Docs article facilitating the use of ECDIS 202 ecdis

ECDIS

Facilitating the use
of ECDIS
By Steen Nielsen and Ole Berg

A

s a measure of its perceived importance, in order to facilitate
the use of Electronic Chart Display systems (ECDIS) in shipping, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Norway
and Sweden have taken an unprecedented
step and decided to reduce the recommended retail price of their Electronic
Navigational Charts (ENCs) by 70%.
In March 2001, the Baltic Carrier and Tern
collided in Kadetrenden between Denmark
and Germany causing an oil spill of 2,700
tonnes of heavy fuel. An extraordinary meeting of Ministers of Transport and the Environment from the countries surrounding the
Baltic Sea was convened in Copenhagen and
a declaration was adopted containing a large
number of measures to improve the safety
of navigation in the Baltic Sea and to increase
response capacity to accidents. This was the
Copenhagen Declaration (see Note 1 at the
end of the article). Due to its unique characteristics, ECDIS was identified as one of
the major contributors to increased navigational safety.

Baltic support
The central parts of the Copenhagen Declaration aimed at promoting the use of ECDIS
have been transferred to the Helsinki Convention, making the measures binding on
governments. The revised text of the convention concerning ECDIS is as follows:
Regulation 9: Improved hydrographic services and promotion of the use of Electronic

Navigational Charts (ENC)
1) The Contracting Parties:
a) shall develop a scheme for systematic resurveying of major shipping routes and ports
in order to ensure that safety of navigation
is not endangered by inadequate source information. The survey shall be carried out
to a standard not inferior to the latest edition
of IHO S-44. The scheme shall be elaborated

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BIMCO BULLETIN · VOLUME 97 · NO. 3 · 2002

jointly by the hydrographic services responsible for the areas in question not later than
by the end of 2002 with the aim to begin
implementation by 2003.
b) shall develop Electronic Navigational
Charts (ENC):
i) for major shipping routes and ports by
the end of 2002. Major shipping routes and
ports shall be selected on the basis of volumes of dangerous goods and number of
passengers; and
ii) for secondary shipping routes and ports
by the end of 2004.
Major shipping routes in the Baltic area

2) The Contracting Parties:
a) shall accept Electronic Chart Display
and Information Systems (ECDIS) as equivalent to paper charts in accordance with Chapter V of SOLAS;
b) undertake to enter into negotiations with
shippers and recipients in their States, who

are involved in transport of goods to and from
ports in the Baltic Sea Area, with the aim
that the commercial parties (e.g. national
shippers and receivers) make arrangements
to the effect that:
i) ships with a draft of 11 metres or


ECDIS

more, and for the Sound oil tankers with
a draft of 7 metres or more, chemical tankers and gas carriers irrespective of size and
ships carrying a shipment of INF cargo carry
ECDIS;
c) shall by the end of the year 2002 as a
matter of particular interest ensure that port
State control of paper charts is intensified
on board ships with a draught of 11 metres
or more, and for the Sound oil tankers with
a draft of 7 metres or more, chemical tankers and gas carriers irrespective of size and
ships carrying a shipment of INF cargo.
This change to the Helsinki Convention is
unique as it is the first internationally binding instrument that mentions:
1. Regular surveys of shipping routes,
2. the development of Electronic Navigational Charts, and
3. the carriage of ECDIS.
In addition, the above-mentioned actions are
introduced with fixed implementation deadlines, a very unusual step that fully underlines the contracting parties’ recognition of
the importance of these measures.
The effect of the measures is that from the

end of 2002 full ECDIS navigation will be
possible on all major shipping routes and to
all major ports in the Baltic Sea. From the
end of 2004 the same goes for the entire
Baltic Sea and the approaches to the Baltic
Sea. Full ECDIS navigation has been possible in all Danish waters from July 2000.
The contracting parties to the Helsinki Convention are Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia,
Sweden and the European Union. Of these
countries, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Finland
and Sweden are, together with France, cooperating with Norway on providing central
access to their official ENCs, which are
needed for full ECDIS use, i.e. paper charts
need not be carried if an adequate back-up
system for ECDIS is available.

Without ECDIS - a high stress level on the bridge

decision support tool of a kind that has never
before been available on the bridge of a ship.
ECDIS allows for real-time navigation and
monitoring of a ship’s position and movements but it is the ability to integrate information from all navigation sensors and particularly Radar, ARPA and AIS into a single
comprehensive and easily readable picture
that holds the true power of ECDIS.
On a bridge without ECDIS, the Master has
to make all the necessary correlations between the radar image, ARPA targets, fixed
and floating aids to navigation depicted on
the chart, the navigable part of the water-

way, the plotting of positions on the chart
and the dead-reckoned and estimated positions allowing for drift induced by wind, etc.

in his head, supported by drawings and calculations performed on the paper chart.
In confined and congested waters it is a task
that greatly raises the stress level on a ship’s
bridge, and these scenarios are loved by all
instructors in bridge resource management
and exploited to the fullest in their attempts
to introduce maximum stress in ship handling simulators. ECDIS takes away the
stress caused by the need to keep track of all
the information necessary to make the

ECDIS allows the Master to focus on making the right decisions in a timely and controlled manner.

The seven countries have also decided that
the price of the ENCs must not inhibit the
take-up of ECDIS and this is the reason for
the 70% reduction in the recommended retail prices. (See Note 2 for further information and a list of distributors.)

ECDIS - the short version
ECDIS is far more than a digital chart, it is a

BIMCO BULLETIN · VOLUME 97 · NO. 3 · 2002

31


ECDIS

appropriate decisions in the head and
will allow the Master to focus on making
the right decisions in a timely and controlled manner.

In addition, ECDIS enables automatic updating of chart information, thus relieving
navigators of the tedious job of correcting
charts on costly overtime and further removes the risk of them making errors in the
process. It is precisely these characteristics
that will help reduce the human error that is
the source of most collisions, groundings and
near misses at sea.

Practical experiences
In the following accounts it is important to
note the distinction between ECDIS, which
is a type-approved system, and Electronic
Chart Systems, which are not type-approved. Ships carrying ECDIS need not
carry paper charts.
A.P. Moller Group
In December 2001, the A.P. Moller Group
decided to retrofit 160 vessels with ECDIS
following extensive trials conducted by senior navigators with extensive experience of
navigation on traditionally equipped bridges.
Captain Hans Peder Mikkelsen, Marine Department, gives some of the rationale behind
the decision taken by A.P. Moller Group:
“One of the core reasons was the decision
support provided by using the ECDIS in all
phases of the voyage, from route planning
to the end of the voyage. Particularly during
passage of shallow and trafficked waters,
ECDIS significantly reduces the workload
of the navigator and enhances the situation
awareness on the bridge.
The system’s unique ability to combine the

radar image with the chart image by a single
action gives an immediate and constant confirmation of the navigators’ decisions. The
information about other ships provided by
AIS, which will be implemented in accordance with the new SOLAS Chapter V, will
most naturally be displayed on the ECDIS
display to further increase the knowledge
about other ships in the area.
During ocean passage, the ability to combine forecasts on weather, sea and swell with
the planned route allows for on site weather
routing quickly and easily resulting in fuel
savings. The subsequent amendments to the
route planning are carried out in a matter of
minutes. The ECDIS software takes care of
checking for dangers to navigation automatically, provided a vector chart is used.

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BIMCO BULLETIN · VOLUME 97 · NO. 3 · 2002

In December 2001, the A.P. Moller Group decided to retrofit 160 vessels with ECDIS

Charts can be updated quickly and accurately
saving navigators’ time to making the corrections and avoiding errors in the process. Also,
NAVTEX messages are automatically scanned for position information and a NAVTEX
symbol appears in the referenced position allowing the navigators quick access to safety
critical information without having to go
through a manual plotting procedure.”
The overall conclusion reached by the A.P.
Moller Group is that ECDIS will increase
the safety of navigation significantly.

Troms Fylkes Dampskibsselskab a/s
Troms Fylkes Dampskibsselskab a/s, which
operates large passenger vessels along the
Norwegian coast, has chosen to equip all
vessels with ECDIS for reasons similar to
those of the A.P. Moller Group.

to sail past ports along the route during winter because sea clutter from the confused sea,
the swell pattern in the archipelago and clutter from snow completely obscured the radar picture.
The availability of ECDIS on board has significantly increased the regularity of port
visits, especially during the cold season.
Captain Widding’s advice to operators of
passenger ships in the Baltic Sea, which has
many similarities with the Norwegian Coast
in many areas, is to switch to ECDIS as
quickly as possible.
The Royal Danish Navy
In late 2000 the Royal Danish Navy decided
to go for a full ECDIS implementation on
all ships. The ECDIS policy of the navy is
in short:

This type of navigation is very demanding,
especially during the long winter season,
because it takes place mainly along the Norwegian coast and in and out of harbours
through the archipelagos and the narrow
fjords and sounds.

1. Full ECDIS implementation.

Troms Fylkes Dampskibsselskab has used
Electronic Chart Systems since 1992 and
now uses ECDIS. The experience gained is
a significant increase in the confidence of
the bridge team. Complicated navigational
situations are handled calmly as the ECDIS
gives the information required to identify
fixed and floating aids to navigation, skerries
and small islands and distinguishes such
items from other ships on the radar which
combined with track steering is still the main
navigational tool.

4. Ships’ bridges to be remodelled.

One glance at the ECDIS confirms the ship’s
immediate position. In the pre-ECDIS days,
Captain Harrod Widding, Senior Captain in
Troms Fylkes Dampskibsselskab, often had

2. All navigation sensors to be fully interfaced via a navigation computer.
3. No more paper charts.

5. All navigational officers to receive
ECDIS training.
The Navy particularly emphasizes the training aspects, as navigating with ECDIS is seen
as a completely new way of navigating.
“ECDIS cannot be implemented safely if you
think you are just performing the same tasks
on a screen. Then you have not understood

what ECDIS really is!”, says Commander
Carsten Reiff, a key figure in the Royal Danish Navy’s ECDIS implementation process.
Another key element is the decision to remodel the bridges during the installation


ECDIS

process in order to serve two main purposes. Firstly, to put the navigator and the
ECDIS in the best possible place so that the
navigator has a good overview out of the
windows, secondly, to emphasize that the
change to ECDIS truly involves a new way
of navigating and that the ECDIS is not just
a new box to be tucked in where room can
be found.
Extensive trials with a number of ECDIS
systems leading up to the tendering process
gave the following main reasons for the decisions:

periods with bad weather and poor visibility
especially was highly appreciated by navigators - to such a degree that today navigators almost insist that an Electronic Chart
System is carried.
Director Knut Skaar from Seatrans fully
agrees with the experiences and evaluations
made by Herodd Widding from Troms
Fylkes Damskibsselskab. Today Seatrans’
vessels are equipped with various types of
Electronic Charts Systems and the company
is waiting for final confirmation from the
regulatory authorities before type-approved

ECDIS are fitted.

1. A unique en route management tool.
2. Easy to use.
3. No paper charts - no time-consuming
corrections.

The aim is to reduce the paper chart carriage
as much as possible. As an example, the time
spent on chart corrections on a chemical
tanker on the Europe - South America - Gulf
of Mexico - Europe route corresponds to one
navigator working full time.

4. Real-time information.
5. Increased situation awareness/mental
surplus.
6. Ability to work together with other digital databases.
The very nature of naval operations with frequent changes of route plans which, especially in Search and Rescue operations, take
place in the worst possible weather, calls for
the best possible decision support system
also on the ship’s bridge. ECDIS is exactly
the system that the Navy’s navigators have
been looking for.
The Navy also experiences near-misses and
groundings as commanding officers drive
their ships at high speed through shallow and
confined waterways when training crews.
The Navy expects to see a marked decrease
in such incidents following the implementation of ECDIS, which is scheduled for completion in 2003.

The requirement to keep all charts fully up
to date is being increasingly emphasized,
especially by shippers of oil, chemicals etc.
The shipping line must be able to document
that all rules and regulations are observed,
including the requirement that all charts carried are corrected and up to date.
Seatrans has also experienced a significant
drop in the accident rate. Before Electronic
Chart Systems were fitted, Seatrans experienced at least one serious grounding per year.
Today, groundings are rare, though they do
occur. In one particular case a grounding
occurred, fortunately only on a sand bar,
because the navigator was only looking at
the paper chart, where a sand bar had not

been marked with the usual red ink circle.
Knut Skaar is positive that a single glance at
the Electronic Chart System would have
shown the danger immediately. However, the
paper chart was the required basis for navigation, as the system was an Electronic
Charts System and not an ECDIS.

Regulatory status
The new Chapter V of SOLAS, which enters into force on 1 July 2002, mentions
ECDIS explicitly for the first time. Regulation 19 states in paragraphs 1.2.4 and 1.2.5:
1.2.4 nautical charts and nautical publications to plan and display the ship’s route for
the intended voyage and to plot and monitor
positions throughout the voyage; an Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) may be accepted as meeting
the chart carriage requirements of this

subparagraph;
1.2.5 back up arrangements to meet the
functional requirements of sub-paragraph .4,
if this function is partly or fully fulfilled by
electronic means;*
* An appropriate folio of paper nautical
charts may be used as a back-up arrangement for ECDIS. Back-up arrangements not
inferior to resolution A.817(19), as amended,
Recommendation of Performance Standards
for Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS) are also acceptable.
In order to make sure that there is no doubt
about the status of ECDIS in Denmark, the
Danish Maritime Authority will notify

Coastal navigation through archipelagos and narrow fjords and sounds can be very demanding.

Seatrans
Seatrans can be counted among ECDIS pioneers, participating in the very first trials with
Electronic Chart Systems in the late 1980s.
Seatrans’ main area of operations are along
the Norwegian coast, in the Baltic Sea and
European ports, but the route Europe, South
America, the Gulf of Mexico and back to
Europe is also covered.
From the first moment that the Electronic
Chart System was considered, it proved a
very good aid to navigation for experienced
navigators in coastal traffic. The ability to
remove stress and tension during the frequent

BIMCO BULLETIN · VOLUME 97 · NO. 3 · 2002

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ECDIS

the IMO that Denmark accepts ECDIS
as fulfilling the chart carriage requirement
under the new SOLAS Chapter V. The other
signatory states to the Helsinki Convention
will take similar steps.
ECDIS was accepted only as an equivalence
under the SOLAS chapter V in force until 1
July 2002. Bearing this in mind, in October
2001 Denmark informed the IMO that ECDIS
would be accepted as an equivalence to paper charts on Danish-flagged ships. Consequently, full ECDIS navigation has been allowed in Danish waters from that time.
These actions taken by the Danish Maritime
Authority are meant to underline the full
support for a rapid introduction of ECDIS
in ships operating in and out of the Baltic
Sea, but also on a worldwide basis. The decision of the Hydrographic Offices to lower
the recommended retail prices significantly
is a further step to encourage ship owners to
invest in ECDIS to the benefit of safety of
navigation and also, ultimately, to the benefit of shareholders.

At E.U. level
A number of E.U.-funded research projects
dealing with various aspects of safety of

navigation have identified ECDIS as a system that will have a considerable positive
impact on safety of navigation.
THALASSES
Project objective: The assessment of the
socio-economic impacts of new technological concepts in maritime transport, on the
human element.
One of the findings of the report is: “However, the electronic chart or ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information System) is going to become the most important
part of a future INS. It is the ideal platform
to integrate (again, functionally and operationally) the important navigational sensor
information, the hydrographic data, the planning data and additional geographical information to give the user all data on hand he
needs for a safe and efficient voyage.”
TECHNISECC
Project objective: Research and demonstration of conceptual (legal, procedural and organisational) tools and scenarios to be integrated into VTS to provide “value added
services”.
One of the findings of the report is: “Finally the presentation on Automatic Information System (AIS) and on Electronic

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BIMCO BULLETIN · VOLUME 97 · NO. 3 · 2002

Steen Nielsen

Ole Berg

Chart Display and Information System
(ECDIS) put an emphasis on the role to be
played in a very near future by both those
systems, not only on board ships but also
on shore. In this latter respect it may be
expected that coupled with VTS equipment,

AIS and ECDIS will considerably improve
the quality of the traffic image both at tactical and strategic levels.”

to the same deductions as those already made
by the shipping companies mentioned above:
ECDIS has a significant potential for increasing safety of navigation.

SAFECO II
Project objective: The project objective was
to devise improved technologies and organisation for internal/external communication
and to demonstrate the application of risk
analysis methods to assess economical benefits and safety improvements of the devised
solutions for total quality operations.
One of the findings of the report is: “…The
simplified and the advanced model estimates
the same effect of a full implementation of
Collision Avoidance Advisory Systems
(CAAS) housed on ECDIS in relation to
powered grounding accidents. The probability for powered grounding, given a critical
situation is estimated to be reduced with
15%. The results from the two models differ
significantly with respect to the reduction in
the collision probability, given a critical situation. The “advanced” model results in a reduction amounting to 10%, while the simplified model results in a reduction amounting to about 20%.”
See Note 3 below for the full texts of these
reports.
All in all, these research results clearly lead

References to ECDIS are also made in a proposed EU directive following the Erika accident in 1999. In the communication from
the Commission to the European Parliament
the following is stated:

“Construction of the global navigation and
positioning infrastructure is now a European
Union priority through the GALILEO
project. This initiative will lead to a reliable
and highly accurate service (3 metres on the
high seas and 1 metre in port areas), which
should serve as a reference for positioning
systems applicable to ships in or near Community waters. Together with ECDIS, GALILEO offers a unique level of service in contributing to improved conditions of navigability and safety.”
See Note 4 below for the full text of this
Communication.
All in all, this points towards an increasing
awareness within the E.U. system that implementation of ECDIS in ships calling at European ports and transiting European waters is
a way of increasing safety of navigation.
The Erika incident, though caused by a structural fault rather than a navigational error,
brought the significant environmental risks
inherent in shipping to the notice of the E.U.
Current activities indicate that this awareness is still present and that efforts are


ECDIS

being made to avoid events with similar
impact on the environment at all costs.

Hesitate no longer!
Any ship operator operating in the Baltic Sea
and in the approaches to the Baltic Sea can
with confidence start investing in ECDIS. All
the Helsinki Convention signatories actively
support and encourage the use of ECDIS and

have committed themselves to provide the
ENCs needed for full ECDIS use.

Substantial practical experience shows that
there are numerous positive benefits from the
use of ECDIS, most significantly the increased situation awareness. But also the
possibility of savings in fuel, of avoiding
damage to ships due to collisions and
groundings and of preventing lost sailing
days due to repairs is evident.
Finally, increased competitiveness due to the
ability to operate confidently in adverse
weather conditions should be mentioned.

Notes
1. The full text of the Copenhagen Declaration can
be read on the following website: />manandsea/shipping/navigation.html.

Commission to the European Parliament can be found
at: />library/com142-en.pdf

2. A list of distributors can be found at:
www.primar.org/stavanger.
3. The full texts of the E.U. reports can be found at:
/>rep_waterborne.html

Editor’s Note: Ole Berg is a former submarine Commanding Officer in the Royal Danish Navy. Since
1993, he has been Director of the Danish Hydrographic Office (Charting). He has been active in the
international co-operation on the development of
Electronic Navigational Charts and ECDIS.

4. The full text of the Communication from the EU

Steen Nielsen is a Special Adviser at the Danish Mari-

Now these benefits are also backed by research results. One central finding in casualty investigations is that the human factor
accounts for the overwhelming majority of
accidents. Hence, schemes that limit the extent of human errors, for example by means
of better education and training, ECDIS systems and other policies are the most likely
risk reduction factors. It is the authors’ hope
that ship owners will follow the lead of the
companies mentioned in this article to the
benefit of all. ■
time Authority (DMA), Division of Safety & Environmental Legislation, where he is responsible for safety
of navigation issues on a national, regional and global basis. He graduated as a deck officer in 1980 and,
after having served as a Mate and Chief-Mate in tank,
supply and passenger ships, got his Master Degree
in 1985. While sailing for a national ferry line he
started at law school, obtaining his law degree in
1992. Since 1993 he has been working in several DMA
divisions/sections. He is a trained ship surveyor and
has been part of the team that introduced the ISM
Code to Danish ships and companies.

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