Technical aspects of data acquisition and display
- chart updating is facilitated;
- data can be continuous and therefore there is no chance of “running
out of chart ';
- greater flexibility is afforded the master in blind pilotage situations;
- “black box” recording is facilitated;
- vessel traffic management and harbour control are facilitated;
- authorized electronic charts will eventually eliminate the need for
the master to use paper charts;
- ships’ owners can better schedule and redeploy their vessels for profit
with less risk on the environment.
An Australian ENC in the Great Barrier Reef
Most readers will have heard of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Many people
dream of visiting the GBR and they will necessarily do so by boat or
ship. The GBR is the most navigationally complex region for Australia.
The beauty of the Reef is its potential downfall since, although it is
hazardous to shipping, shipping is more hazardous to it! The main
navigational passage through the GBR is known as the Inner Route.
Figure 1 illustrates the location of this route with some of the main routes
through the Reef to the outer routes and deeper water. The Reef is a
magnet for researchers and tourists. Being so environmentally sensitive
it attracts world attention and is managed appropriately. The International Maritime Organization has declared the entire GBR a Particularly Sensitive Area. The GBR receives special attention from the AHO.
Compulsory pilotage was introduced in October 1991 for ships transiting the GBR Inner Route and Hydrographers Passage and applies to
all vessels of 70 metres or more in length as well as all loaded oil tankers, chemical tankers and gas carriers of any length.
Willis (1998) has stated that in response to international calls for
hydrographic offices to expedite the release of official ENC data sets
compliant with S-57 edition 3.0, and national calls to improve the state
of electronic charting in the Inner Route of the Great Barrier Reef, the
AHO undertook to produce ENCs of the Torres Strait and Inner Route.
The first cells from Weipa in the Gulf of Carpentaria to the western
approaches to Torres Strait have been trialled on the vessel, the River
Boyne. Production effort progresses cells through Torres Strait and clown
to the Queensland port of Gladstone. This undertaking has imposed a
number of significant challenges and questions that needed robust
responses (Willis, 1998):
- there was a need to develop a comprehensive data capture specification
for the ENC;
- was vectorisation of the existing paper chart the best way to present
an ENC ?
- could Australia create an ENC of a long narrow strip of waterway,
such as one might capture a river, without converting all the paper charts
covering that strip? The Inner Route of the GBR is about 1 000 km long
by an average 10-20 km wide;
141
- chart updating is facilitated;
- data can be continuous and therefore there is no chance of “running
out of chart ';
- greater flexibility is afforded the master in blind pilotage situations;
- “black box” recording is facilitated;
- vessel traffic management and harbour control are facilitated;
- authorized electronic charts will eventually eliminate the need for
the master to use paper charts;
- ships’ owners can better schedule and redeploy their vessels for profit
with less risk on the environment.
An Australian ENC in the Great Barrier Reef
Most readers will have heard of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Many people
dream of visiting the GBR and they will necessarily do so by boat or
ship. The GBR is the most navigationally complex region for Australia.
The beauty of the Reef is its potential downfall since, although it is
hazardous to shipping, shipping is more hazardous to it! The main
navigational passage through the GBR is known as the Inner Route.
Figure 1 illustrates the location of this route with some of the main routes
through the Reef to the outer routes and deeper water. The Reef is a
magnet for researchers and tourists. Being so environmentally sensitive
it attracts world attention and is managed appropriately. The International Maritime Organization has declared the entire GBR a Particularly Sensitive Area. The GBR receives special attention from the AHO.
Compulsory pilotage was introduced in October 1991 for ships transiting the GBR Inner Route and Hydrographers Passage and applies to
all vessels of 70 metres or more in length as well as all loaded oil tankers, chemical tankers and gas carriers of any length.
Willis (1998) has stated that in response to international calls for
hydrographic offices to expedite the release of official ENC data sets
compliant with S-57 edition 3.0, and national calls to improve the state
of electronic charting in the Inner Route of the Great Barrier Reef, the
AHO undertook to produce ENCs of the Torres Strait and Inner Route.
The first cells from Weipa in the Gulf of Carpentaria to the western
approaches to Torres Strait have been trialled on the vessel, the River
Boyne. Production effort progresses cells through Torres Strait and clown
to the Queensland port of Gladstone. This undertaking has imposed a
number of significant challenges and questions that needed robust
responses (Willis, 1998):
- there was a need to develop a comprehensive data capture specification
for the ENC;
- was vectorisation of the existing paper chart the best way to present
an ENC ?
- could Australia create an ENC of a long narrow strip of waterway,
such as one might capture a river, without converting all the paper charts
covering that strip? The Inner Route of the GBR is about 1 000 km long
by an average 10-20 km wide;
141