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ECDIS e-navigation
Keeping it simple T
he development of e-navigation has attracted wide support across the maritime sector and has generated
a substantial body of research and participa- tion in the five years since its launch. In fact, the successful introduction of ECDIS into bridge operations has played an important part in this process of developing e-naviga- tion. The introduction and integration of ECDIS into shipboard operations has laid some of the foundations for the adoption of e-navigation. From a seafarer’s perspective the mental dividing line between ECDIS and e-naviga- tion may become more blurred over time, if the comments of David Patraiko are any- thing to go by. He is director of projects at the Nautical Institute and chairman of the Operations Working Group at IALA and he explained: “Electronic charting is a core feature of e-navigation and, by the time e-navigation is operable, it may be the fact that ECDIS, the current means of displaying and using electronic charts, will have been incorporated into new e-nav systems.”
The Operations Working Group is currently “completing initial gap analysis in preparation for an operational cost-benefi t that will
The Operations Working Group is currently “completing initial gap analysis in preparation for an operational cost-benefit analysis” that will
translate the technical work of IALA’s e-Nav Committee into practical recommendations to the IMO Correspondence Group. Patraiko is also the Nautical Institute’srepresentative at this IMO group; IALA’s findings and recommendations will be extremely important in the framing of the IMO strategy plan. Seafarers should not be too concerned
about how the technology affects them, Patraiko believes. “The main focus is on the harmonisation of the human element with the technology of e-nav,” Patraiko maintained. “For successful operation, the management of information systems must be such that it permits people to do what people do best, supported by technology and vice versa.” Patraiko reasoned that hu- man beings were best at decision-making and reacting to changing situations, while technology was best placed to calculate and supply information that can inform people’sactions. Patraiko referred to what he calls the “three-legged stool” strategy for imple- menting new technology: “One ‘leg’ is the
Push the button: S-mode would take seafarers back to basics Image: Shutterstock
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