COURTESY CHIEF OFFICER WESLEY WALTON
TECH TRENDS
Time to dump paper charts?
By Erik Speyer
S
OLAS mandates that all passenger vessels 500GT and above must be ECDIS (electronic chart display information system) compliant. It is not a surprise that yacht captains are asking, “Should we go paperless?” Two factors contribute to vessels going paperless: cost savings over time, and the elimination of tedious manual chart corrections. Depending on where the
Costs, bridge setup, itinerary, corrections and crew training are just a few of the factors to consider. vessel is cruising, often hundreds of paper charts must be carried and corrected weekly to remain compliant. For example, the Mediterranean has six folios with 300–600 charts. New builds leave the shipyard paperless capable, however, most older yachts must refit their bridges to meet the stringent ECDIS requirements. Cost is by far the largest consideration in the decision to 24
APRIL 2022 | TritonNews.com
go paperless. The minimum for paperless compliance includes two separate ECDIS units, each with their own redundant power supplies. Full ECDIS installs can range anywhere from $25,000 to over $50,000, depending on the vessel’s particular bridge setup and brand choice. Other considerations include the ability of displays to be color corrected as prescribed by the IMO and certified by the ECDIS manufacturer, radar integration, point-topoint video distribution, and the capacity to isolate power. After the installation cost, recurring costs will primarily consist of ENC (electronic navigation charts) usage and annual subscription fees for third-party software. Third-party software solutions have integrated passage planning, ENC updates, and other helpful modules. The software ranges between $250 and $2,000 per year, depending on the options you choose. Most vessels choose a “pay as you sail” (PAYS) option, which means the vessel is tracked via Sat-C, and only charged for ENCs for your physical location. Averaging the annual ENC usage for 80 yachts, the cost for 2021 was about $3,000 dollars per year. In comparison, a
THE 3G NETWORK SHUTDOWNS COULD AFFECT YOUR YACHT The 3G, or third generation, cellphone network will be shut down this year as a transition to 4G and 5G. AT&T shut down their 3G network on Feb. 22, the first major U.S. carrier to do so. T-Mobile/Sprint will shut down their 3G network on March 31, and Verizon on Dec. 31. Most cellphones already operate on the 4G network, with many 5G-capable. If your cellphone is 2015 or newer, you should have no problems. However, the 3G network has been used extensively for IoT (Internet of Things) and M2M (machine to machine) devices. Currently there are an estimated 5 million IoT and other devices that are working on the 3G network. Could this be a problem for yachts? “I think there will be a significant impact for those yachts that have not updated their technology since 2015,
similar group of paper-based yachts spent about $6,000 per year on updated charts, plus $2,000 per year for the software that enables them to do onboard corrections. One often overlooked aspect of ECDIS compliance is crew training. Most captains know you need to be ECDIS endorsed, however, you also need to be type-certified on the specific ECDIS you are using. In addition, you need to have at least three officers of the watch (OOWs) on board with an ECDIS endorsement or risk being out of compliance. This is especially important to keep in mind when there is crew changeover. The obvious advantages of running a paperless bridge are the absence of performing chart corrections and the ability to move freely without worrying about paper chart coverage. In a full ECDIS setup, weekly chart corrections are as simple as pushing a button. Not only does this save time on the bridge, it also encourages compliance, as vessels are more
