Oslo: If Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS) are made mandatory on board ships, the number of groundings is likely to be reduced by a third according to a study carried out by DNV.
The effect of ECDIS has been documented in previous studies, but uncertainty has remained relating to the coverage of electronic nautical charts on which ECDIS performance depends, and which some have claimed is still inadequate. When preparing for the next meeting of the International Maritime Organization’s committee on Safety of Navigation, DNV’s researchers were asked by Denmark, Finland Norway and Sweden to assess the adequacy of the electronic nautical chart coverage.
The main finding in the DNV study is that the coverage of electronic charts in coastal waters is already very good and improving:
- The global coverage of suitable electronic navigational charts in coastal areas currently lies between 84% and 96% and is expected to increase to 87–98% within a few years.
- The coverage of suitable electronic navigational charts along selected routes considered representative of worldwide shipping varies between a minimum of 28% and a maximum of 100%.
- 36% of the selected representative routes already have 100% coverage in coastal areas.
- For five of the seven routes currently without 100% coverage, an increase in coverage is planned for the near future.
Grounding – the second biggest risk
For many ship types, collision is the dominant risk, while grounding is second. In a previous study DNV has documented that ECDIS is a preventive measure, reducing the probability of grounding by well above one third when electronic nautical charts are available.
The motivation for the current study has been to address the common industry perception that the lack of global electronic nautical chart coverage is diluting ECDIS’s risk reducing potential. This perception bias is considered one of the major obstacles faced by advocates of a mandatory ECDIS carriage requirement.
Should be mandatory
“These results support that an Electronic Chart Display and Information System should be implemented as a mandatory requirement for most ships,” comments DNV’s CEO Henrik O. Madsen. “Besides, the more ships that install such equipment, the more electronic charts are likely to be produced.”
The study was financed by the above mentioned countries, and it is their common view that a lack of electronic navigational chart coverage should no longer be seen as a reason not to introduce mandatory ECDIS carriage requirements, since the current electronic navigational chart coverage is hereby shown to be sufficient.
The DNV report, which used the Formal Safety Assessment and the IMO risk evaluation criteria, concluded by recommending a relatively fast implementation plan.