“ECDIS – Electronic Chart Display and Information System” is one of the most pronounced words in the maritime industry in recent times. IMO has made implementation of this system mandatory and thus replacing the centuries-old traditional paper charts.
For a normal sailor, it may be a frightening factor to implement a new system, to come out of his comfort zone. In practical, this ECDIS will be of more accurate, crisp and easy to operate as he needs just to deal with one computer.
Seafarers have to undergo a professional training programme for the proper handling of this system. Ship owners may think for the training cost but in reality, a little more expense for a bigger investment is not a loss.
On the other hand, ECDIS is getting more complicated as the ship owners want all kind of functions to be embedded into the system. To handle this, FURUNO has introduced ‘S Mode’ – a single switch key in ECDIS by which the whole system can fall back to the IMO defined standard display, irrespective of the manufacturer.
Mr. Ken Helle Jensen, an ECDIS expert, believes that this is going to be the future of navigation and expects the number of accidents will reduce considerably by the proper handling of this system. He also added that E-Navigation doesn’t stand for Electronic Navigation but ECDIS Navigation.
