Page 69: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 1998)

an IMO-compliant ECDIS. In

September 1997, a Draft IEC pub- lication was completed based on comments received during a six- month review period. Upon formal adoption by IEC (likely to occur sometime this month), IEC

Publication 61174 will become the basis for type-approval specifica- tions related to operational meth- ods of testing and required test results for an IMO-compliant

ECDIS.

Other Electronic Chart-

Related Standards

In 1996, IMO requested that the

IMO/IHO Harmonization Group on ECDIS (HGE) study two addi- tional matters related to electronic charts: 1) Performance Standards for

Raster Chart Display

Systems (RCDS) 2) Guidelines for non-equivalent

Electronic Chart Systems (ECS)

Draft Recommendations on

Performance Standards for RCDS and Draft Guidelines for

Electronic Chart Systems were developed in September 1997.

Depending on the results of fur- ther refinements, these documents will likely be submitted to IMO for consideration at the IMO Sub-

Committee on Safety of Navigation meeting in July 1998. HGE has also prepared a Draft IMO Safety of Navigation (SN) Circular that advises mariners on the "Differences Between RCDS and

ECDIS."

Model ECDIS Training Course

A standardized, international

ECDIS Training Course for

Mariners was developed in

December 1997 by the Institute of

Ship Operation, Sea Transport and

Simulation (ISSUS) in Hamburg,

Germany.

The primary objective is to ensure proper use and operation of

ECDIS in terms of a thorough understanding and appreciation of it's capabilities and limitations. As presently envisioned, the proposed one-week course includes class- room lecture, hands-on training, and exercise scenarios in a bridge simulator facility.

Germany intends to submit the

Course Syllabus to IMO for consid- eration by the Committee on

April, 1998

Standards for Training,

Certification and Watch-keeping (STCW) and to the Sub-Committee on Safety of Navigation that will meet in July 1998.

The preceding was excerpted from a paper presented by Dr. Lee

Alexander, the Technical Advisor for Offshore Systems International.

He regularly attends IMO meet- ings, and serves as secretary to the

IMO/IHO HGE and is chairman of the IEC Working Group that developed the IEC Testing

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