Scandinavian archipelagos go paperless
The Tyrving operates along Norway’s difficult coastline.
A Norwegian high speed ferry operator is bringing onboard electronic updating of charts and navigation hardware, but the special demands of the ferries’ crew have also had to be met.
Tide Sjø AS operates some 80 ferries and express boats, and its latest three newbuilds are to benefit from a paperless dual-ECDIS system.
Kent Sylvén, managing director of Adveto, said the ferries run across a large number of routes along the Norwegian coast, so the system developed by Adveto and its distributor Westronic has been built in close cooperation with the ferry operator’s input.
This has meant taking into consideration the special navigation conditions in the complex and critical waters of the Scandinavian archipelagos, and removing some of the strain inherent in this kind of operation from the vessel’s crew.
Arve Finnvik of Tide Sjø explaied the ECDIS-4000 control unit is a fast operation panel placed on the armrest of the command chair. A route can be chosen in a quick and flexible way, taking into consideration both weather and marine traffic as well as other demands. There is also a ‘multi-routes’ option which is an excellent tool for archipelago operations.
Along with its alternative ‘night’ presentation, a mode which eliminates the risk of blinding the bridge crew with carefully selected colours that avoid marring night vision, the panel, which has been designed in cooperation with the navigators, “allows you to use the most common operations without using the system’s screen menus”, he told Maritime Journal.
Up to eight of these control units can be connected to the ECDIS-computer, each with similar or different functionality from the others.
Mr Sylvén added that the company’s system provides a simple and efficient way of obtaining official ENCs, avoiding incidents arising from the use of outdated information, as the link is built in and makes it possible to ensure that the charts are updated.
Its also a way to tailor the outlay as clients only pay for the relevant PRIMAR charts for 3, 6 or 12 months, depending on what is needed. There is no waiting, around as the boats continue to navigate while the charts are downloaded.
The changeover to onboard ECDIS has been spurred on by the IMO’s vision of e-navigation. The body has stated its vision “to integrate existing and new navigational tools, in particular electronic tools, in an all embracing system that will contribute to enhanced navigational safety (with all the positive repercussions this will have on maritime safety overall and environmental protection) while simultaneously reducing the burden on the navigator.”
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