But it also came with dire warnings against non-compliance from the Admiralty's digital standards chief Thomas Mellor.
"If a ship is detained by Australian Port State Control for non-compliance, the only way of lifting that detention is to first become compliant," he said.
"Whilst ships have until the first survey after their deadline, in some cases this may mean fitting an ECDIS and training crew at considerable cost and delay," he warned.
Almost three-quarters of cargo ships over 20,000 gross tonnage (GT) are already compliant with the UN's Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) mandated ECDIS) deadline.
The UKHO says a further 3,828 ships over 20,000 GT have yet to use electronic charts are non-compliant with SOLAS regulations.
The amendment to SOLAS Chapter V regulation 19.2 requires ships engaged on international voyage to be fitted with an ECDIS no later than the first survey on or after a date based on the type of ship and its size in gross tonnage.
Only ENCs supplied from official hydrographic offices can be used in ECDIS to meet SOLAS requirements for nautical charts and to be considered ECDIS ready.
Twelve months ago, the SOLAS regulations on ECDIS carriage were extended to cover cargo ships over 50,000 GT. Today, 90 per cent of these larger cargo ships are now considered ECDIS ready.
"With the Australian Maritime Safety Authority taking a zero-tolerance approach to breaches of these regulations, having gone as far as to require compliance with SOLAS under Australian law, this is legislation that cannot be ignored," said the UKHO press release.
"If a ship is detained by Australian Port State Control for non-compliance, the only way of lifting that detention is to first become compliant," he said.
"Whilst ships have until the first survey after their deadline, in some cases this may mean fitting an ECDIS and training crew at considerable cost and delay," he warned.
Almost three-quarters of cargo ships over 20,000 gross tonnage (GT) are already compliant with the UN's Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) mandated ECDIS) deadline.
The UKHO says a further 3,828 ships over 20,000 GT have yet to use electronic charts are non-compliant with SOLAS regulations.
The amendment to SOLAS Chapter V regulation 19.2 requires ships engaged on international voyage to be fitted with an ECDIS no later than the first survey on or after a date based on the type of ship and its size in gross tonnage.
Only ENCs supplied from official hydrographic offices can be used in ECDIS to meet SOLAS requirements for nautical charts and to be considered ECDIS ready.
Twelve months ago, the SOLAS regulations on ECDIS carriage were extended to cover cargo ships over 50,000 GT. Today, 90 per cent of these larger cargo ships are now considered ECDIS ready.
"With the Australian Maritime Safety Authority taking a zero-tolerance approach to breaches of these regulations, having gone as far as to require compliance with SOLAS under Australian law, this is legislation that cannot be ignored," said the UKHO press release.