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1. Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has issued Marine Notice 7 of 2017 (copy attached) highlighting the safe and proper operation of ECDIS for ships visiting Australian ports. It also provides information on AMSA’s expectations for ECDIS compliance during port State control (PSC) inspections.
2. Salient points from the circular are as follows:
a. The IHO has published new editions of the S-52, S-63, and S-64 standards in August 2015. The previous edition of the S-52 standard (Ed 6.0) will remain valid until 31 August 2017. Existing ECDIS systems will require upgrading to the latest IHO standards before 31 August 2017. In some cases ECDIS equipment may require replacement if it cannot be updated to the latest standards.
b. ECDIS may be operated in one of two modes:
i. ECDIS mode when ENCs are used;
Raster Chart Display System (RCDS) mode, when suitable ENCs are not available and RNC are used instead.
All Australian waters are covered by ENCs and therefore ECDIS should not be operated in RCDS mode in these waters
c. AMSA’s PSC Inspectors focus on how ships meet the SOLAS requirements for chart carriage and the safe and effective conduct of navigation tasks. PSC Inspectors may take account of ECDIS-related issues including:
Enclosure:
Disclaimer:
This Technical Circular and the material contained in it is provided only for the purpose of supplying current information to the reader and not as an advice to be relied upon by any person.
While we have taken utmost care to be as factual as possible, readers/ users are advised to verify the exact text and content of the Regulation from the original source/ issuing Authority.