How many usage bands are there for enc s
How many usage bands are there for enc s
DATA PROTECTION
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ENC Data Protection
Introduction
The IHO Data Protection Scheme defines security constructs and operating procedures that must be followed by Data Servers (providers of data) Data Clients (systems that use the data).
The purpose of data protection scheme is to provide:
1. Piracy Protection: i.e. to prevent unauthorised use of data by encrypting the ENC information.
2. Selective Access: i.e. to restrict access to ENC information to only those cells that a customer has been licenced for.
3. Authentication: i.e to provide assurance that the ENC data has come from approved sources
There are currently two IHO security schemes. The S-63 Scheme, is used for ENC’s and ECDIS based on the S-57 Standard. The S-100 Scheme (currently being implemented for testing), is intended for S-100 based products (e.g. S-101, S-102 etc).
S-63 Documents and Resources
The main S-63 Documents are available in English and French and can be downloaded from the IHO Publications Download page.
Please note; all submissions should include two printed copies of the Agreement documents. Both copies should include relevant signatures on the signature page (last page), and all other pages (at bottom right corner). (Both paper copies of the OEM Agreement document must be original signatures).
Please send all paper document to:
International Hydrographic Organization
4b, Quai Antoine I-er
B.P. 445
MC 98011 Monaco Cedex
Principauté de Monaco
IHO Top Level Certificates
* Requests for S-63 Test Data should be sent to the IHO ( Info@iho.int )
S-100 Scheme Documents and Resources
The S-100 Security Scheme is describe in Part 15 of the latest S-100 IHO Universal Hydrographic Data Model document, which is available from the IHO Publications Download page.
The OEM and Data Server Application Form and Agreement documents (for both schemes) are provided above;
How many usage bands are there for enc s
Below is the list of mandatory alarms / indication as per MSC Resolution 232(82).
Alarm: An alarm or alarm system which announces by audible means, or audible and visual means, a condition requiring attention.
Indicator: Visual indication giving information about the condition of a system or equipment.
When using ENCs, an alert will be given when charted hazards enter the safety domain, even if the hazard is not visible on the displayed portion of the ENC.
Alarms settings guidance for Ocean passage / Coastal / Congested waters as per company requirements and specific to ships draft, should be entered into the ECDIS Management card and posted at a visible location near the ECDIS.
Alarms settings are dynamic in nature and are to be regularly reviewed and updated as the voyage progresses from congested waters to open sea and vice versa. The Bridge team must be aware of the Alarm settings and the ENC should be adequately marked where the settings need to be changed. Alarm settings on the ECDIS must be done diligently so as to avoid unnecessary alarms and unwanted distraction to the officer on watch.
Alarms are to be set by the navigating officer at the time of passage planning and once the Master has reviewed the passage / alarm settings, they should be locked where such a facility is available
The alert will be an alarm or indication, depending on the circumstances and user settings. Alarms received in the ECDIS must be acknowledged and appropriate action to be taken to address the alarm as per the guidance given below.
There are generally three contour settings available to the user for highlighting available depth. The contours are differentiated by colours and if a guard zone touches the safety contour it will give an alarm. In case the contour for the value entered is not available on the ENC, the ECDIS will select the next available deeper contour by default.
a. Safety Contour: This is a user entered depth that ideally coincides with the contours, giving an adequate safety allowance for the dynamic draft of the vessel. This is the only contour that is required to generate an alarm upon crossing.
Deep and Shallow contours only provide display and are not required to generate any alarms.
b. Safety Depth: The spot soundings below the specified value entered for safety depth will appear bold. These are not required to generate any alarms.
When the vessels planned passage is within the Safety Contour these spot soundings provide a visual indication to the navigator and must be used to create No Go Areas using User Map Lines capable of generating an alarm.
Minimum Settings: Setting should be based on vessel’s dynamic draft.
Dynamic draft = Present maximum static draft + All allowances (Squat + Sinkage due to Density + Allowance for Sea State + Heel Correction + Seasonal variation + other allowances)
Following is the minimum value recommended by my Company.
Safety Contour = Dynamic draft+ Minimum Net UKC requirement – Height of tide
Safety Depth = Safety Contour
Shallow Contour = One Contour less than Safety Contour
Deep Contour = 50 meters.
Safety Height = Air draft of the vessel + 2 meters.
Note:
a) When navigating within a dredged channel where the limits of the dredged channel are drawn by contours on the ENC, these limits can be set as the Safety Contour. This will clearly demarcate the channel and avoid the need to mark any additional No-Go areas outside the dredged channel.
b) The Safety Depth setting should guide the mariner in setting up the No-go Areas. Therefore, the vessel should never go over a sounding equal or less than Safety Depth value (which will be emphasized). In the vicinity of the route these must be marked as No-Go (as artificial contour) using the Danger line (available in user map).
c) The Shallow Contour should not overlap with the Safety Contour, i.e Dark blue and Light blue colours should be clearly visible.
d) CATZOC – As recommended by INTERTANKO ECDIS guidance, “The depth accuracy guidance found in NP100 does not require the accuracy values to be deducted from the charted depth but for the mariner to be aware of the likelihood of a different depth within the accuracy values.”
2. Area with special conditions
An alarm or indication, as set by the user, will be given if, within a specified time or distance, own ship would cross the boundary of a geographic area for which special condition exists.
Although the ECDIS displays alarm options for several areas, IMO specifies the following areas for which an alarm or indication must be specified –
a) Traffic separation zone
b) Inshore traffic zone
c) Restricted area
d) Caution area
e) Offshore production area
f) Areas to be avoided
g) User defined areas to be avoided
h) Military practice area
i) Seaplane landing area
j) Submarine transit lane
k) Anchorage area
l) Marine farm/aquaculture
m) Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA)
The Master must ensure that at least all the above mentioned areas have been selected on the ECDIS to generate an alarm or indication, considering the location of the vessel (Ocean passage / Coastal / Congested waters) and the watch level being maintained at that time.
3. Deviation from route
An alarm will be given if the specified cross track limit for deviation from the planned route is exceeded.
Minimum Settings: To be determined by the Master after reviewing the passage for proximity of navigational hazards.
4. Positioning system failure
Navigating officers should be aware of the non-reliability of the GPS input to ECDIS. The ECDIS will provide an alarm to the OOW in case of a Positioning System failure. In such cases, the DR mode on the ECDIS must be used until the Positioning System failure is rectified. When in the DR mode, regular position fixing must be done on the ECDIS using the LOP function.
5. Approach to critical point
An alarm will be given by the ECDIS when the ship reaches a specified time or distance, set by the OOW, in advance of a critical point on the planned route (e.g., waypoint pre-arrival alarm).
6. Different geodetic datum
The positioning system and the SENC should be on the same geodetic datum. ECDIS should give an alarm if this is not the case.
It is recommended to keep GPS in WGS-84 datum all the time.
7. Malfunction of ECDIS
Similar to other electronic navigational equipment, ECDIS can fail, either outright or in a way that can give misleading information. The navigator shall transfer navigation to the back-up system.
8. Default safety contour
a) If the mariner does not specify a safety contour, this will be set to 30 metres by default. If the safety contour specified by the mariner or the default 30 metres contour is not in the displayed SENC, the safety contour shown will default to the next deeper contour.
b) If the safety contour in use becomes unavailable due to a change in source data, the safety contour will change to the next deeper contour by default.
c) In each of the above cases, an indication will be provided.
ECDIS will provide an indication if the information is displayed at a larger scale than that contained in the ENC.
ECDIS will provide an indication if own ship’s position is covered by an ENC at a larger scale than that provided by the display.
ECDIS and added navigational information use a common reference system normally referred to as Common Consistent Reference Point (CCRP). If this is not the case, an indication will be provided.
If the area covered by the ECDIS display includes waters for which no ENC is available, at a scale appropriate for navigation, the areas representing those waters will carry an indication to the mariner to refer to the paper chart or to the RCDS mode of operation.
In areas, where ENC is not available, RNC may be used in conjunction with updated folio of paper chart only after obtaining office approval.
If information categories included in the Standard Display are removed to customize the display, this will be permanently indicated. Identification of categories which are removed from the Standard Display can be shown on demand. Indications displayed, or the identification of the categories removed will be type specific to the ECDIS.
An automated route check will provide an indication to the mariner wherever the Safety Contour is crossed, during route planning.
An indication will be given if the mariner plans a route closer than a user-specified distance from the boundary of a prohibited area or a geographical area, for which, special conditions exist (as mentioned in point 2 above). An indication will also be given if the mariner plans a route closer than a user-specified distance from a point object, such as, a fixed or floating aid to navigation or isolated danger.
An indication will be given to the mariner, if, by continuing on its present course and speed, over a specified time or distance set by the mariner, own ship will pass closer than a user-specified distance from a danger (e.g., obstruction, wreck, rock, etc.) that is shallower than the OOW’s safety contour or an aid to navigation.
ECDIS is provided with means for automatically or manually carrying out on-board tests of major functions. In case of a failure, the test will display information to indicate which of the module(s) is at fault.
Refer to the Makers manual for procedure and frequency of testing.
Kept on during planning – This is to clearly see these dangers and avoid them during planning
Kept off during monitoring – This allows the mariner to clearly see the difference between a wreck/rock or an obstruction. Even when off the isolated danger will still be highlighted in the look-ahead con.
The anti-grounding cone safety frame covers the area that will be used by ECDIS for generation of anti-grounding alarm, area alert or navigational alarm based on the chart data analysis or the user set safety parameters.
Safety frame of the Anti-grounding tool may be of below types:
1. Box shape (As Danger detection Vector)
2. Cone shape (As Danger detection Sector)
The size of anti-grounding tool will depend upon manufacturer of ECDIS system in use.
Within the option provided by the manufacturer, Master should decide the optimum setting of size for particular passage or leg of voyage basis size, manoeuvrability and speed of the vessel, proximity of navigational hazards, position plotting frequency, etc.
Above settings will vary from company to company
Few models of ECDIS have both, the danger detection vector and danger detection sector. Vessels are advised to use the appropriate safety frame which covers maximum area as per above minimum settings.
The minimum settings mentioned above are company recommendations. However, master may use anti-grounding tool settings higher than the company’s minimum requirements, appropriate to the prevailing circumstances. Also, the limitation of option provided by the manufacturer has to be borne in mind.
During voyage monitoring, the ECDIS must be operated at compilation scale, when appropriate scale ENCs are available. When O.O.W. zooms out to improve situational awareness, the ECDIS may indicate an underscale warning and may limit this operation to a certain scale factor. The O.O.W. must be conversant with the procedure for resetting to the ENC compilation scale, as soon as wider situational awareness has been established
During planning phase,Navigator may use smaller scale charts or zooms away from compilation scale to manipulate waypoints, however, check and visual inspection for dangers should be carried out at a compilation scale.
Where, the ECDIS allows the selection of SCAMIN off / on :
a) The system must be set to operate with SCAMIN OFF for appraisal, planning and review phase to ensure all information is seen
Display showing where SCAMIN is switched off.
b) SCAMIN must be selected ON for execution and monitoring of the Voyage plan in order to reduce the effect of over-crowded display
Display showing where SCAMIN is switched ON.
Rescheming and Improving Electronic Navigational Charts
Rescheming NOAA ENCs is underway. What does that mean?
The arrangement or layout of a set of charts is called a scheme ‐ a systematic configuration of chart «footprints». NOAA is creating a new gridded layout of rectangularly shaped charts for its electronic navigational chart (NOAA ENC®) product suite.
A number of improvements to NOAA ENCs are being made in conjunction with the rescheming project.
In the early 1990s, NOAA began digitizing paper nautical charts to create a new digital chart product, the electronic navigational chart. The scale and limits of each ENC chart (called a cell) were inherited directly from its corresponding paper chart. The resulting ENC product suite consisted of over 1200 irregularly shaped ENC cells, compiled in over 100 scales.
Below, the original layout of the «approach scale» ENCs in the Great Lakes is shown in red. The new gridded scheme for the same coverage is shown in blue.
The new scheme for all NOAA ENCs may be seen on the Status of New NOAA ENCs webmap, which also shows the ongoing progress of creating reschemed ENCs.
Why NOAA is focusing efforts on improving the ENC?
Since July 2018, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has required nearly all commercial ships on international voyages to use an Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) and ENCs (as specified in the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), Chapter V, Regulation 19, «Carriage requirements for shipborne navigational systems and equipment»). ECDIS is a sophisticated navigation system that is integrated with other ship equipment and sensors, such as GPS, gyroscopes, and sometimes radar.
In 2016, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) published Vessel Inspection Circular No. 01-16 (NVIC 01-16). This announced that commercial ships on domestic voyages within U.S. waters may now use ENCs in lieu of paper nautical charts.
Recreational boaters are also making greater use of ENCs and developers of navigation and chart display systems have responded by making ENC compatible equipment available to a broader community of users.
Reschemed ENC design
ENC usage bands and standard scales
Paper nautical charts and ENCs are created at various scales for different navigational purposes. The smallest scale (least detailed) «Overview» charts are used for basic voyage planning. The largest scale (most detailed) «Harbor» and «Berthing» charts are used for navigating into harbor and maneuvering to a pier or wharf. ENCs are categorized into six usage bands, sometimes called scale bands.
The new ENC scheme uses only 11 scales, two each for bands 1 through 5 and one for band 6. The table below compares the scale ranges of the old ENC scheme to the new standard scales for reschemed ENCs.
The new ENC layout consists of nested cells whose boundaries follow lines of longitude and latitude. Sixteen larger scale ENC cells fit inside one cell of the next smaller scale band. The figure below shows how 16 band 3 cells (green squares) fit inside one band 2 cell (brown) and the relative sizes of the other bands.
Thus, ENCs are wider longitudinally as they get further from the poles, so the extent of the coverage «on the ground» doesn’t get too narrow.
The width of reschemed ENCs is determined by its location within three zones of latitude. There are three standard widths that apply to bands 3 through 6, detailed below. The zones for bands 1 and 2 are determined by a different method.
The table below shows cell widths, for each zone, for each usage band, in decimal degrees of longitude. Cell dimensions are the same for both of the two standard scales in each usage band. For example, the height of all band 3 ENC cells is 1.2° in latitude. Band 3 cells below 49° 12′ N fall into Zone I and have a cell width equal to their height. Thus, band 3 cells in Zone I have a width of 1.2° in longitude. Band 3 cells falling between 49° 12′ N and 69° 12′ N are in Zone II and have a width of twice their height, or 2.4° in longitude. The width of cells falling in Zone III is four times their height, or 4.8° in longitude.
| Usage Band | Navigational Purpose | Compilation Scales | Height | Zone I Width = H | Zone II Width = 2xH | Zone III Width = 4xH |
| 1 | Overview | 1:5,120,000 1:2,560,000 | 19.2° | 19.2° | 38.4° | 76.8° |
| 2 | General | 1:1,280,000 1:640,000 | 4.8° | 4.8° | 9.6° | 19.2° |
| 3 | Coastal | 1:320,000 1:160,000 | 1.2° | 1.2° | 2.4° | 4.8° |
| 4 | Approach | 1:80,000 1:40,000 | 0.3° | 0.3° | 0.6° | 1.2° |
| 5 | Harbor | 1:20,000 1:10,000 | 0.075° | 0.075° | 0.15° | 0.3° |
| 6 | Berthing | 1:5,000 | 0.0375° | 0.0375° | 0.075° | 0.15° |
New Standard ENC Compilation Scales
For band 2 ENCs, all cells with the contiguous 48 states are considered to be in zone I. Band 2 ENCs west of Washington State in the North Pacific are considered to be in zone II, except for ENCs in Alaska covering Point Hope, the North Slope and the Artic Sea, which are considered Zone III. Band 1 ENCs will be some of the last cells created as part of the rescheming effort. The placement of individual band 1 cells within specific width zones has not yet been established.
Enhancements implemented in new ENCs
As new gridded ENCs are created, a number of improvements to the quality and consistency of the data are being implemented.
Larger, standard scale coverage
Many charts and the associated ENCs were compiled at scales that happen to match one of the standard scales used for reschemed ENCs, such as 1:80,000, 1:40,000, 1:20,000, and 1:10,000. In these cases the new, reschemed cells generally retain the scale used in the old scheme.
If coverage in the original ENC scheme was not compiled at a standard reschemed scale, then the reschemed cells are usually «bumped up» to the next larger scale. An example of this is the new band 4 coverage in Lake Superior, in which the 1:120,000 scale ENC coverage was replaced by more detailed 1:80,000 cells.
The use of fewer chart scales for reschemed ENCs also facilitates resolving discontinuities and properly «edge-matching» data between adjacent ENC cells.
Standardized metric depth contours
When NOAA digitized paper charts to create the first NOAA ENCs, depth values for soundings, depth curves, and other features with depths were converted from the fathoms and feet shown on the charts to meters to populate the ENC database. The ENC product specification established by the International Hydrographic Organization requires depths to be stored as metric values. However, the depth contours continued to reflect the intervals in which they were compiled. Thus, depth contours of older ENC data displayed in meters will show fractional metric values resulting from the unit conversion from feet to meters, as shown in the image below.
The table below shows the standard depth contour intervals that will be used in reschemed ENCs for each usage band. These are based on depth intervals specified in the IHO S-101 ENC Product Specification (in the «Depth area» section of the IHO S-101, Electronic Navigational Chart Product Specification, Annex A, Data Classification and Encoding Guide). Areas that have extremely flat or steep bathymetry may use a modified set of depth contours, especially for bands 5 and 6.
The legacy of the original paper charts from which ENC data was digitized lives on in the current suite of ENCs. Adjacent paper charts, even those having the same navigational purpose (harbor, approach, coastal, etc.) are often compiled at different scales to accommodate different paper orientations and sizes, or a desire to «stretch» coverage to include harbors or other features at either side of a chart. Different depth contour intervals are often used on different scale charts, and the techniques for «edge matching» adjacent ENC cells of different scales can be challenging. The figure below highlights discontinuities on three adjacent ENC cells. Not only do depth contour intervals sometimes change between adjacent cells, depth contours of the same value, compiled separately, and at a different scale, sometimes do not match.
As new ENC cells are created for the gridded layout they will be recompiled with standard depth contour intervals that match across ENC cell boundaries within the same standard scale. Similar alignment errors among other features, such as shoreline, will also be resolved as new ENC cells are created.
ENC rescheming schedule
When compiling data for several different scale charts, best cartographic practices include compiling source data through the scales, beginning with the largest. This large scale compilation is then generalized for the next smaller scale map or chart and the generalization process is repeated for successively smaller scale coverage. This technique is applicable to both traditional paper and raster chart compilations as well as for ENCs. Thus, the general plan for the ENC rescheming schedule is focused on creating band 5 ENCs along the coasts first, followed by the next smaller scale, band 4 cells, then band 3, etc. There may be exceptions to this general strategy, based on the scale of the existing ENC coverage, the availability of source data, and other factors.
The progress of ENC rescheming can be tracked on the Status of New NOAA ENCs webmap. Blue rectangles show planned ENC footprints, red show ENCs in work, yellow indicates cells in review, and green are completed ENCs that are available to the public.
How many usage bands are there for enc s
ENCs are updated by weekly ‘Notices to Mariners’ issued by Hydrographic Offices / Regional ENC co-ordination centers ( RENC) and corrections are received on the vessel either by email or data file (AVCS DVD). The actual updating is either applied to the ECDIS chart database automatically or by the user. The ECDIS generates error message when the update is unsuccessful or when a ENC is in use and has not been corrected up to date.
All masters and navigating officers must be fully aware of how to update and maintain the on board ECDIS. It must not be left for the designated navigating officer to have sole knowledge on the updating procedure and process. Updating principles should be covered under ECDIS generic training but, more importantly, also under the type specific training as different ECDIS models vary in their updating process.
Upon receipt of the ECDIS updates, the Navigating Officer must ensure that the corrections are applied to all ECDIS units fitted on board and verified by the Master.
On ships fitted with two ECDIS, both ECDIS should not be kept synchronized with each-other ( Master and Slave) and should be kept independently. The received correction should be applied on back-up ECDIS first. After an interval of 8 hours and conformance that the corrections are correctly showing on back-up ECDIS, the correction is to be applied on the main ECDIS This sequence is to ensure that both ECDIS does not fail at the same time due to any bug in the correction file
Updates to ENCs are sequential, and the sequence is unique to each ENC. During the updating process ECDIS always checks that all updates in the sequence have been applied. If an update is missing then the ECDIS will indicate this; it is not possible to load later updates until the missing update is applied. The chart system operation’s manual will provide instructions on how to carry out this task.
The ECDIS maintains a list of updates applied and the date of application. This list can be used to check the update status of the ENCs loaded. Port State Control officers may use the ECDIS listing to ensure that ENCs are being kept up to date in accordance with SOLAS chapter V Regulation 27.
AVCS DVDs are sent to vessels from a company approved recognized electronic chart suppliers. However, if it gets delayed due to vessel’s schedule, vessels should directly request weekly correction from UKHO through e-mail. Vessels are provided with approved electronic means, e.g. e-Navigator, Safnav etc. which can be used to assist in management of ENCs on board.
If due to some reason, the updates cannot be received from UKHO by email, vessel must request chart agent immediately to send updated through e-mail.
After updating ENC, modification to the passage plan may be necessary to accommodate new chart features such as reporting schemes, traffic separation schemes, isolated dangers etc. A route check shall be carried out to ensure that any new dangers, which may have been added don’t present a risk to the safety of navigation.
Notices to Mariners (NTM): Much of the information in NTM is only for use on paper charts and is not applicable to ENCs or RNCs. However, vessels navigating solely on ECDIS are still required to carry latest NTM (paper copy or digital) to obtain information such as ‘Radio Navigational Warnings’, ‘Amendments to Admiralty Sailing Directions / Admiralty List of Lights and Fog Signals / Admiralty List of Radio Signals’.
All paper charts on board whether being used as back-up means for single ECDIS ships or as required for dual ECDIS ships must be kept updated to the latest Notices to Mariners onboard.
Temporary & Preliminary Notices (T&P):
Caution must be exercised when navigating solely with ECDIS as some ENC or RNC data may not take account of temporary or preliminary notices.
Temporary and preliminary notices are not handled consistently by all ENC producers at present. Some producers, like the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO), incorporate the T&P notices into the ENCs and their updates, whilst others ignore T& Ps completely. The Navigating Officer must check the ECDIS charts to verify whether T& P corrections have been included in the weekly updates.
The UKHO use ‘Admiralty Information Overlay (AIO) to incorporate T&P notices within its ENCs. This tool allows the notices to be displayed as an overlay to the ENC in the Admiralty Vector Chart Service (AVCS), thus assisting the navigator in readily identifying the location and content of a notice during passage planning and the voyage itself.
Some of the ENC producers facilitate inclusion of T&P corrections within ENC.
List of ENC producers those allows such inclusion and those who do not, is available in the information folder of the Base DVD.
When using charts produced by other sources, notices may be absent. These must be inserted manually as ‘Mariners Objects’ using ‘Marine Information Overlay (MIO) tool. Where ECDIS is unable to display a list of manual update applied, the navigating officer should maintain a record of all the manual updates presently applied on ECDIS in “Manual Update Correction Log”.
The Navigating Officer must monitor T&P notices closely so that once they are withdrawn they are also removed from the ECDIS charts on board and this list should be kept updated.
Navarea, Navtex and locally broadcasted Warnings:
Navigational warnings transmitted by satellite and Navtex receiver are by nature more short term and urgent than T&P notices. Such notices shall be immediately plotted on ENCs using ‘Marine Information Overlay’ (MIO) facility, where provided. NAVTEX warnings may be displayed automatically if the NAVTEX is integrated into the ECDIS system.
(A) SOURCES & MANAGEMENT IN ECDIS:
1. NAV AREA WARNING:
a. Weekly notices to mariners (Section 3) – Weekly NTM published by UKHO contains Nav warning for Nav area-1.
2. NAVTEX warning:
NAVTEX warnings are local nav warnings received through Navtex transceiver. Once vessel is within coverage of selected station, Navtex receiver will start printing all the warnings for that particular area covered by that NAVTEX station. Hence, these corrections will be received and applied on ECDIS during the voyage.
If NAVTEX is not integrated with ECDIS, these warnings will have to be plotted on ECDIS using manual update similar to Nav area warnings.
However, if NAVTEX is integrated with ECDIS, these warnings will automatically appear on ECDIS display.
Depending upon source of warning, some warnings will be automatically plotted on ECDIS display with specific detail mentioned in it. O.O.W. will need to match the co-ordinates of automatic plot on display with the specific details of warning provided. If there is any error in position or the format of position is found incorrect, the warning plotted on display will be wrong. In such case, this will have to be corrected using manual update.
Some warnings will not be automatically plotted, but, only give an indication such as “N” or “ Navtex Warning no.” at warning location on display. OOW will need to click the warning to see the detail and plot it as a manual update. Hence, all navtex warnings, whether automatically plotted on ENC or not, must be checked by OOW.
(B) DISTANCE CRITERIA:
Minimum distance from route within which nav area/ Navtex warnings must be plotted on ECDIS having seamless charts ( without boundary) :
(C) LOG KEEPING FOR NAV WARNINGS / NAVTEX WARNINGS:
Chart Correction Log (NP 133C):
Vessels are required to maintain the ADMIRALTY ENC Maintenance Record (NP 133C). This log is designed by UKHO to streamline the management of paper records of ENC and ECDIS maintenance and make information on official digital charts more accessible for bridge team.
It is similar to the Paper Chart Maintenance Record (NP 133A), which is also produced by UKHO.
The ADMIRALTY ENC Maintenance Record aids inspections, assists SOLAS chapter V carriage compliance and streamlines information management. It is laid out in nine logical sections, with clear templates for bridge team to utilize, in order to make administrative processes faster and more efficient.
Also, by consolidating records into one well-organized folder, it enables inspectors and auditors to quickly see that ENCs and ECDIS are well managed.
The nine sections are:
4. Temporary and Preliminary Notices to Mariners and ADMIRALTY Information Overlay status
Qinsy
In almost all applications supplied by QPS ENCs are used.
In this How-to we will explain what exactly an ENC is, what its possibilities are and how to use it in Qinsy or Qastor.
On this page:
General information about ENCs
Exchange format
ENC stands for Electronic Navigational Charts. These charts are based on the S-57 standard published by the International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO).
The S-57 format is an exchange format for chart data. An S-57 file is a small database containing all data and information needed to draw a chart.
For example a buoy: This is described as an object called buoy together with a number of attributes such as type of buoy, shape, color, etc.
Presentation
When loading the S-57 file into an application, the application will decide how the objects will be drawn on the screen. This also depends on the Mariner settings set in the application itself. For example the option to switch on or off the lights.
The presentation of ENCs is based on the S-52 standard also published by the IHO.
Most of the time multiple charts are created for areas of interest. All come with a different detail level. These detail levels are called Usages. The filename indicates the Usage of the ENC. The third character stands for the Usage. For example 1R5AAAAA is a Usage 5 ENC.
The Usages are applied in the following way:
For example the application starts up on a certain scale showing Usage 2 charts.
When zooming in the Usage 3 chart, if available, will be drawn on top of the Usage 2 chart.
When zooming in further the Usage 4 chart will be drawn on top of the Usage 3 chart, etc.
This will go on until no higher Usages are available.
The highest available Usage will be drawn. It is not allowed to have ENCs with the same Usage which cover (partially) the same area.
If this happens one of the charts will be drawn on top, the one below is no longer visible.
The ENC producer will also add a scale to each chart (compilation scale).
When zooming in to a scale level beyond the compilation scale the data in the chart is no longer detailed enough to use for accurate navigation purposes.
An option in the Mariners settings is to draw an overscale pattern on top of the chart when this happens.
Beside Usages and compilation scales each object in the chart can have a SCAMIN (minimum scale) value.
Objects with this attribute are visible when this scale value is reached and at higher scales.
This attribute is used to prevent clutter on the screen.
When using the ENCs it means that when a chart becomes visible not necessarily all objects are visible as well.
It might be necessary to zoom in a little further.
In the Mariners settings it is possible to switch off the SCAMIN option.
Update mechanism
Each ENC has an edition number. This number will increase when a complete new version of the ENC is generated. For small changes such as for example the changed position of a buoy it is not necessary to create a complete new edition of an ENC. In that case an update file will be created. This file only contains the information of the moved buoy. The updates work sequentially, it is not possible to skip an update.
The editions and updates are distributed in an exchange set. This is a folder called ENC_ROOT containing a readme.txt and subfolders, one for each country or producer.
Production
ENCs can be produced by anybody, only the ones produced by hydrographic offices are called official. The official producers are listed in the S-62 publication of the IHO. A list of unofficial producers can be found on the Open ECDIS Forum. The first two characters of a filename stand for the producer.
For example 1R5AAAAA is produced by Rijkswaterstaat (1R).
The official producers do not publish the ENCs themselves. This is done via Regional Electronic Navigational chart co-ordinating Centres (RENCs). The most well-known is PRIMAR. PRIMAR has its own distributors where the users can buy their charts.
All ENCs delivered through the Official Primar Stavanger ENC Service are encrypted using the S63 Data Protection Scheme.
Use the ENC Administrator program to decrypt the encryption.
ENC Administrator
The ENC Administrator program converts various types of electronic charts to the QPS Qernel format, which is *.QNC.
Take the following steps in order to start the ENC Administrator:
For Qastor users
In case Qastor is already running:
The following dialog will appear:
Chart data folder
Set the correct ENC target folder using the browse button [. ] on the right.
From this folder the ENC charts will be loaded into Qastor/Qinsy.
When no other importing or generating of files is needed, just setting the folder will be sufficient, followed by pressing the Finish button.
The factory default storage location for the charts is: C:\Users\Public\Documents\QPS\Shared\Charts.
When the charts are stored here already, the button wil be grayed out.
When a different folder was set as the storage location, then the button is activated and can be used to enter the default storage location.
These charts are so-called raster charts, they are digitized paper charts only meant for use in Qastor, not in Qinsy. See below.
ARCS Raster charts are not supported by Soft Lock licenses.
Warning
ARCS Skipper raster charts are not issued anymore by the UKHO as of November 2013.
In order to view ARCS charts (in Qastor only, not in Qinsy) a user permit must be generated. See below.
ARCS Raster charts are not supported by Soft Lock licenses.
Warning
ARCS Skipper raster charts are not issued anymore by the UKHO as of November 2013.
This user permit is a finger print from the hard drive or from the HASP dongle.
Chart import
S-57 & Inland ECDIS
The following dialog will appear:
ENC Data Folder
S-63 Protected charts
Take the following steps in order to decrypt S-63 protected charts.
Primar and UKHO are examples of suppliers of S-63 protected charts.
Decrypting
After receiving the password files from the distributor, the decrypting of S-63 protected charts can be started.
The following dialog will appear:
See paragraph User permits down this page.
See paragraph User permits down this page.
Browsing is also possible by pressing the button on the right-hand side.
When the conversion is finished select «OK» to exit this dialog.
S-63 protected charts are now installed on the computer and can be displayed by QPS products.
When a Primar update is received repeat the steps described under «Decrypting».
The permit files received from Primar and the “User Permit” are still valid.
Instead of inserting the Base CD in the CD-Rom drive, the Update CD must be inserted.
The following dialog will appear:
ARCS raster charts (only meant for use in Qastor, not in Qinsy)
Warning
ARCS Skipper raster charts are not issued anymore by the UKHO as of November 2013.
ARCS charts are so-called raster charts, they are digitized paper charts.
ARCS charts are not ‘layered’, which means no attributes are connected to features in the chart.
ARCS Raster charts are not supported by Soft Lock licenses.
Take the following steps in order to decrypt ARCS charts:
Decrypting
After receiving the permit files from the distributor, the decrypting of ARCS charts can be started.
User permits
For S-63 Protected charts and ARCS charts a user permit must be generated in order to decrypt the charts and to view them in QPS Products.
The user permit will be used in a later stage of the decryption process.
Warning
ARCS Skipper raster charts are not issued anymore by the UKHO as of November 2013.
S-63 user permit
In short it works as follows:
The following dialog will appear:
The ENC Administrator has now generated a User Permit file.
This User Permit file must be sent to the Primar distributor. The Primar distributor will then send you the password files.
ARCS user permit (only meant for use in Qastor, not in Qinsy)
Warning
ARCS Skipper raster charts are not issued anymore by the UKHO as of November 2013.
ARCS Raster charts are not supported by Soft Lock licenses.
The following dialog will appear:
If a 4-digit pin number is asked for: this is always 1234.
How to install/configure C-Map Charts together with Qinsy / Qastor
C-Map CM93V3 Installation
See the Knowledge Base document ‘How-to Install C-Map‘ for a description of how this installation is done.