Navigating a new course with ECDIS

ECDIS is everywhere, but training and regulation have yet to catch up with its ubiquity onboard ship, meaning that mariners may not make the best use of the system, referring to it as a means of confirmation rather than a fully functional tool for digital navigation.

The proliferation of ECDIS as the primary means of navigation has seen the Electronic Navigation Chart become the standard source of navigation data, something that is not yet accurately reflected in the regulation and voyage planning guidelines on which navigation training and practice are based.

This ‘transitional’ state, in which neither training nor the guidelines for practice requirements accurately reflect the realities of ENC and ECDIS use at sea is anachronistic, contributing to knowledge and functionality gaps.

Neither does it recognise the new challenges encountered when voyage planning, monitoring and updating charts in ECDIS, and it encourages the teaching of conflicting navigational strategies (ENC and paper charts) in maritime colleges.

The fact that several large ship operators undertake their own bridge simulator training underlines the lack of trust and value in the current training arrangements. The IMO’s five-day ECDIS model course and familiarisation ‘on the go’ is far from sufficient when operating critical safety equipment.

These are the central conclusions of a survey undertaken by the UK and Danish Accident Investigation Boards, which found a difference between how ECDIS is actually being used and the intention of its designers.