Its displays are compelling, because they contain the entire tactical situation of the ship as it transits a harbor or waterway. The ship's position is plotted automatically on the chart from data received from GPS; its past track is visible; the course to the destination is evident; the dangers along the way are easily seen. When combined with radar, the display presents the entire below-the-surface situation and the traffic on the surface. For these reasons, the electronic chart becomes the tool-of-choice and the content, accuracy, and the updating of the chart display becomes critical. A database standard will protect these three qualities.
At the present time there are only limited official chart databases produced by government hydrographic offices, which are available for sale and required to be used in ECDIS. As a result, ECS is the dominant type of chart system in use in vessels of all sizes everywhere in the world. Private companies produce their databases, and none of these are made to any single, international standard. Thus there is an evident, immediate, and significant goal: produce a standard for the ECS database that will assure safety of navigation on vessels of all sizes sailing on all waters.
Most ships will not use ECDIS because they either are not covered by the SOLAS convention, or they will be smaller than those required to carry it. The numbers of vessels that will someday be obliged to carry ECDIS is very much smaller than the number of vessels that employ ECS. Even as national administrations mandate the use of systems of electronic charts, most of the covered vessels will use ECS rather than ECDIS.
Thus there is a clear need for a single, international database standard that assures the safety of ECS. It will eliminate the confusion that will arise when vessels move across international boundaries. It will satisfy the need in each country to assure safe navigation by referencing a single ISO database standard that accomplishes that purpose.
3. Acceptance of the Community
ECS producers and users, as typified by the membership of NECSA, have endorsed the concept of a database standard for ECS. NECSA has already produced a database standard under its own name, and this was reviewed by a University (Ohio State), and by NECSA members.
We have also received support from the hydrographic community. The NECSA standard was produced with the assistance of Canadian and US hydrographers. The Hydrographers of the United States (both NOAA and NIMA), Germany, Norway, and Italy support this new project, and more than one of them will make available skilled hydrographers to assist the Working Group.
