link below.
http://www.nautilusint.org/Resources/Telegraph%20Files/September%202009.pdf
NOT JUST ECDIS PROBLEMS, BUT SOLUTIONS.
Introduction
Compared to paper charts, the benefits of ECDIS are astounding. Now is the time when users, trainers, manufacturers, companies and authorities have the chance to ensure that the future digital ship is one of confidence, not concern.
Globally, there is now a strong knowledge base of ship’s use, management and varying system’s capabilities and shortfalls that the ECDIS community needs to pool together to offer feed back into the regulators and manufacturers to make certain that tomorrow’s ECDIS and IBS’s are fit for purpose, the user is adequately trained and that confidence and reliability are words used to describe the next generation of ECDIS. ECDISltd aims to do just that.
Training
Since Electronic Chart Systems became available over 10 years ago and the subsequent development of Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems, many papers have been written with much concern being raised about the standards of such systems and the need for adequate training. This is of particular importance with the increasingly complex Integrated Bridge Systems available. With the IMO implementing a mandatory ECDIS fit programme commencing in 2012 for new builds and existing passenger and cargo ships, it would be surprising if the STW 41 finalisation of the revision of the STCW Convention and Code due in January 2010 does not include a significant change to current ECDIS training requirements. It is therefore widely expected that in the near future all certificated deck officers who navigate using an ECDIS (be it an IMO mandated fit or by choice) will by law, be required to have passed a Flag State approved ECDIS course.
Currently, training of personnel in critical systems such as ECDIS is not clearly stipulated in IMO or flag state legislation, even though there is an IMO model ECDIS course. Some companies are already taking measures to endeavour to satisfy their ISM code responsibilities by stipulating that their employees must have completed ‘an ECDIS course’ before being responsible for paperless digital navigation. However, courses that include an ECDIS element may not be flag state approved as an ‘ECDIS course’ as they are not the full IMO model. For example the Navigation Aids Radar ARPA Simulation (NARAS) course, which may well be compliant with STCW95 and include the word ECDIS on the certificate, may not be the full IMO model and hence not be accepted by a flag state as an approved ‘ECDIS course’. Only certain training organisations are able to offer an ECDIS certificate at this level. It is also of interest, that an increasing number of court cases are being reported, particularly in the USA, that even though training is not mandatory under international legislation, maritime courts of law are taking action in cases that involve a lack of training which directly contributes to maritime incidents with phrases such as ‘best practice’ or ‘duty of care’.
Bearing in mind what it was like ‘back in the days of paper’, joining a ship to take her to sea, as long as there were a couple of charts, tide tables, pencil, dividers and a parallel rule at hand, most deck officers could say they knew what to do. Now, even with generic ECDIS training, it is well known that ECDIS use is a very perishable skill. It may not be prudent to rely on the fact that an OOW, Navigator or Master having merely attended a basic IMO model course ‘at some point in the past’, and not necessarily on the same system employed by their company, is capable of joining a ship with an unfamiliar system; have enough time to consult the user manuals and remember what was taught on course to plan, prepare and set it to work legally; understand the information presented; be able to identify inaccuracies or software malfunctions and importantly, know how to manipulate the system in order to move away safely from the ‘red line’ if / when necessary.
Understanding the complexities of the transition to digital navigation is significant, to say the least. Companies need to realise just how much of an impact this change has and how this new way of navigation is not simply watching your ship on a screen magically getting to where it needs to be without having to do very much. It is especially important that companies respect the enormity of the task for a Master responsible for the ship, who has been at sea for 30 years using tried and trusted paper, to be confronted with no paper charts for reference; having to educate him/her self in how to navigate using a software programme; ensure that in their own mind the ship is safe and able to fulfil the charter agreement, while at the same time guiding and mentoring newly qualified OOWs in the meaning of life bobbing around the oceans. The more the community realises this, the more that will hopefully be done to aid the situation and consequently lessen the concerns surrounding fatigue and retention.
Keeping in mind the old saying ‘If you think safety is expensive…’ care must be taken by both the individual and management to ensure the user is competent in the use of a vessel’s ECDIS. Timely training and familiarisation is the key.
eFood for thought:
Wreck – Dangerous wreck / Obstruction – Depth unknown / Rock – Underwater, awash rock
Could be depth unknown or value of sounding known – only when interrogated. Separate to depth contour.
Sounding 5.5, reported, unreliable / therefore will not show up with safety contour
Area information – Caution area – could be T+P and date dependant
If unsure, ask. ECDISltd has put a lot of work into developing clear guidance and procedures for the use of ECDIS in the event of a GNSS failure, be it from loss of input, interference or no useable datum. The danger is not necessarily from complete failure of GNSS input, but is from the operator missing a significant degradation in the position source and subsequently standing the ship into danger without realising it. It is therefore important that the operator can identify inaccuracies in order to take action, determine the ship’s true position and be able to derive an EP the same as on a paper chart. Learning this skill is not only part of our courses but is something that should also be practiced at sea. Consider referring to a series of type specific check of cards.
Standards
Any ECDIS operator can see that many questions arise which require a deep understanding of the system compared to simply checking the paper chart. This issue is one of the greatest hurdles as it requires time to study the manuals, of each different system, however manufacturers do not necessarily highlight their equipment’s shortfalls.
A competent user is one who knows the minimum standard for legality and hence is able to spot a software malfunction that renders a system illegal in the eyes of the IMO. One might say that as long as the system holds an IMO type approval certificate then why worry. If a software glitch is observed, contact the manufacturer and have them fix it. Considering we’re talking about a computer based system, every time a ‘glitch’ or ‘anomaly’ arises, does the ship remain alongside? A confident user is one who knows the limitations and is therefore able to take measures to compensate. An efficient user is one who can set up the display for maximum effect dependent upon the operation at hand. This knowledge certainly develops with experience, both of the task and of different systems, but also by asking the right questions and ‘playing’ with the functions, as long as nothing goes too far wrong in the interim.
This can however be made a little easier by having yet more check lists, but due to the complexity of these systems, the importance of having clear operating guidance, check lists or parameters for OOW’s or certain situations, cannot be over stated. Trial and error with a bit of a ‘mish mash’ between ships and operators does not sit well with most Masters and Skippers that we deal with and the preferred option is a check card to work from, however it is important that sufficient flexibility remains for those in charge to use the system as they see fit.
Our intention to drive up standards is not just in the user, but in the ECDIS and ENCs themselves, which are just as, if not more, important than the ability of the user. The greater the clarity and reliability the system has, the less likely the user is to make a mistake.
For example, last year the MAIB report into the jack-up barge Octopus which ran aground being towed from Kirkwall to Seal
Skerry Bay in the Orkney Islands, recommended that:
There are now 25 ECDIS manufacturers that have achieved, or are in the process of achieving approval as a compliant ECDIS. It is clear that whilst some manufacturers will provide the minimum IMO sensor connection of; a continuous fixing positional system, heading information and speed information, others have developed inclusion of AIS, ARPA, echo sounders, anemometers and tidal information to name a few. It is important to remember that optional equipment may be added but neither sensor nor ECDIS must degrade one another for the ECDIS to remain IMO compliant or indeed safe. One of the founding `pillars` of the ECDISltd group is to monitor the varying standards and solutions available and to offer advice to regulators, manufacturers and the wider community. Sensor inputs integrated with displays that are taking digital navigation into the next phase include active forward facing echo sounders, mast head video for coral navigation, meteorological overlays, digital satellite imagery and so on, making the future, as long as your processing power is sufficient, very interesting.
ECDISltd would certainly like to see systems of the future with the following:
We are also aware that although OOW’s and Navigators get to ‘play’ with the system, the individual who has to approve the plan is the individual who has the greatest responsibility – the Master. Quality control and risk assessment are great terms however conducting such tasks on a system that is unfamiliar, in not very much time, is difficult if not downright risky! However, there are fixed or mobile short courses available that can aid Masters in developing ECDIS quality control with supporting cribs if desired.
Possible solutions:
All deck officers on paperless ships must have conducted an IMO model flag state approved ECDIS course.
ECDIS navigation is ingrained from joining as a cadet alongside paper navigation to appreciate the basics in both.
ECDIS forms a greater part in mandatory chart work exams for CoC’s.
ECDIS and IBS training must evolve and develop concurrently with systems in use.
More stringent internal and external ISM / Port State control audits on a vessels digital navigation organisation.
Stages to ECDIS operational capability.
Summary
ECDIS is not as clear or reliable as we would like it to be and ECDIS operation is a skill that perishes far quicker than paper chart work.
Differing systems make, “This is the way I was taught in the old days” impossible to justify or support, to say the least. Initial training, followed by regular use or re-familiarisation is a necessity if your aim is to maintain safety of navigation.
Paper chart work is learned at the very beginning of a career as a professional deck officer and similarly, for the private boat or yacht skipper or owner, it lies at the root of that personal voyage of discovery SOLAS now has a bearing on. Either way, chart work remains fundamental to a successful and safe outcome. The future is ECDIS and not paper just as octants have given way to GPS, so it comes as no surprise that these fundamentals of learning, understanding and competence in the basic tools of the trade must continue to apply.
Many personnel already have experience in using digital navigation systems, however it is all too apparent what happens when people use it without understanding it. A high level of training is now available and the MCA are taking a very close look at the not so high standards currently offered. The IMO has stipulated minimum standards expected of an ECDIS, including symbols that the IHO continues to update in the S52 library, which in order to stay legal, need to be displayed. We hope that with the onset of mandated ECDIS that the quality and clarity will continue to improve however, you may be assured that we at ECDISltd are already prepared and can offer you the benefit of our experience in your transition to ECDIS. The fact that so many manufactures are now in the game can work to the mariners advantage, for competition based upon the right price; relevance to a specific need; clarity; reliability and of course, how the system interfaces with the operator as the ultimate shipboard decision maker, the more likely it is to win. But we all know that evolution based upon natural selection takes many years. As ECDISltd is an independent and unbiased body, we are well placed to pass on our professional experience. We constantly strive to glean user and manager information, for the more information we receive, the better the analysis and the stronger the arguments for a particular line of development. This is not a new methodology but we do need to harness your knowledge and experience if we are to apply lessons learned to the benefit of future generations of seafarers and ECDIS.
The experience is out there and users must speak out to drive forward the development of ECDIS to ensure the highest levels of safety and confidence in the future. The solution is simple – timely training, feedback, improvement.
To offer experiences and thoughts, or to discuss ECDIS issues and training solutions further, please contact: info@ecdis.org.uk.
Peter Richard Thornton MBE MNI
Director ECDISltd
Peter Thornton is an MCA Master Mariner unlimited and an RYA Yacht Master with experience operating and training ECDIS and ECS on a range of vessels across the world. Employed by the ROYAL FLEET AUXILIARY as a specialist navigator the views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the MoD.
Ecdis Ltd Newsletter
/in ECDIS Ltd /by Neil SavageMaxSea and ECDIS Development
/in ECDIS Ltd /by Neil SavageMaxSea and ECDIS Development
Ecdis Ltd’s partnership with MaxSea continues to flourish. This month Mal Instone, Director of Operations conducted training in Biarritz on their latest product, Time Zero. Time Zero replaces MaxSea Version 12 and is an entirely new look utilising new technologies. The essence of Time Zero is the ability to seamlessly zoom from the world chart to the largest scale chart in a heartbeat. Other attributes include a superb weather feature, aided in design by Michel Desjoyeaux, Vendée Globe winner. MaxSea software has free and unlimited access to worldwide meteorological forecasts. A weather forecast is requested from MaxSea and is received by email. This data is fed into the system and the result is a weather picture overlay. The user can then advance the weather overlay to see how it will affect the boat over the route. The really clever part however, is that the system will analyse the data to predict the best route to your destination, given the conditions.
Time Zero is a superb tool for yachtsman, leisure and fishermen alike. The software facilitates 3D charting and image overlay utilising mapmedia charts. By viewing the chart in 3D the user is able to get a perspective like no other, with depths and heights allowing greater understanding of the surrounding environment. If that was not enough there is the ability to overlay this with 3D satellite imagery. Always looking to improve their product MaxSea are working on 3D technology that uses live echo sounder and sonar data to paint an accurate picture of the sea bed. This data is overlayed on a 3D Raster or Vector chart so that the two may be compared. Although Time Zero does not contain as many features as Version 12 at present, work is ongoing to incorporate them into future updates. Whether you are yacht racing, commercial or more leisure inclined, MaxSea Time Zero is a superb tool worth consideration for all your navigation needs.
Ecdis Ltd are exclusive MaxSea trainers in the UK. However, given the sophistication of MaxSea software we would also be very interested in utilising our expertise to work closely with MaxSea in developing their systems to full IMO approved ECDIS status.
A demo of Time Zero can be seen on our website on the Associates & Partners page.
Written by Mal Instone of Ecdis Ltd
Not just ECDIS problems, but solutions
/in ECDIS Ltd /by Neil SavageIntroduction
Compared to paper charts, the benefits of ECDIS are astounding. Now is the time when users, trainers, manufacturers, companies and authorities have the chance to ensure that the future digital ship is one of confidence, not concern.
Globally, there is now a strong knowledge base of ship’s use, management and varying system’s capabilities and shortfalls that the ECDIS community needs to pool together to offer feed back into the regulators and manufacturers to make certain that tomorrow’s ECDIS and IBS’s are fit for purpose, the user is adequately trained and that confidence and reliability are words used to describe the next generation of ECDIS. ECDISltd aims to do just that.
Training
Since Electronic Chart Systems became available over 10 years ago and the subsequent development of Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems, many papers have been written with much concern being raised about the standards of such systems and the need for adequate training. This is of particular importance with the increasingly complex Integrated Bridge Systems available. With the IMO implementing a mandatory ECDIS fit programme commencing in 2012 for new builds and existing passenger and cargo ships, it would be surprising if the STW 41 finalisation of the revision of the STCW Convention and Code due in January 2010 does not include a significant change to current ECDIS training requirements. It is therefore widely expected that in the near future all certificated deck officers who navigate using an ECDIS (be it an IMO mandated fit or by choice) will by law, be required to have passed a Flag State approved ECDIS course.
Currently, training of personnel in critical systems such as ECDIS is not clearly stipulated in IMO or flag state legislation, even though there is an IMO model ECDIS course. Some companies are already taking measures to endeavour to satisfy their ISM code responsibilities by stipulating that their employees must have completed ‘an ECDIS course’ before being responsible for paperless digital navigation. However, courses that include an ECDIS element may not be flag state approved as an ‘ECDIS course’ as they are not the full IMO model. For example the Navigation Aids Radar ARPA Simulation (NARAS) course, which may well be compliant with STCW95 and include the word ECDIS on the certificate, may not be the full IMO model and hence not be accepted by a flag state as an approved ‘ECDIS course’. Only certain training organisations are able to offer an ECDIS certificate at this level. It is also of interest, that an increasing number of court cases are being reported, particularly in the USA, that even though training is not mandatory under international legislation, maritime courts of law are taking action in cases that involve a lack of training which directly contributes to maritime incidents with phrases such as ‘best practice’ or ‘duty of care’.
Bearing in mind what it was like ‘back in the days of paper’, joining a ship to take her to sea, as long as there were a couple of charts, tide tables, pencil, dividers and a parallel rule at hand, most deck officers could say they knew what to do. Now, even with generic ECDIS training, it is well known that ECDIS use is a very perishable skill. It may not be prudent to rely on the fact that an OOW, Navigator or Master having merely attended a basic IMO model course ‘at some point in the past’, and not necessarily on the same system employed by their company, is capable of joining a ship with an unfamiliar system; have enough time to consult the user manuals and remember what was taught on course to plan, prepare and set it to work legally; understand the information presented; be able to identify inaccuracies or software malfunctions and importantly, know how to manipulate the system in order to move away safely from the ‘red line’ if / when necessary.
Understanding the complexities of the transition to digital navigation is significant, to say the least. Companies need to realise just how much of an impact this change has and how this new way of navigation is not simply watching your ship on a screen magically getting to where it needs to be without having to do very much. It is especially important that companies respect the enormity of the task for a Master responsible for the ship, who has been at sea for 30 years using tried and trusted paper, to be confronted with no paper charts for reference; having to educate him/her self in how to navigate using a software programme; ensure that in their own mind the ship is safe and able to fulfil the charter agreement, while at the same time guiding and mentoring newly qualified OOWs in the meaning of life bobbing around the oceans. The more the community realises this, the more that will hopefully be done to aid the situation and consequently lessen the concerns surrounding fatigue and retention.
Keeping in mind the old saying ‘If you think safety is expensive…’ care must be taken by both the individual and management to ensure the user is competent in the use of a vessel’s ECDIS. Timely training and familiarisation is the key.
eFood for thought:
Wreck – Dangerous wreck / Obstruction – Depth unknown / Rock – Underwater, awash rock
Could be depth unknown or value of sounding known – only when interrogated. Separate to depth contour.
Sounding 5.5, reported, unreliable / therefore will not show up with safety contour
Area information – Caution area – could be T+P and date dependant
If unsure, ask. ECDISltd has put a lot of work into developing clear guidance and procedures for the use of ECDIS in the event of a GNSS failure, be it from loss of input, interference or no useable datum. The danger is not necessarily from complete failure of GNSS input, but is from the operator missing a significant degradation in the position source and subsequently standing the ship into danger without realising it. It is therefore important that the operator can identify inaccuracies in order to take action, determine the ship’s true position and be able to derive an EP the same as on a paper chart. Learning this skill is not only part of our courses but is something that should also be practiced at sea. Consider referring to a series of type specific check of cards.
Standards
Any ECDIS operator can see that many questions arise which require a deep understanding of the system compared to simply checking the paper chart. This issue is one of the greatest hurdles as it requires time to study the manuals, of each different system, however manufacturers do not necessarily highlight their equipment’s shortfalls.
A competent user is one who knows the minimum standard for legality and hence is able to spot a software malfunction that renders a system illegal in the eyes of the IMO. One might say that as long as the system holds an IMO type approval certificate then why worry. If a software glitch is observed, contact the manufacturer and have them fix it. Considering we’re talking about a computer based system, every time a ‘glitch’ or ‘anomaly’ arises, does the ship remain alongside? A confident user is one who knows the limitations and is therefore able to take measures to compensate. An efficient user is one who can set up the display for maximum effect dependent upon the operation at hand. This knowledge certainly develops with experience, both of the task and of different systems, but also by asking the right questions and ‘playing’ with the functions, as long as nothing goes too far wrong in the interim.
This can however be made a little easier by having yet more check lists, but due to the complexity of these systems, the importance of having clear operating guidance, check lists or parameters for OOW’s or certain situations, cannot be over stated. Trial and error with a bit of a ‘mish mash’ between ships and operators does not sit well with most Masters and Skippers that we deal with and the preferred option is a check card to work from, however it is important that sufficient flexibility remains for those in charge to use the system as they see fit.
Our intention to drive up standards is not just in the user, but in the ECDIS and ENCs themselves, which are just as, if not more, important than the ability of the user. The greater the clarity and reliability the system has, the less likely the user is to make a mistake.
For example, last year the MAIB report into the jack-up barge Octopus which ran aground being towed from Kirkwall to Seal
Skerry Bay in the Orkney Islands, recommended that:
There are now 25 ECDIS manufacturers that have achieved, or are in the process of achieving approval as a compliant ECDIS. It is clear that whilst some manufacturers will provide the minimum IMO sensor connection of; a continuous fixing positional system, heading information and speed information, others have developed inclusion of AIS, ARPA, echo sounders, anemometers and tidal information to name a few. It is important to remember that optional equipment may be added but neither sensor nor ECDIS must degrade one another for the ECDIS to remain IMO compliant or indeed safe. One of the founding `pillars` of the ECDISltd group is to monitor the varying standards and solutions available and to offer advice to regulators, manufacturers and the wider community. Sensor inputs integrated with displays that are taking digital navigation into the next phase include active forward facing echo sounders, mast head video for coral navigation, meteorological overlays, digital satellite imagery and so on, making the future, as long as your processing power is sufficient, very interesting.
ECDISltd would certainly like to see systems of the future with the following:
We are also aware that although OOW’s and Navigators get to ‘play’ with the system, the individual who has to approve the plan is the individual who has the greatest responsibility – the Master. Quality control and risk assessment are great terms however conducting such tasks on a system that is unfamiliar, in not very much time, is difficult if not downright risky! However, there are fixed or mobile short courses available that can aid Masters in developing ECDIS quality control with supporting cribs if desired.
Possible solutions:
All deck officers on paperless ships must have conducted an IMO model flag state approved ECDIS course.
ECDIS navigation is ingrained from joining as a cadet alongside paper navigation to appreciate the basics in both.
ECDIS forms a greater part in mandatory chart work exams for CoC’s.
ECDIS and IBS training must evolve and develop concurrently with systems in use.
More stringent internal and external ISM / Port State control audits on a vessels digital navigation organisation.
Stages to ECDIS operational capability.
Summary
ECDIS is not as clear or reliable as we would like it to be and ECDIS operation is a skill that perishes far quicker than paper chart work.
Differing systems make, “This is the way I was taught in the old days” impossible to justify or support, to say the least. Initial training, followed by regular use or re-familiarisation is a necessity if your aim is to maintain safety of navigation.
Paper chart work is learned at the very beginning of a career as a professional deck officer and similarly, for the private boat or yacht skipper or owner, it lies at the root of that personal voyage of discovery SOLAS now has a bearing on. Either way, chart work remains fundamental to a successful and safe outcome. The future is ECDIS and not paper just as octants have given way to GPS, so it comes as no surprise that these fundamentals of learning, understanding and competence in the basic tools of the trade must continue to apply.
Many personnel already have experience in using digital navigation systems, however it is all too apparent what happens when people use it without understanding it. A high level of training is now available and the MCA are taking a very close look at the not so high standards currently offered. The IMO has stipulated minimum standards expected of an ECDIS, including symbols that the IHO continues to update in the S52 library, which in order to stay legal, need to be displayed. We hope that with the onset of mandated ECDIS that the quality and clarity will continue to improve however, you may be assured that we at ECDISltd are already prepared and can offer you the benefit of our experience in your transition to ECDIS. The fact that so many manufactures are now in the game can work to the mariners advantage, for competition based upon the right price; relevance to a specific need; clarity; reliability and of course, how the system interfaces with the operator as the ultimate shipboard decision maker, the more likely it is to win. But we all know that evolution based upon natural selection takes many years. As ECDISltd is an independent and unbiased body, we are well placed to pass on our professional experience. We constantly strive to glean user and manager information, for the more information we receive, the better the analysis and the stronger the arguments for a particular line of development. This is not a new methodology but we do need to harness your knowledge and experience if we are to apply lessons learned to the benefit of future generations of seafarers and ECDIS.
The experience is out there and users must speak out to drive forward the development of ECDIS to ensure the highest levels of safety and confidence in the future. The solution is simple – timely training, feedback, improvement.
To offer experiences and thoughts, or to discuss ECDIS issues and training solutions further, please contact: info@ecdis.org.uk.
Peter Richard Thornton MBE MNI
Director ECDISltd
Peter Thornton is an MCA Master Mariner unlimited and an RYA Yacht Master with experience operating and training ECDIS and ECS on a range of vessels across the world. Employed by the ROYAL FLEET AUXILIARY as a specialist navigator the views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the MoD.
The importance of ECDIS training
/in ECDIS Safety /by Neil SavageNautical Telegraph Article on ECDIS Grounding
ACCIDENT investigators have called for an urgent review of proposed international standards for training in the use of electronic chart display and information systems (ECDIS) following the grounding of a general cargoship in the North Sea last year. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) found that none of the deck officers onboard the Dutch-flagged CFL Performer had been trained in the use of ECIDS — even though it was the primary means of navigation onboard the paper chart-free ship.
It said the officers were consequently ignorant of many of the system requirements and features and were operating it ‘in a very basic and inherently dangerous manner’. A report on the incident expresses concern about the ‘disturbing’ and increasing number of similar accidents involving the misuse of electronic chart systems, poor training and the use of inappropriate settings.
The 4,106gt vessel grounded on Haisborough Sand, off the coast of Norfolk, where the charted depth was less than 2m — compared with the vessel’s draft of 5.9m. Investigations revealed that the chief officer had used the system to amend a passage plan for the vessel — which was sailing from Suriname to Grimsby with a cargo of bauxite — to enable it arrive an hour earlier than the original ETA so as not to miss high tide and delay berthing. The report says the new voyage plan had taken about five minutes to complete. ‘It is clear that this route was not adequately checked for navigational hazards either when planned or when being monitored,’ it states.
Investigators found that neither the Ukrainian chief officer nor the Filipino second officer had been trained in the operation of ECDIS, although they had used systems on other ships. The Ukrainian master had no previous experience or training in ECDIS or any other form of electronic navigation system. ‘None of the officers were aware of the significance of the safety contour, the safety depth, and the shallow deep contours, and did not know how to establish a watch vector ahead of the vessel, or its significance,’ the report adds. ‘They also did not know how to use the “check page” to ensure that all course lines and associated channel limits were clear of navigational dangers.’
The report warns that ECDIS will soon replace paper charts as the primary means of navigation on most vessels and it notes the ‘compelling’ case for mandatory training requirements. ‘Reliance on the requirements of flag states, knowledge of paper charts, on-the-job training, and self-tuition are not realistic or sensible options for such a vital piece of navigational equipment,’ it adds. And, given the marked differences between different systems, it argues that officers require equipment-specific training. The MAIB also warned that the case shows the danger of watchkeepers placing unquestioning trust in ECDIS displays and failing to monitor the vessel’s position in relation to navigational hazards. The voyage plan being used atthe time of the grounding had been deleted from the system, and the VDR records had not been saved.
The report comments: ‘To enable lessons to be learned from accidents, hazardous incidents and other operational situations, it is important that clear guidance for the reporting of such occurrences and the preservation of evidence — including electronic data from VDRs, ECDIS and other systems, is provided to ships’ crews.’ The report recommends the Maritime & Coastguard Agency to support the ‘expeditious’ adoption of IMO proposals to include ECDIS competences within the STCW Code. It also warns of the need for an urgent review of the IMO model course syllabus for ECDIS training — which was developed eight years ago — to ensure that it is still ‘fit for purpose’. Successful completion of the course should be determined by examination and practical assessment, it added. The report also urges shipowners to ensure that all bridge OOWs are familiar with the navigational systems used on their ships, and to encourage the use of both generic and equipment-specific training in ECDIS.
Pete Thornton MBE joins ECDIS Ltd
/in Old Blog /by Neil SavageHolds an MCA Class One Master Mariner’s unlimited, an RYA Yachtmaster Offshore and an AYF Coastal Skipper certificate of competence. Has sailed both on ship’s and yachts across the Globe in four out of the five Oceans. Was the first ROYAL FLEET AUXILIARY navigator to gain digital accreditation through ECDIS and navigate paperless. Awarded the Captain Farmer’s prize for coming top of the ROYAL NAVY’s premier and specialist navigation course in 2007. Obtained a Post Graduate Diploma, Distinction in Navigational Studies from Plymouth University.
Peter is the widely recognised as the preferred option for advice and support in all navigation matters concerning commercially and privately operated yachts and sail vessels. His team will provide you with all the support you will need to achieve digital accreditation.
ECDIS to be made mandatory under SOLAS
/in ECDIS Safety /by Neil SavageECDIS to be made mandatory under SOLAS
At a meeting of the IMO Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) on 27 May-5 June 2009, amendments to SOLAS regulation V/19, to make mandatory the carriage of Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS) and Bridge Navigational Watch Alarm Systems (BNWAS), under SOLAS chapter V, Safety of Navigation, were adopted, with an expected entry into force date of 1 January 2011. The requirements will be mandatory for new ships and phased-in for existing ships.