Pear Link
Contact me on:
  • Home
  • The Chain Locker Blog
  • Personal
  • Professional
  • Links & Enthusiasms
  • Contact Me

IHO Circular 33/2012 - ECDIS Problems Detailed

3/16/2012

0 Comments

 
THE CHAIN LOCKER
Picture
(Click picture for IHO website)
A little while ago, we had a story on a grounded ship, CSL THAMES, whose crew's ECDIS knowledge was judged to be deficient and a cause of the grounding (see ECDIS Knowledge Deficient on the Categories list on the right side of the page). The MAIB investigators determined that the CSL THAMES' ECDIS equipment was improperly configured for the area being traversed, implying that the crew lacked the knowledge to set it properly. I noted that ECDIS displays can leave out information depending on how they're set up, something that most of you probably know better than I do.

However, it may not have been just the crew's knowledge that was below standard. At least according to this IHO report, which I became aware of compliments of Dennis Bryant's blog   http://brymar-consulting.com/?page_id=6  (An excellent blog, by the way, and a very good source of regulatory developments - check it out!) 

According to the IHO's release  
http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/pdf/electronic_charting/Safety_Notice_ECDIS_14_Mar_2012.pdf   about a third of the ECDIS systems they received reports on functioned 'as expected.' 

However: 'A further third of the systems display all significant underwater features, including underwater obstructions, but the isolated danger symbol required to be shown under certain conditions is not always used.' 

Also: 'Most of the remaining third of the systems reported to the IHB failed to display some significant  underwater features in the "Standard" display mode.' (Emphasis mine) 'Under various conditions, mostly related to safety depth settings and other variable factors, these underwater features can include some types of wreck and other obstructions.  All these features are displayed in the "Full display" or "All display" mode.' 

Finally: 'One manufacturer, Japan Radio Co. Ltd (JRC), has confirmed to the IHO that earlier versions of its ECDIS will not display some types of wreck and underwater obstructions (including stranded wrecks) in any display mode.  This means that, for these models of JRC ECDIS, the mariner must navigate in conjunction with paper charts in order to ensure that all wrecks and underwater obstructions can be identified.'  (Emphasis mine) 'JRC has issued a notice alerting its customers to this problem and will  make an upgrade package available to its customers shortly.'  

See  http://www.jrc.co.jp/eng/product/marine/whatsnew/20100526/index.html   for the JRC announcement, which actually dates from 2010.

So only a third of ECDIS sets in the report performed "as expected" - the rest required extra attention or even software upgrades to display all hazards. That should have the navigators among us thinking. 
As Dennis Bryant noted, it's still premature to discard paper charts! Electronic gear can and does fail unexpectedly. Always have several ways to check your position - don't just rely on the electrons in the "box".


0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    THE CHAIN LOCKER BLOG

    Author

    Reid is a career mariner who, after a lifetime afloat, still loves his profession. Thus this blog!

    THE CHAIN LOCKER blog welcomes your comments and photos - we have a big industry, so write & help us to understand your corner of it! All submissions are welcome.

    Archives

    August 2013
    June 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    November 2011

    Categories

    All
    1800s Anchor Found
    Abandoned Seafarers
    Adrian Vasquez
    Adrian Vs Princess
    Arctic Oil Exploration
    Asian Shipowners Forum
    Avocet
    Banquo's Ghost
    Big "U"
    Bravery 2013 Imo
    Capt. Schettino
    Capt. Schettino's Logic
    Capt. Schettino Update
    Chengtu Saves Yachtsmen
    China-Argentina Delivery
    Cma Cgm Marco Polo
    Costa Concordia
    Costa Concordia Ais
    Costa Concordia Black Box
    Costa Concordia Br Video
    Costa Concordia Discovery Channel
    Costa Concordia From Space
    Costa Concordia Salvage
    Costa Concordia Schettino U/D
    Costa Concordia Wrap-up
    Costa Concordia Wreck
    Daylight Saving Time
    Dheeraj Tirawi - Hero
    Disney Fantasy Rescues 4
    Distraction
    Ecdis Knowledge Deficient
    Ecdis Problems Noted: Iho
    Enrica Lexie Released
    Enrica Lexie Settlement
    Eof
    Eu Attacks Pirates Ashore
    Eu Navfor Attacks Ashore
    Fatigue Video
    Felix Luckner
    Filipino Seamen Bubble 2
    Filipino Seamen On Bubble
    Fire Fighting Robot
    First Post - An Invitation
    Fishermen Ignored
    Fishermen Shot
    Fit 1
    Fit 2
    Fit 3
    Freeman Rhuland
    Gearbulk Lays Off Crews
    Gert B Buttgenbach
    Hisham Almiraat
    Homemade Wind Turbines
    Horizon Fatigue Study
    Horizon Reliance 1
    Horizon Reliance 2
    Horizon Reliance 3
    Horizon Reliance 4
    How To Participate
    Hybrid Osv
    Iceberg-1
    Iceberg 1 Mag
    Iceberg 1 - Time To Act
    Iceberg 1 Website
    Iceberg I A. Burney
    Iceberg I Movie
    Iceberg I - Petition
    Icebreaker Aiviq
    Icebreaker Aiviq Video
    Keel Walk
    Kennebec Captain
    Large Bridge Teams
    Let's Connect!
    Lng
    Lngcoldfacts Blog
    LNG-Powered Tug
    Maersk Texas
    Mag Twitter Account
    Mariner's Fatigue
    Maritime Mentors
    Masters
    Missing Vdr Data
    Mlc Ratification
    Mv Eglantine
    Mv Iceberg 1 Mag Blog
    Mv Prabha Daya
    Mv Xianghuamen Freed
    Northern Sea Route
    Nuclear Icebreaker
    Ocean Waves
    Panama Canal Time-Lapse
    Patriotism
    Piracy Survivor Alex
    Piracy The Human Cost Video
    Piracy Water Cannon
    Pirate Attacks 2011-12
    Pirate Coast Video
    Pirates Battle Nato
    Pirates Ransom Their Own
    Pirates Up Ante
    Please Send Pictures
    Prohibiting Ransoms
    Rescue At Sea
    Rolls-Royce LNG Engine
    Rotortug
    Rotortug Redux
    Seagoing Automobiles
    Seeadler
    Shipwrecks
    Skandi Vega
    SOS - Save Our Seafarers
    Star Princess
    Starting Out
    Stcw Manning Math
    This Is Your Blog!
    Tugboat In Trouble
    Usns Rappahannock
    Uss Miami
    Viking Lady
    Watch Systems
    W. Laurence Allen
    Women At Sea
    Yekaterinburg
    Youth

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly