Who says that Shipping is a Conservative Industry? (E-Navigation)

  By Aline De Bievre     "Having returned from a two-day meeting of minds on "e-navigation"  hosted by the Danish Maritime Authority (DMA) on board the Pear  l Seaways cruise ferry, which carries passengers and vehicles  from Copenhagen to Oslo and back again all year round, I was   left in no doubt that new, ground-breaking developments are on  the horizon in marine navigation and traffic management.     The DMA is about to embark on a new project that could revolutionise  the way information is shared in and around the maritime sector  for smarter traffic management at sea.  The "EfficienSea 2"  project aims to lay the groundwork for the creation and  implementation of the "Maritime Cloud", a service-oriented   communication framework that would be based on available communication  systems and include a maritime identity register to enable   "the maritime internet of things" – i.e. a comprehensive e-maritime  and e-navigation environment for the benefit of the full mix of  legitimate maritime stakeholders.   Setting a governance standard  will also be a critical part of this pioneering project, which  will cover a host of other important e-navigation related technical  work and trials to reduce the risk of accidents in dense waterways,  as well as increase the efficiency of the transport chain and   minimize administrative burdens.    The project will be carried out over the next three years in   cooperation with 32 partners from the shipping, maritime, R&D  and academic communities in 10 countries and from international  organizations, such as the International Association of Marine  Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA).  It has  an allocated total budget of Euro 11.5M, of which Euro 9.8M   is European Union-funded    The term e-navigation refers to "enhanced" navigation by improved  information exchange through electronic means, enabling the seamless  and real-time transfer of data between ship and shore, shore and  ship and between ships in a given sea area.  Much work has been done  by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) over the past eight  years to put flesh on the concept of e-navigation, which is principally  concerned with enhanced berth-to-berth navigation and improving   accessibility of related marine services for sustainable safety  and security at sea and protection of the marine environment.    Based on this work, the IMO's principal technical body, the Maritime  Safety Committee, last year approved a Strategy Implementation Plan  or "SIP" for e-navigation.     Which precise form implementation will take will in part depend on  the outcome of various "test bed" or demonstration projects already  underway or newly planned in various parts of the world, such as  the Malacca and Singapore Straits, the North Sea Region, the Baltic  and the Mediterranean Sea, with projects conducted under an array  of fancy names like Marine Electronic Highway, AccSEAS, EfficienSea  and MonaLisa-Marine Navigation by Intelligence At Sea.  From the   viewpoint of IMO, it will be important to ensure that outcomes are  coordinated with a view to achieving harmonized implementation based  on internationally agreed standards to suit the needs of a global   industry like shipping.  Aware of this imperative need, the Maritime  Safety Committee, also last year, approved guidelines on the harmonized  reporting of test beds.     Also significant is that the Committee, in approving the SIP, agreed  that the development of e-navigation solutions should focus on five  priorities, namely:    - standardized and automated reporting systems;  - harmonized and user-friendly bridge designs that are "human-centred";  - improved reliability, resilience and integrity of bridge equipment     and navigation information;  - integrated presentation, in graphical displays, of available information    received from communications equipment; and  - improved communication of available Vessel Traffic Services.    These are remarkably clear yet very ambitious objectives.  It will  be interesting to see how e-navigation solutions will develop in the  years to come.  Will they succeed in enthusing the upcoming generation  of marine navigators and users of shore-based shipping traffic   information and management services?  Watch this space!"

Fonte: Bw Wave Issue 691.