Use of ECDIS for Route Planning

One should know: IMO guidelines for voyage planning: A893(21) 1999.

Equally applicable when using ECDIS or paper charts.

Benefits using ECDIS

Quick and easy to select

No need to transfer Routes and modifications from one chart to another

Easy to ensure all charts are updated

Easy calculations and measurement using cursor. Automated facility.

Safe planned route = Experience + Time + Familiarity with general principles of ECDIS and
implementation on a particular ship

Except in exceptional circumstances, route planning is not done on primary ECDIS when route is
monitored.

1. Symbology

All official ENCs share a common symbology, which is listed in IHO Special Publication
No 52 (S-52). Because ENCs produced by different national Hydrographic Offices look
the same, mariners need only to familiarise themselves with one scheme of symbols
and ENC coverage is seamless.

Unofficial charts, on the other hand, vary in appearance between brands, therefore
chart portfolios that mix ENCs and unofficial charts cannot be seamless. Using
electronic charts with differing symbology also increases the risk of a navigation error
and should be avoided wherever possible.

It should be noted that ECDIS training is conducted using official charts, therefore,
recent attendees will be most familiar with official S-52 symbols.

2. Frequency of updates

ENCs and their associated products are updated weekly, as are official paper charts, to
ensure their validity. Most unofficial chart producers issue updates less frequently, with
one major producer issuing updates only three times a year. Also, whilst much of the
data with which unofficial charts are corrected derives from official sources, the validity
of these updates cannot be guaranteed.
3. Standards of data transfer

Converting hydrographic data into a usable chart format is a complex process that
requires rigorous quality control. Every sounding, contour, bottom feature and landmark
must be recreated in digital form with a high level of accuracy. To ensure the quality of
the ENC production process, the IHO published Special Publication No.57 (S-57), which
governs ‘transfer standards for digital hydrographic data’. Only ENCs from official
sources are governed by these stringent rules; unofficial commercial products are not

Navigating a ship with an Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) is
fundamentally different from navigating with paper charts. With ECDIS, navigators must
recognise the level of display and the objects to display for the optimum navigational
information for any situation. It is essential that the Masters, navigating officers, and
ship-owners are aware of the benefits of managing the chart display, safety settings,
and alarm system of ECDIS. Improper management of the system may result in the
anti-grounding alarms and other indications failing to activate as required for safe
conduct of the navigation. The appearance and content of the chart data displayed on
ECDIS may change significantly from different settings as the display is generated as
per the specifications characterised by the IHO (International Hydrographic Office)
Presentation Library (S-52). Some of the examples are:

 The Safety Contour, Safety Depth, Shallow Contour, Deep Contour set by the user.

 The SENC (System ENC: a database, in the manufacturer‟s internal ECDIS format)
information for display by the user. I.e. Base, Standard, Other and Custom display.

 The Chart (Cell) Scale in use;

 The cells used on the ECDIS to display and the features of those cells e.g. Scamin
(Scale Minimum) , Date Start and End attributes;

 The difference in interpretation and implementation of the IHO Presentation Library

(S52) by various manufacturers;

 ECDIS may be unable to correctly display the latest approved chart symbols, if the
software is not upgrade to the latest.

Safety Settings: Appropriate safety settings are of paramount importance for ECDIS
display. Failings in appropriate settings have recently resulted a few grounding incidents
(e.g. CSL Thames and LT Cortesia). The navigators must understand the values for the
safety depth, safety contour and set them properly to achieve a sensible and well
thought-out implication. The safety contour marks the division between „safe‟ and
„unsafe‟ water. If the navigator does not specify a safety contour, this will default to
30m. When the safety contour is not displayed to the specified value set by the
navigator, then the safety contour is shown to the next deeper contour as per the default
layers in the electronic charts. Moreover, the contours may also differ between
electronic charts produced by different hydrographic offices. During route planning, an
indication will be made if the route is planned to cross the ship‟s safety contour. At the
time of route monitoring, ECDIS should give an alarm if, within a specified time set by
the navigator, own ship is likely to cross the safety contour. The division between „safe‟
and „unsafe‟ water is highlighted by chart colouring, with blue colour used to indicate
unsafe area and white or grey for safe area. The unsafe area may be further defined
with the selection of a shallow contour, showing dark blue in the shallow water and light
blue between the shallow water and the safety contour. The navigator must remember
that displayed underwater obstruction or isolated danger symbols can change according
to the settings of the safety contour. Furthermore, the safe water may also be sub-
divided with the selection of a deep contour, in which case the area between the safe
contour and the deep contour will be coloured grey. The shallow contour should be
used to highlight the gradient of the seabed adjacent to the safety contour and the deep
contour to highlight the depth of water in which own ship may experience squat. It is
acknowledged that not all ECDIS manufacturers provide separate controls for safety
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safety depth value, some have a common or a linked control. Some flexibility of the
system is lost when there is only one common control for „Safety Depth‟ for both the
„safety depth‟ and the „safety contour‟. In such cases, the navigator must decide the
value to be given for safety depth i.e. draught or draught plus an allowance for UKC
(Under Keel Clearance)? Author recommends that the safety contour value should be
used for the safety depth on ECDIS with such feature. Where the manufacturer provides
for separate controls for safety depth and safety contour, the user can substantially
increase their situational awareness by choosing, for example, values as indicated in
the Figure 1 below:

Figure 1: Recommended Safety Settings on ECDIS (Source: Bhuiyan, Z., 2010.

Implementing ECDIS training for navigation officers. Seaways- Nautical Institute‟s
international journal, May 2010). Unlike paper charts where source data diagrams are
mostly provided, ENCs (Electronic Navigation Charts) do not provide this information.
Instead they provide the navigator with a facility to examine reliability and quality of
source data by means of CATZOCs (Category of Zone of Confidence). This gives an
estimate of the reliability of data related to five quality categories for assessed data
(CATZOC A1, A2, B, C and D) and a sixth category for data which has not yet been
assessed. It is also recommended to consider these CATZOC features while
determining a ship‟s safety settings.

Display of SENC Information

Chart objects and information available for display are sub-divided into three categories:

• base display;

• standard display;

• all other information.

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Passage planning in the digital age

One of the primary aims of ECDIS is

that it should serve to ease the burden

of passage planning. However, the core

principles of passage planning are

unchanged and the same levels of

intellectual curiosity, precision and skill

are required to ensure that the passage

planned is a safe one.

In the case study, the passage planning

officer plotted the track on paper charts

and transferred the waypoints to the

ECS. Whilst the master checked the

initial plan on the paper charts, no check

was made of the ECS plan, despite

multiple mid-voyage amendments due

to weather routeing. As a result,

discrepancies between the two tracks

in relation to the shoal were missed.

Passages should always be planned and

executed on the primary means of

navigation. On some vessels, ECDIS

may be the primary means, which

makes for an easy transfer to paper

charts. Passages plotted on an ECDIS

should be subjected to three layers of

safety which combine human scrutiny

with automatic safety tools. These

layers of safety should always be

employed when a plan is prepared,

amended or executed.

Three layers of safety

1. Visual 1:1 check

The route planning function on ECDIS

allows passage plans to be completed

far quicker than with traditional paper

charts, which often results in too little

scrutiny of a route’s safety. A visual

check should be conducted on the

largest scale of chart and the scale

selected should be the chart’s 1:1 or

compilation scale. A chart which is

displayed at too small a scale (underscale)

suffers from SCAMIN (scale

minimum), which causes chart data to

be omitted from the display. ENCs

viewed at too large a scale (over-scale)

suffer from distortion. An over-scaled

ENC also reduces the amount of useful

chart information displayed ahead of

the vessel.

The visual check should cover latitudes

and longitudes, and distances from

hazards and chart notes, in a similar

manner to that done with paper charts,

in the presence of the master.

2. Automatic route scan

An automatic route scan can be

conducted during which the ECDIS

scans for dangers on both sides of the

track out to the width of the crosstrack

corridor (XTC) using an alarm to

warn when a danger is detected. The

XTC can be set to a distance

appropriate to where the ship will be

operating and the distance from

navigational dangers. Many brands of

ECDIS will generate a large list of alarms

and warnings when the route scan

function is used. A user must learn how

best to interpret the results from their

particular brand of ECDIS. The number

of alarms can be managed by having

appropriate XTC settings.

Automatic route scan

Every object on an ENC has a SCAMIN

, Whilst placing waypoints, a note should

be made of how far the nearest

navigational danger is. In open water,

this may be hundreds of miles, but in

pilotage waters, this distance may be

only a few cables. The XTC should be

set so that no dangers exist within the

XTC zone. When operating in open

water with no hazards, the XTC can be

set to a distance appropriate to

maintain track and provide sufficient

sea room to manoeuvre for traffic, etc.

By ensuring that no dangers are within

the XTC, the number of alarms

generated by the route scan will be

greatly reduced.

3. Anti-grounding function

The final layer of safety is the antigrounding

function. This tool allows the

ECDIS to scan ahead of the ship to a

distance set by the user. It acts as a

final layer of safety should a

navigational danger be missed by the

visual check or route scan. The scanned

area is sometimes displayed as a cone

or column on screen and should be set

to a distance appropriate to the

amount of navigable water ahead of thevessel. This value should be

determined for each stage of the

voyage and noted in the passage plan.

The functionality of the anti-grounding

function varies between brands; users

should determine the capabilities of

their ECDIS equipment’s antigrounding

function.

Quality of survey

In our case study, immediately prior to

the grounding, the master and officer of

the watch relied heavily on the ECS and

made critical decisions based on what

was displayed. The vessel’s track

passed in close proximity to a charted

shoal in an area notorious for the poor

quality of survey data. Officers should

always be mindful that the hydrographic

data used to populate an ENC or

unofficial chart is, in the majority of

cases, the same data used to produce

its paper equivalent. The world has not

been re-surveyed since the mandatory

introduction of ECDIS and large areas of

the Pacific and Indian Ocean were last

surveyed many years ago. Information

about the quality of survey data is

included in ENCs in a categorised zones

of confidence (CATZOC) format.

A study of CATZOCs should always

form part of the passage planning

appraisal process. CATZOC – An unfamiliar system

Despite their inclusion in most generic

ECDIS courses, many mariners are

unfamiliar with the CATZOC system,

preferring the older source data

diagrams, which are a familiar feature of

Admiralty paper charts.

The meaning of CATZOCs

The purpose of the CATZOC system is

similar to that of source data diagrams;

they enable the mariner to make

sensible decisions on the degree of

reliance to place on the chart when

planning a passage or conducting

navigation.

The CATZOC system enables

surveying authorities to encode

hydrographic data within five

categories or CATZOCs. Survey data

can be graded A1, A2, B, C, D or U. Each

category is also depicted by a CATZOC

symbol which appears when this layer is

selected for display on an ECDIS. When

displayed by ECDIS, CATZOCs are

distinguishable by the shape of the

symbol and number of asterisks

contained within it.

CATZOC B

CATZOC C

CATZOCs and ECDIS

It should be noted that CATZOCs are a

mandatory attribute of the S-57 format,

which provides the specifications for all

electronic navigation charts made for

use with ECDIS. It is therefore

imperative that officers serving

on-board ships equipped with ECDIS

are fully conversant with the CATZOC

system and are able to distinguish

between different CATZOC symbols

and recognise their relevance to the

safety of navigation. being missed.

The „base display is an absolute minimum and cannot be reduced. Its use may be
helpful for initial appraisal in the planning stage as well as when moving the chart
display to allow a faster re-generation of the display. It is not intended for safe
navigation. ECDIS should present the „standard display‟ at any time by a single
operator action. The standard display, as defined in the ECDIS Performance Standards,
does not necessarily display all the chart objects necessary for safe navigation under all
circumstances, e.g.

 Spot soundings - display may be preferred to assist monitoring integrity of position;

 Underwater obstructions - useful to know if it is intended to anchor.

These and other objects are all listed or classified as „All Other Information‟ display.
Different manufacturers provide different facilities for managing the display of chart
objects and chart information. Control of individual groups of objects, e.g. spot
soundings, tidal diamonds, place names, may vary according to each ECDIS
manufacturer. Selection of certain layers of information or objects for display becomes
more obvious with experience but until then navigators will need to understand the layer
selection requirements for an efficient navigational display. Mariners need to remember
„Displaying everything, without seamanlike consideration, should not be an option‟. With
some systems, it is possible to run a complete safety check for any hazards along the
planned route at any time during the route planning process and on completion of
planning. However, this functionality varies among the different makes. Mariners using
ECDIS are reminded not to rely solely on automated voyage planning and monitoring
checks and alarms. Some ECDIS appear only to undertake route check functions on
larger scale ENCs and therefore alarms might not activate. This may not be clearly
indicated on the ECDIS display. Mariners should always undertake careful visual
inspection of the entire planned route using the ‘other/all’ display mode to confirm that it,
and any deviations from it, is clear of dangers. (NAVAREA1 Warning 317/10)

Guidance on the accuracy of ENCs:

The IMO Performance Standards for ECDIS require that the latest edition of information
originated by a government authorised hydrographic office must be used which must
conform to the standards laid down by the IHO. Furthermore, only officially approved
vector charts should be used with ECDIS if it is to comply with the performance
standards. Navigators should interrogate the quality of the vector charts that complies
with IHO standards and therefore enables the user to assess the quality of the
hydrographic data used to compile it. Navigators must exercise extreme caution when
using the scale or zoom facility of the electronic charts. It is possible to zoom-in to a
scale larger than that used in the compilation of the data which could create a false
impression about the reliability of the charted information. Consequently, it could give a
false impression of safe water around the vessel where some hazards to navigation
may not be shown due to the limitations imposed by original chart scale. It could also
give the impression that the position of charted features is known to a greater degree of
accuracy than is in fact the case. In the event that the chart is not displayed at the
compilation scale (In ECDIS the Scale at which the Chart data was compiled) and is
therefore not compatible with the selected usage (e.g. coastal or approach), then an
over-scale or under-scale warning is displayed. The hi-tech appearance of an electronic
vector chart interfaced with systems such as GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite
System) could mislead the user to believe that the charted data is more accurate than it
really is. Another important feature that could lead to human/operator error where the
users need to be very careful is known as Scamin (Scale Minimum). Scamin is an
optional attribute by the chart producer (defined by IHO S57) that can be used to label
ENC chart features to be suppressed above a certain display scale. The main function
of Scamin is to de-clutter the chart display, enabling the user to focus on the most
useful navigational information for the display scale in use. Scamin may International
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affect the display as it removes certain information from the display if best scale chart is
not being used i.e. safety critical information may be removed from the display. When in
use, this feature should provide „Scamin filter‟ warning to the users. Navigators should
always check the passage plans at „compilation scale‟ before use and during route
monitoring. Zoom in/out function should only be used for short periods of time. When
monitoring a route, the prudent navigator must always maintain a check on the integrity
of the displayed position of own ship. When the source of the displayed position is the
own ships GNSS, there is always a possibility that the position displayed may not
coincide with the ship‟s actual position in relation to the chart or the charted hazards. A
check may be made quite simply by utilising one or any of the following:

 manual position fixing (visual/Radar);

 look out of the window;

 comparison of ARPA overlay of a fixed mark with the charted position;

 comparison of a radar overlay with conspicuous land or fixed targets;

 observation of a parallel index on the radar display to monitor comparison with

planned track;

 monitoring the depth shown by echo sounder where appropriate;

 checking the track history;

The need to keep ECDIS software updated:

If ECDIS software is not upgraded to read ENCs based on the latest version of the ENC
Product Specification or to use the latest version of the S-52 Presentation Library then
the ECDIS may be unable to correctly display the latest approved chart symbols. If an
ECDIS is unable to interpret and draw any newly introduced chart symbol, it will display
a question mark (?) instead. Additionally there will be a possibility that alarms and
indications for any newly introduced features may not be activated even though they
have been included in the ENC. Because of this, the IMO have issued guidance on the
maintenance of ECDIS software in Sn.1/Circ.266. A list of the current IHO standards
relevant to ECDIS software is maintained in the ENC/ECDIS section of the IHO website
(IHO Publication S-66). ECDIS users should ensure that their ECDIS software always
conforms to the latest IHO standards. This can be accessed from the “about” function in
the software or from the ECDIS manufacturer. An ECDIS anomaly is an unexpected or
unintended behaviour of an ECDIS which may affect the use of the equipment or
navigational decisions by the user. The UK Marine Information Note (MIN) 406
“Reporting Operating Anomalies Identified within ECDIS” describes the procedures for
the reporting ECDIS anomalies in accordance with IMO MSC.1/Circ.1391. Navigators
must use the quickest means of communication available to send the required
information to the Maritime & Coastguard Agency in the UK or similar organisations
overseas so that an appropriate action can be taken to rectify the anomalies. Some
examples of the ECDIS anomalies are:

 A failure to display a navigational feature correctly;

 A failure to activate alarm correctly;

 A failure to manage a number of alarms correctly.

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The Alarm Management on ECDIS:

From navigators‟ perspective, ECDIS alarm management is very critical as

 it could vary from manufacturer to manufacturer;

 the level of control over alarms may vary from being very detailed control to minimal
control;

 some manufacturers allow the mandatory alarms to be disabled; and

 some even allow choice of chart scale for alarm checking.

The five mandatory alarms (indicated by audible means or audible and visual means
indicating a condition requiring attention) are:

i. crossing safety contour;

ii. deviation from route;

iii. positioning system failure;

iv. approach to critical point; and

v. different geodetic datum.

The guard zone (also known as Safety Frame) provides the user with an advance
warning of dangers/cautions. The user sets the dimensions of this guard zone which
must be altered according to the prevailing circumstances to prevent unnecessary
alarms or to give adequate warning. The navigators need to remember that not all
dangers are enclosed by a contour and guard zone remains active even if it is not
selected to display on the screen. In order for the alarm system to be properly effective
(when the route is being monitored) the own ship‟s guard zone must be set in a
seamanlike manner, i.e. with a sensible time or range warning depending on proximity
to hazards and planned speed etc. It is recommended to set the guard zone “As large
as possible as the circumstances allow”.

Conclusion:

It has been recently observed that many navigators have a tendency to put too much
reliance on ECDIS with a potential to threaten the safety of navigation. Navigators
should always cross check ECDIS information with the other sources and most
importantly, a visual lookout, as „human eyes are the most valuable tool at a navigator‟s
disposal‟. ECDIS is a valuable asset in assisting navigators and allowing them more
time to maintain a proper lookout by providing them with more detailed situational
awareness. However, until used accurately and properly, ECDIS may „contribute to
accidents‟ rather than preventing them.

Acknowledgement:

The author would like to thank his colleague „Abdul Khalique, Principal lecturer,
Warsash maritime Academy for his valuable time to go through the article and kind help
in commenting on it. References: IHO Publication S-66. Facts about Electronic Charts
and Carriage Requirements. Edition 1.0.0 January 2010