ABSTRACT
The Electronic Chart and display Information System (or ECDIS) is a relatively recent development in the navigational chart system used on board naval vessels and merchant ships. With the use of the electronic chart system, it has become easier for the ship’s bridge team to navigate and plot positions with greater confidence and accuracy. ECDIS complies with IMO regulation V/19 and V/27 of the SOLAS Convention as amended, by displaying selected information using a System Electronic Navigational Chart (SENC). ECDIS equipment that complies with SOLAS requirements can be used as an alternative to paper charts. Besides enhancing navigational safety, ECDIS greatly eases the navigator’s workload with its automatic capabilities such as route planning, route monitoring, automatic ETA computation and Electronic Navigational Chart (ENC) updating. Furthermore, ECDIS provides many other sophisticated navigation and safety features, including continuous data recording which can be used for later analysis as well as the gyro, radar, ARPA, echo sounder, and so on.
