Most vessels subject to SOLAS now ready for electronic chart display
DATA published by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) at Posidonia shows that 59 per cent of the 42,000 internationally trading vessels are now ready for electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS) carriage.
As of May, 51 per cent of all vessels that are subject to the SOLAS regulations on the mandatory carriage of ECDIS, including those that do not trade internationally, are now fully ECDIS ready, which is defined as using an Electronic Navigational Chart (ENC) service on ECDIS.
This represents an increase of six per cent over the past six months. The UKHO's data also provides insight into ECDIS readiness for different ship sizes and classes.
Seventy seven per cent of the 3,500 large cargo ships (defined as those over 50,000 tonnes) in the global fleet are now ECDIS ready, ahead of the SOLAS-mandated deadline of July 1 for these vessels. This is an increase of 15 per cent in the past six months.
By comparison, 45 per cent of cargo ships over 20,000 gt and 23 per cent of cargo ships over 10,000 gt are currently using an ENC service. The respective SOLAS compliance dates for these two classes of vessel are July 2017 and July 2018.
Head of OEM technical support and digital standards at UKHO, Thomas Mellor, said: "The news that over half of all ships subject to the SOLAS Convention are now 'ECDIS ready' is an important landmark in the transition to digital navigation."
The UKHO continues to offer support and assistance for shipowners at all stages of ECDIS implementation, including those still preparing for the installation of ECDIS and those managing the operation of ECDIS on their fleet.
DATA published by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) at Posidonia shows that 59 per cent of the 42,000 internationally trading vessels are now ready for electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS) carriage.
As of May, 51 per cent of all vessels that are subject to the SOLAS regulations on the mandatory carriage of ECDIS, including those that do not trade internationally, are now fully ECDIS ready, which is defined as using an Electronic Navigational Chart (ENC) service on ECDIS.
This represents an increase of six per cent over the past six months. The UKHO's data also provides insight into ECDIS readiness for different ship sizes and classes.
Seventy seven per cent of the 3,500 large cargo ships (defined as those over 50,000 tonnes) in the global fleet are now ECDIS ready, ahead of the SOLAS-mandated deadline of July 1 for these vessels. This is an increase of 15 per cent in the past six months.
By comparison, 45 per cent of cargo ships over 20,000 gt and 23 per cent of cargo ships over 10,000 gt are currently using an ENC service. The respective SOLAS compliance dates for these two classes of vessel are July 2017 and July 2018.
Head of OEM technical support and digital standards at UKHO, Thomas Mellor, said: "The news that over half of all ships subject to the SOLAS Convention are now 'ECDIS ready' is an important landmark in the transition to digital navigation."
The UKHO continues to offer support and assistance for shipowners at all stages of ECDIS implementation, including those still preparing for the installation of ECDIS and those managing the operation of ECDIS on their fleet.