In many ways that’s not a message that the industry wants to hear just now. At a time of turmoil in the global economy and the shipping markets, it might be tempting for shipowners and managers to put the issue on the back burner. After all mandatory carriage of ECDIS will mean allocating resources and budgets, obtaining regulatory approval and introducing new ways of working.
But the adoption by MSC 86 of the amendments to SOLAS must be understood from two viewpoints.
The first is that the mandated use of ECDIS springs from the promotion of safety of life at sea. As such, it is not optional nor should it be considered as an extra. It is a fundamental – though sometimes misunderstood – safety tool that demands real commitment to play its role correctly.
Skimp on that commitment, fail to provide training and monitoring and the results can be ECDIS-assisted groundings and collisions and a lingering suspicion that ECDIS is another technology foisted on already over-worked navigators and superintendents.
From the opposite perspective, ECDIS is a tool that repays the user with time and efficiency savings that translate into bottom line savings. Regular users commonly report a steady flow of benefits from real-time navigation using chart data that can be updated quickly and automatically.
ECDIS optimises navigation tasks and lessens bridge workload, creates better situational awareness and reduces stress when navigating in congested waters where most accidents occur. Better voyage planning has been shown to deliver tangible fuel savings over single voyages.
Unsurprisingly given these contradictions, research by the UK Hydrographic Office has found confusion among shipowners and managers about what a carriage requirement for ECDIS will mean for them. Many in the industry are unsure of their responsibilities under the revised SOLAS regulations. Others lack information about the benefits that ECDIS can bring the mariner of the 21st century.
So what should superintendents and managers be concerned about? How can they work towards best practice with ECDIS, what are the pitfalls and how can they be overcome?
The first step is for any shipping company or shipmanager to have a management-level strategy in place for adoption, that takes account of the demands that will obtain when mandatory carriage of ECDIS applies to its ships. If over-reliance is a risk at sea, under-estimation is a risk ashore, and that applies to the deadlines for fitting ECDIS.
By July 2012, compliance must be demonstrated on all new passenger ships above 500gt and all new tankers above 3,000gt. New cargo ships above 10,000gt must comply by July 2013 and new cargo ships above 3,000gt by July 2014. By July 2014, existing passenger ships above 500gt and by July 2015, existing tankers above 3,000gt must be in compliance. For existing cargoships, those above 50,000gt must comply by July 2016, above 20,000gt by July 2017 and above 10,000gt by July 2018.
In other words, the clock is ticking. ECDIS consultant Paul Hailwood urges managers and superintendents to make a start as soon as possible – not just to complete a successful, compliant implementation, but also to begin reaping the benefits sooner rather than later.
Under the SOLAS revisions, the decision must be made either to fit vessels with dual or single ECDIS. Both must comply with the ECDIS performance standard and will require a back-up plan whose demands will vary between flag states but in the former case, bridge staff will be able to significantly reduce (in some cases down to zero) their use of paper charts – in the latter they will likely keep the paper as backup and get added value from ECDIS.
Engagement with all stakeholders: charterers, flag state, class society, insurers, hardware suppliers and chart data providers is crucial for a successful implementation. Flags will need to provide certificates of equivalency with SOLAS Chapter V if sailing on ECDIS as the primary means of navigation. Shore staff should also ensure that the ECDIS manufacturer’s type approval certification is acceptable to their flag state.
The demand for ECDIS training is such that scheduling sufficient officer courses could take three months and implementation of ECDIS could take as long as six months for a fleet. Embracing ECDIS will mean reviewing ENC coverage on known trading routes but Captain Hailwood says a broader understanding of the costs and issues is needed as soon as possible. Ships affected by the first phase adoption in 2012 should be implementing their strategy now.
The carriage requirement for ECDIS has been many years in the making in part because of the time it has taken to demonstrate that official Electronic Navigation Chart coverage was sufficient for safe navigation. A collective effort across the international hydrographic community significantly assisted by the UKHO has resulted in a dramatic increase in coverage over the last 12 months and resulted in the Admiralty Vector Chart Service, the most comprehensive official ENC service available.
UK National Hydrographer Rear Admiral Ian Moncrieff says the UKHO believes the time is right to harness a technology that its shipboard trials have shown can meet the need of mariners as well as the regulations.
“The UKHO has been supporting the IHO and delivering on its promise to have adequate coverage to support a mandatory official carriage requirement. Since NAV54, AVCS has been constantly upgraded and now comprises more than 9,500 ENCs which cover all the world’s major trade lanes between over 1,700 of the world’s biggest, busiest ports.”
“The timescales for implementation of the carriage requirement are practical and allow for the increased training in the use of ECDIS, something that we believe is now the most critical issue to be considered,” he adds.
The availability of official, compliant chart data removes one headache but Mr Hailwood points out there is more to ECDIS than fitting another piece of hardware and letting the officers get on with it. On shore, the process might call for a complete risk analysis and will most likely require a complete re-write of the company’s safety management system for navigational procedures.
“Navigators will need to think about voyage execution before the navigation briefing, tackling issues like mode of operation, watch changing and other bridge procedures, how the ECDIS is set up and so on,” says Mr Hailwood. “But these are all issues about how the company expects the process to be carried out.”
Neither should officers imagine they can simply transfer the voyage planning process from paper charts to ENCs. They should be able to keep ENCs updated and manage safety settings, check waypoints and other track information and understand how these integrate with other data and hardware. In addition to obtaining the necessary certification in these tasks, navigators might be required to demonstrate such competence during port state control inspections.
The biggest reservation about ECDIS remains the risk of over-reliance, cited as the cause of a number of collisions and groundings. Mr Hailwood points out that the best defence is to be sure that ECDIS and other pieces of bridge equipment are reporting the correct information. “In other words, how do I keep the navigator in control of ECDIS as opposed to just monitoring it.”
In practice that will mean using traditional navigation methods to back-up electronic techniques but he says that how navigators anticipate and prioritise, how they use their competence and experience goes back to how well these procedures have been identified by the manager. “The shoreside has to be encouraging, auditing and enforcing all these things. Good practice has to be encouraged from shore, day-to-day.”
Adopting ECDIS means the bridge can also begin the process of eliminating redundant practices and users agree that it can reduce the navigational workload compared to using paper charts. Updates to electronic charts are virtually instant, chart catalogues can be efficiently managed and such efficiencies, along with voyage planning, reporting and auditing can help deliver efficiencies that can translate into bottom line fuel savings.
Mr Hailwood sums up his approach to reducing the risk of over-reliance as knowing and understanding the concerns of the mariner and giving him the tools and support to do the job. “More technology should not mean less vigilance. To think that because you’ve put ECDIS on the bridge your ship is safe is the wrong approach. You have got to have the right resources, people and procedures in place. It’s a difficult and complex project, but manage it right and the sooner the full potential of ECDIS will be achieved.”
Click here to view our helpful guide to preparing for ECDIS Mandation which starts in 2012.
Mandation Carriage Timetable:
The timetable for newbuilds is based on the date the vessel’s keel is laid. Existing vessels will be required to fit ECDIS in advance of the first survey after the implementation date. There are no requirements for existing cargo vessels of less than 10,000 gross tons. Flag States may exempt vessels that will be taken permanently out of service within two years of the implementation date.