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The common objective shared by all the Member
States of IMO (International Maritime
Organization) is a commitment to deliver safe,
secure and effi cient shipping on clean oceans.
The co-sponsors of this submission believe that
IMO now has an opportunity to develop and map
out a clear strategic vision for one common
integrating and utilizing all the navigational
technological tools at our disposal to secure a
greater level of safety and incident prevention
which will, at the same time, deliver
substantial operating efficiencies with
resulting commercial benefi ts, whilst also
continuing to respect the freedom of navigation
rights.
It is decide to add a new item on ENavigation to
the work programme of the IMO Sub-Committee on
Safety of Navigation (NAV) and also to that on
Radio-communications and Search and Rescue (COMSAR).
The aim should be to develop a strategic vision
for the utilization of existing and new
navigational tools, in particular electronic and
radiocommunication tools, in a holistic and
systematic manner.
E-Navigation would help reduce navigational
accidents, errors and failures by developing
standards for an accurate and cost effective
system that would make a major contribution to
the IMO's agenda.
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Scope of the
Proposal |
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The aim is to develop an overarching accurate,
secure and cost-effective system with the
potential to provide global coverage for vessels
of all sizes.
Implementation of this new strategic vision
might require modifications to working methods
and navigational tools, such as charts,
integration of bridge equipment, electronic aids
to navigation, communications and shore
infrastructure. At this stage, it is difficult
to be precise about the full extent of the
changes that might be necessary to fully deliver
this vision. However, there might need to be
changes to a number of regulatory instruments,
including the appropriate chapters in the SOLAS
Convention. This would therefore entail
consideration of the various strands of this
policy in the Sub-Committees on Safety of
Navigation (NAV) and Radiocommunications and
Search and Rescue (COMSAR). This proposal is not
in any way intended to conflict with the clear
principle, as confirmed in the SOLAS Convention,
of the master's authority for the operational
safety of the vessel, and in UNCLOS, of freedom
of navigation rights.
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Definition |
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The E-Navigation Committee of IALA's proposes
the following working defi nition of E-Navigation
as a starting point: "ENavigation is the
collection, integration and display of maritime
information onboard and ashore by electronic
means to enhance berth-to-berth navigation and
related services, safety and security at sea and
protection of the marine environment."
Similar point of view is presented by others
Authors. According to Basker [Basker, 2005] E-Navigation
is the transmission, manipulation and display of
navigational information in electronic formats
to support port-to-port operations. Its main
components will be:
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F electronic
navigation charts,
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positioning - combined use
satellite and terrestrial radionavigation
services,
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vessel information - route,
heading, manoeuvring parameters and other status
items,
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communication - ship to
shore, shore to ship and ship to ship,
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integrated displays - on
board ship and shore,
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information prioritization
and alert capability.
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An Initial
Approach To E-navigation |
E-Navigation is intended to make safe navigation
easier and cheaper.
It is needed:
- - to minimise navigational errors,
incidents and accidents;
- - to protect people, vessels, cargoes,
marine environment and resources;
- - to improve safety and security;
- - to reduce costs for shipping and
coastal states; and
- - to deliver benefi ts for the
commercial shipping industry;
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It can be delivered: |
- - by using satellite positioning and
radiocommunication systems;
- - by introducing INS/IBS and computer
technology on ships;
- - by introducing common format for
automatic data exchange with shore-based
monitoring and intervention capability.
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The aim is to develop a strategic vision for E-navigation,
to integrate existing and new navigational tools,
in particular electronic tools, in an all-embracing
system that will contribute to enhanced
navigational safety (with all the positive
repercussions this will have on maritime safety
overall and environmental protection) while
simultaneously reducing the burden on the
navigator. As the basic technology for such an
innovative step is already available, the
challenge lies in ensuring the availability of
all the other components of the system,
including electronic navigational charts, and in
using it effectively in order to simplify, to
the benefi t of the mariner, the display of the
occasional local navigational environment.
Enavigation would thus incorporate new
technologies in a structured way and ensure that
their use is compliant with the various
navigational communication technologies and
services that are already available, providing
an overarching, accurate, secure and cost-effective
system with the potential to provide global
coverage for ships of all sizes.
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Human Element |
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Some observations were made on the human element
issues that need to be addressed when developing
an E-Navigation strategy:
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- - man/machine interface (i.e., balance
between standardisation and allowing for
innovation and development);
- - modes of information display/portrayal;
- - appropriate communication of situation
awareness; and
- - equipment should be designed to engage
both the bridge team, pilot and VTS operator,
maintaining high - --- levels of attention and
motivation without causing distraction.
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Key Issues
and Priorities
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Considering the wide range of options and benefi
ts that could become part of E-Navigation, the
primary value of ENavigation is to join the
ship's bridge team and sea traffi c monitoring
teams to create a unifi ed navigation team that
would achieve safer navigation through shared
information. For full implementation of such a
system it would need to be mandatory for SOLAS
vessels and scaleable to all users.
It was suggested that before the primary benefi
ts and value-added services could be realised,
an architecture comprising three fundamental
elements should fi rst be in place. These are:
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Electronic Navigation Chart (ENC) coverage of
all navigational areas (WEND - Worldwide
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Electronic
Navigational Chart Database);
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robust electronic position-fi xing system (EPFS),
with redundancy; and
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· an
agreed infrastructure of communications to link
ship and shore.
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Specifications for these
fundamental elements are contained as follow. |
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Hydrographic
Data (ENCs) |
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A full coverage of ENCs for navigational waters
will require considerable effort from the
world's hydrographic community. It has further
been noted that the existence of proprietary
updating software in many ECDIS systems has
become a key cost issue when implementing ENC
data. It is thought that if, through IMO, an
open architecture system could be agreed, this
would allow a more competitive environment in
the purchase, and maintenance of ECDIS systems
thus reducing the overall costs of ENC's and
increasing the global rate of acceptance. From
the seaman's point of view there is unsolved
question of responsibility for correction of
information presented by ECDIS and ENC updating.
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Position Fixing |
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Electronic position-fi xing systems, which could
be integrated into e-navigation, can be divided
into Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS),
GNSS augmentations, terrestrial radio-navigation
systems and non-radio positioning systems. There
are two operational GNSS at present (GPS &
GLONASS) and two more planned: European -
GALILEO and The People's Republic of China -
COMPASS. It has long been recognized that GNSS
require augmentation to achieve the required
integrity for safety of life applications and
the accuracy needed for specialized navigation
and positioning. Augmentation systems fall into
two broad categories: Ground Based (GBAS) and
Satellite Based (SBAS). GBAS (IALA) maritime
beacon system has been the standard GNSS
augmentation system for maritime applications.
SBAS is based on two operational (WAAS, EGNOS)
and two planned public service (MSAS, GAGAN).
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There are many high accuracy, local terrestrial
radio-positioning systems provided, mostly on a
commercial basis, for specialized applications.
However, the only terrestrial radio-navigation
system with widespread, regional coverage is
Loran-C. The Far East Radio-Navigation System (FERNS)
is provided under an international agreement
between PRC, Russia, Korea and Japan and extends
from the Bering Straits to the South China Sea.
Saudi Arabia also has a system, covering its own
territory and the Arabian Gulf. Non-Radio
Positioning Systems is the Inertial Measuring
Unit (IMU), usually integrated with GNSS to
enhance it and cope with outages. The problem of
fi xing position coordinates for navigational
needs considered only in terms of measurement
error seems to have already been solved in a
global scale. Its realization with higher or
lower precision is only a function of the
technical solution adopted. Therefore, other,
equally important, although often omitted,
exploitation parameters of navigation systems
become crucial. These are: availability,
integrity, continuity and also reliability.
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