ECDIS as a primary means of navigation

[unstad09]

Hello All,

Just a quick query regarding ECDIS, have any of you have sailed on ships which are fully paperless and using ECDIS as their primary means of navigation? The reason I ask is that I am curious as to how the set up procedure of ECDIS is incorporated into the company's SMS - i.e. in the form of checklists etc.

Or if ECDIS is not your primary means of navigation, is it still incorporated into your SMS?

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

[GuinnessMan]

In our company, we do have several ships that run using ECDIS as the primary source of navigation. It's actually not that big within the SMS and most of the checklists are relatively the same.

The only problem that we faced with it was type specific training. One of our vessels got hell on an inspection because the crew had generic ECDIS training but not type specific, so that is going to be an issue as there are that many types out there.

I'll have a quick look around our SMS and revert back to you tomorrow.

[unstad09]

In our company, we do have several ships that run using ECDIS as the primary source of navigation. It's actually not that big within the SMS and most of the checklists are relatively the same.

The only problem that we faced with it was type specific training. One of our vessels got hell on an inspection because the crew had generic ECDIS training but not type specific, so that is going to be an issue as there are that many types out there.

I'll have a quick look around our SMS and revert back to you tomorrow.

Thank you for your response and help.

I am keen to use ECDIS as a basis for a project in my final sea phase and as such, am just keen to find out how, or if, other company's have incorporated ECDIS into their SMS.

[alistairuk]

We are supposedly due to go fully ECDIS by end of this year; It doesn't feature much in the SMS as we are expected to be the first ship to go fully ECDIS (due to our cruising route).

At present our system complies with the requirements (we technically have 3 fully independent ECDIS systems - although they are linked together in master / slave mode).

I don't expect there to be any real difference to the SMS / check lists - as we already do not have to file checklists - as per our SMS we use laminated cards.

[CharlieDelta]

We also use laminated cards. The only ECDIS-related items we have on our bridge checklists relate to making sure the next route is loaded pre-departure. That's about it.

[Clanky]

We are supposedly due to go fully ECDIS by end of this year; It doesn't feature much in the SMS as we are expected to be the first ship to go fully ECDIS (due to our cruising route).

At present our system complies with the requirements (we technically have 3 fully independent ECDIS systems - although they are linked together in master / slave mode).

I don't expect there to be any real difference to the SMS / check lists - as we already do not have to file checklists - as per our SMS we use laminated cards.

I can't be bothered looking through the manuals, but surely the SMS contains info on corrections and licences?

[Steve]

The only problem that we faced with it was type specific training. One of our vessels got hell on an inspection because the crew had generic ECDIS training but not type specific, so that is going to be an issue as there are that many types out there.

RFA had four types of ECDIS across 13 ships. The training burden and personnel limitations were such as to force standardising across the flotilla.

[alistairuk]

I can't be bothered looking through the manuals, but surely the SMS contains info on corrections and licences?

Nope, Safe Nav. manual only states that they will be corrected... We receive the corrections on USB stick every 4 weeks (roughly) automatically from the supplier - licences for chart cells are emailed to us as required.

If we don't have the licence for a cell, it refuses to display anything, so it can't be used if its not a licensed chart.

[unstad09]

Thanks for your feedback guys.

So do any of you feel it would be beneficial for ECDIS to be more actively incorporated into your SMS - with regard to ensuring its properly set up for different scenarios etc? Or do you feel, as it has not been already, that it is not necessary?

[Steve]

How about leaving it up to the operator to decide what is appropriate for the circumstances? A little guidance perhaps, but no prescriptions.

[size4riggerboots]

How about leaving it up to the operator to decide what is appropriate for the circumstances? A little guidance perhaps, but no prescriptions.

There's nothing worse than being micro-managed by the shore-side....

[ETwhat?]

There's nothing worse than being micro-managed by the shore-side....

Yup thats why the nice people at Sperry are working so hard to create bridge systems that dont need the shore side team to manage the officers, they can just manage the systems directly.

[Steve]

Imtech IBS allows for remote control by satellite.

[ETwhat?]

it does seem to be the coming thing, on the plus side when you sail off the edge of the charts you can buy some new ones instantly

[gadget123]

Imtech IBS allows for remote control by satellite.

What so they are driving the ship by remote control??