E - Navigation Basics (eBook)

3

Definition and Distinction of E-Navigation

For quite a period, E-navigation was used as a buzzword with a rather vague delimination on what the term really meant. First, it was little bit more than a pure notion, and by the time only, filled with substance, which then eventually was poured into a mold by the IMO and its subcommittees, further supported by industry representative workgroups.

By the time, a common understanding of the scope of E-navigation emerged, what were the needs to be addressed, what kind of solutions were aspired by it, what technical facilities are required, and what are the options to make navigation safer through E-navigation. Over the last couple of years expedited by the COVID-19 pandemic the maritime sector, otherwise known to be a conservative industry, has experienced a valuable lesson on the urgency of digitalisation and its effectiveness. This is supported by the book ‘Maritime Informatics’ written by Mikael Lind (2020) [1] who describes the potential for ‘Maritime Informatics’ to enhance the shipping industry, and examines how decision-making in the industry can be improved by digital technology.

Yet, despite the rather broad approach on E-navigation, there are demarcations to differentiate it from other trends in the maritime industry, which either have a different objective or may even reach beyond the E-navigation ambit.

3.1 Definition of E-Navigation

An early description on what E-navigation is, can be found at the homepage of the Fisheries and Oceans Canada [1], dating back to January 2020:

A more international definition was given by Soo Yeob Kim, director of Maritime Safety Department, at the Korea Maritime Institute [2]:

Eventually the final and official characterisation of the E-navigation concept was provided by the IMO, during the 85th meeting of its Maritime Safety Committee in 2008, after receiving substantial inputs from the industry and other relevant organisations (e.g., IALA and IHO) [3]:

The same source [3] clarifies, that:

In analysing the above, it is interesting to note that any limitation to particular types of ships is absent, and by reverse argumentation any kind of vessel is therefore covered by the E-navigation definition. This means, E-navigation does include small non-SOLAS crafts like fishing, recreational or work-boats (which indeed is an initiative of the Republic of Korea), but also the upcoming ‘Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS)’. In summary, E-navigation is intended to be scalable across all vessels in order to improve safety for the entire maritime community.

3.2 Distinction of E-Navigation

E-navigation must not be confused with “digitalisation” or even “digitisation”. Both terms are describing processes which may be part of an E-navigation application, but taken alone, will not necessarily fulfil the requirements of the official E-navigation definition.

Broadly spoken, digitisation describes the pure transformation of data formats from physical to electronical. For example, the Admiralty e-Nautical Publications are basically scanned versions of the paper volumes (e.g. Sailing Directions, or Ocean Passages), but they miss to offer any additional features other than that this information can now be used by a computer system. Likewise, raster charts are just scanned copies of a paper chart, but without any additional information or (decision making) process behind it.

In turn, digitalisation in the field of ship operations refers to embedding digital data into a strategy or process that implies additional benefits to the user by integrating, analysing, and further processing the data, so that an advanced set of information with added value is presented. Returning to the example of Admiralty, the product line “Admiralty Digital6 Publications – ADP” serves as an example of digitalisation. Picking the “Admiralty Total Tide – ATT”, this tool offers automated tidal predictions (height and streams) by taking into account the own vessel’s under-keel and safe overhead clearances. To operate the ATT a user just needs to enter the location and the selected date for the location of interest, thus reducing the risk of human error. Another example is the introduction of ENCs, which enabled the process of hydrographic data processing and presentation though ECDIS, and thus did not only provide new features in chart handling and safety monitoring, but also added additional information lawyers to the display.

Of course, it is anticipated that there is an upcoming market for independent navigational mobile ‘Apps’, addressing various needs of the maritime users. Whether for navigation (e.g. Navionics, iNAvX), weather forecast (PredictWind, AccuWeather), cargo (e.g. Cargo Handbook), of for port capabilities (e.g World Ports). Indeed, such concept brings some gains, acknowledging that the development in the IT arena moves more towards modular micro-service architecture, encapsulating individual components for easier implementation and delivery with limited system wide impact. But unless the implementation of any approved (!) apps will take place in a harmonised way, such to ensure the smooth operation in a highly integrated environment, the app-concept is likely to fail to comply with the requirement, that “E-navigation is intended to meet present and future user needs through harmonisation of marine navigation systems”, as stated in its IMO-definition.

Therefore, as with the previous distinction, E-navigation must be correctly positioned on a range scale of industry complexity, where ECDIS symbolises the lower edge, and ‘Maritime 4.0’ marks the upper end. Continuing to use a figure of speech provided in section 0, E-navigation is a kind of ‘pinch to zoom’ enabler that allows facilitating ‘Maritime 4.0’. Here the analogy of the functional framework of ‘pinch to zoom’ translated into the context of E-navigation is the “4S” data exchange (between ‘Ship to Shore’ and ‘Ship to Ship’) based on the ‘Common Maritime Data Structure (CMDS)’ through ECDIS. In this context, the hierarchy between ECDIS, E-navigation, and ‘Maritime 4.0’ might explain that E-navigation is a digital framework to evolve the ECIDS from being a ship’s navigational part of the transport chain to become a ship’s digital platform for connecting the ‘Maritime 4.0’.

For sure ECDIS is one of the core components of the technical set-up onboard for E-navigation implementation, but E-navigation means more than just carrying ECDIS. Although the definition limits its scope to the ship’s navigational part of the transport chain due to the scope of the work assigned to IMO, the ripple effect of E-navigation is not limited to maritime safety and efficiency. Also, for the related industries outside the direct scope of E-navigation, E-navigation becomes an essential enabler leading and empowering other sectors’ evolution. For instance, looking at the aspect of ‘electronic means’ this ranges from straight forward digital data exchange between 4S (ship to ship, ship-to-shore), but can be expanded to include advanced and disruptive technologies to become part of the ‘Technical Services’ (see section 9.2.2 in this book), which in turn support the operational services (so-called 16 MSPs, (see section 9.2.1 in this book). Examples of such high-tech elements of ‘Technical Services’ are artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, virtual reality, and IoT devices and applications.

Ensuring the seamless digital data exchange through E-navigation across all partners, afloat or ashore, is a decisive foundation for the introduction and operation of the emerging digital technologies and industries, such as ‘Maritime 4.0’, ‘Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship (MASS)’, etc. On the other hand, ‘Maritime 4.0’ uses E-navigation as the digital infrastructure across different maritime sectors for achieving its goals. Goals, that reach beyond the operation of ports and...