ECDIS II: Training, updating and settings
ECDIS II: Training, updating and settings
Training required, correcting charts and the importance of settings
Relevant documents: MIN 503, MSC Circ. 1503, MGN 379
In ECDIS Part 1 we looked at the legal requirements, standards and inputs needed for an ECDIS and in order for a ship to go paperless. This article will focus more on the practical day-to-day aspects of using an ECDIS.
ECDIS and the OOW syllabus
MIN 653 (expires May 2024) mentions the following areas of competence at OOW level:
Use of ECDIS to plan the navigational passage and monitor the ship’s position and progress with and without availability of GNSS.
Knowledge of the capability and limitations of ECDIS operations, including:
1. a thorough understanding of Electronic Navigational Chart (ENC) data, data accuracy, presentation rules, display options and other chart data formats
2. the dangers of over-reliance
3. familiarity with the functions of ECDIS required by performance standards in force
Proficiency in operation, interpretation, and analysis of information obtained from ECDIS, including:
1. use of functions that are integrated with other navigation systems in various installations, including proper functioning and adjustment to desired settings
2. safe monitoring and adjustment of information, including own position, sea area display, mode and orientation, chart data displayed, route monitoring, user-created information layers, contacts (when interfaced with AIS and/or radar tracking) and radar overlay functions (when interfaced)
3. confirmation of vessel position by alternative means
4. efficient use of settings to ensure conformance to operational procedures, including alarm parameters for anti-grounding, proximity to contacts and special areas, completeness of chart data and chart update status, and backup arrangements
5. adjustment of settings and values to suit the present conditions
6. situational awareness while using ECDIS including safe water and proximity of hazards, set and drift, chart data and scale selection, suitability of route, contact detection and management, and integrity of sensors
With this being the case, anyone currently undergoing a cadetship can expect to learn a great deal about ECDIS in the classroom, on ship and in the simulator.
Is my ECDIS approved?
Depending on the type of your vessel, check:
Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Certificate form ‘E’ or Cargo Ship Safety Certificate form ‘C’
Passenger Ship Safety Certificate form ‘P’
If your ECDIS is shown as fitted on the relevant form, it is approved. Look also for the wheel mark or the red ensign mark.
Generic training and type-specific training
There are lots of misconceptions surrounding generic and type-specific ECDIS training. It doesn’t help that the MCA’s most recent MIN on the topic states that it expired in 2019; the MCA have confirmed that this is still active as of 19th Jan 2024. Take a few minutes to follow this link and read MIN 503 now, to save quoting it here in almost its entirety.
The upshot of MIN 503, and an excellent answer if you are asked about ECDIS generic and type-specific training, is that:
Officers require generic training in ECDIS; this requirement is usually met by various courses that they already require as part of getting their CoC. There is no requirement for them to be formally trained by the manufacturer or a qualified trainer on the exact make/model of ECDIS fitted to their ship; onboard training from another officer is acceptable.
STCW Circular 24 contains the following; this was published in 2017, two years after MIN 503:
The STCW Code contains requirements for approved training on ECDIS. In cases where the approved training has not been completed, a limitation shall be included on the certificate and endorsements issued to the seafarer. Where such a limitation is not specified, the certificate and endorsements are evidence of having successfully completed the required approved training and that the standard of competence has been achieved.
No requirement exists for the approved training on ECDIS equipment to be type-specific. The knowledge, understanding and proficiency required to be demonstrated is generalized to ensure seafarers have the necessary skills for basic operation of all types of equipment.
In accordance with regulation I/14, companies are responsible for ensuring that seafarers employed on their ships are familiarized with the installed equipment, including ECDIS.
It is agreed that seafarers required to have training in the use of ECDIS:
1 should not be required to provide documentation of training in ECDIS that is specific to the installed equipment; and
.2 are required to be familiarized with the ECDIS equipment installed on board.
MIN 442 (prior to being replaced by MIN 503) explicitly forbade this, which is probably why the belief that type-specific training is mandatory is so prevalent.
Corrections to ENCs
Corrections to ENDs are either by download or by disk. Disk is more secure but takes longer to get than downloadable corrections. Downloaded corrections are typically transferred to an ECDIS using a dedicated USB flash drive. Having an ‘air gap’ between the internet and a navigationally important piece of equipment is extremely important.
Corrections to ENCs are cumulative; you need the latest base disk and the disk of the most recent week. To explain, if you have three disks worth of corrections to catch up on, you only need to insert and load the most recent of the three disks.
Temporary and Preliminary (T&P) Notices
These can be displayed on the ECDIS using the Admiralty Information Overlay (AIO). These then show up as magenta hatched polygons, with the text of the notice available by interrogating the item. AIO should be active on the ECDIS screen during passage planning.
ENC Preliminary (EP) NMs
These are available in AIO and highlight navigationally significant differences between ENCs and paper charts.
Updated, cancelled or withdrawn cells
The system does not automatically delete cells To check for cancelled or withdrawn cells, check the ‘readme’ file included on every update disk, check section VIII of the Admiralty Notices to Mariners or follow this link.
If a cell has been withdrawn due to being updated, there should be an automatic replacement of the cell as you update your ENCs.
If a cell has been withdrawn for safety reasons, the permit remains valid and there is no automatic replacement. You need to manually remove the unsafe ENC from your ECDIS.
If a cell has been withdrawn for commercial reasons, it will remain useable in your system until your license to use it expires.
Software updates to the ECDIS
Software updates for an ECDIS unit are made available by the manufacturer; these must comply with the latest IHO standards. ECDIS that is not updated to the latest version of these standards may not meet the chart carriage requirements as set out in SOLAS.
How to prove that your ECDIS is fully updated?
Every ECDIS must be capable of generating a system report; this may have a slightly different name depending on the make and model of unit. One Transas model calls it the ENC update status report; one JRC model calls it the installed chart update report. Many companies require that this report is printed off and attached to the passage plan.
Issues with ECDIS
Anomalies
There are some known anomalies within ECDIS; these include failure to alarm correctly, failure to display certain underwater features and failure to detect objects by route checking in planning mode. The best way to avoid these anomalies is to make sure that your ECDIS and chart folio are up to date. See MSC Circ. 1503 Annex 1 for the full list of anomalies. One of these anomalies is described as:
Unnecessary alarms and indications – feedback from mariners shows that ECDIS can produce excessive and distracting alarms. This is due to a combination of the interpretation of the requirements of the ECDIS Performance Standards and the ENC encoding. Some control over the number of alarms and indications is available to the mariner in ECDIS built to the revised Performance Standards (resolution MSC.232(82)), but this is not always recognized.
This brings us to:
Alarm fatigue
First, two definitions from MSC.530:
Alert: Audible and/or visual announcement of a condition requiring attention. Priorities of alert are alarm, warning and caution.
Indication: Visual indication giving information about the condition of a system or equipment.
ECDIS has the potential to sound a lot of alerts. First off are the five mandatory alarms of ECDIS:
Crossing safety contour
Deviation from route
Positioning system failure
Approaching critical poing
Different geodetic datum between chart and GNSS
There are plenty of other alarms available
Loss of heading or speed should trigger a warning (remember, the three required inputs are gyro, speed and distance log, and GNSS)
ECDIS malfunction
ECDIS should also repeat, but only as an indication, any alerts or indication passed to it from position, heading or speed sources
When ECDIS first arrived there was an attitude that ‘more is better’. Some captains (especially those who weren’t spending much time on the bridge!) specified ECDIS settings that led to alarms going off constantly, with the inevitable result that less attention was paid to each individual alarm. Having a ‘safety box’ five minutes ahead of the ship is well and good for coastal navigation; it may be excessive for a narrow, winding river passage. Tailor your settings to your surroundings.
Dangers of over reliance
It is very easy to become overly-reliant on the ECDIS. This, and over-reliance on electronic navigational aids in general, prompted the MCA to publish MGN 379. Some points from that MGN:
Be aware that each item of equipment is an aid to navigation
Appreciate the need to cross check position fixing information using other methods
Be aware of the dangers of over-reliance on the output from, and accuracy of, a single navigational aid
CATZOC
CATZOCs (Category Zone of Confidence) are used to indicate the accuracy of the underlying data presented on charts. Catzocs depend on the positional and depth accuracy of a survey. The symbols for catzocs are presented as a triangle or lozenge shape containing a number of stars; the number of stars indicates the category of the catzoc.
This illustration is taken from the IHOs S67 ‘Mariners’ Guide to Accuracy of Depth Information in Electronic Navigational Charts (ENC)’ October 2020.
There are different standards for coverage and thoroughness for each of the ZOCs; see the Admiralty ZOC table for more detail.
Do we need to revert to paper charts when the ZOC is less than C?
No; remember, the paper chart was made with the same data. Keep a closer eye than usual on your echo sounder if operating in areas worse than B and compare what you’re seeing to what’s on the ECDIS. Exercise caution in areas of C or worse, as uncharted dangers may be expected. Treat D and U areas with a higher degree of caution again. Your echo sounder and lead line are your friend here.
Important user-specified settings
Safety contour
This is a no-go area specified by the seafarer. Normally this is draught of ship, plus desired UKC (Under Keel Clearance), plus squat, minus height of tide. The safety contour ‘rounds up’ to the nearest contour; you might specify 7m as your safety contour, this will ‘snap to’ the 10m contour. Likewise, if you had specified 11m it might snap to the 15m contour.
Safety depth
This is calculated in much the same way as the safety contour. It affects how spot-sounds are displayed on the screen, by greying-out all soundings that are greater than the safety depth and makes bold soundings that are less than the safety depth.
Deep contour
This is used to indicate the limit of where shallow water effects will occur which will affect the vessel. Generally this is taken to be 3 to 4 times the draught of the vessel.
Colour codes will vary between ECDIS units for how these depths are displayed, but generally speaking the shallower the water is, the darker it is shown as.
Display options
Every ECDIS unit allows for easy adjustment of the display to account for different light levels. Usually these will be called something like ‘day bright’, ‘day dull’, ‘dark’ and ‘inverted’; whatever they are called, use the right setting for the conditions.
MCAQs
What are the five mandatory alarms of ECDIS (this is a very common question)
What are the three required inputs for an ECDIS?
Explain CATZOCs and the degree of caution you would exercise with regards to uncharted dangers in each category.
You’re sailing from central London down the Thames, then West through the English Channel, across the North Atlantic and to Montreal via the St Lawrence river. How would you change your ECDIS’s alert settings based on your planned passage?
Explain Safety Contour, Safety Depth and Deep Contour.