Mike Robinson: navigation mindset needs an upgrade

UKHO chief executive Mike Robinson got to close out the final session and got more than his fair share of prodding to test the powers of his failing voice.

His theme was that technologies converge and standardisation emerges but that for the mariner, there needs to be a move away from what he called ‘protective navigation’ to ‘proactive navigation’.

With the base layer of ENC coverage in a strong position it was time to think about value-adds. The answer he suggested was voyage optimisation and decision support – a combination of chart management with planning tools that could make a tangible difference to fuel bills.

The UKHO’s eNavigator system is under test in the Atlantic – with a second testbed vessel to come – but he said the first ship was already achieving noticeable fuel and efficiency savings. None of this would happen tomorrow. “eNavigation is going to take some time to get going. We’ve been working on the ENCs for a long time, now we have to bring the data to life, that’s not going to happen overnight.”

His forward-looking stance didn’t stop some older concerns coming up in the Q&A. Could he, hand on heart promise 100% coverage of ENCs? No he couldn’t.

Why were ENCs still so expensive? Prices were coming down and would continue to fall as licensing flexibility increased. Could training institutions get a discount? They already did.

When would paper disappear – not for 10-15 years at least, since it was likely that many owners would choose  single ECDIS with paper back-up.

He even spoke to Gerry Larsen-Fedde’s suggestion on Monday that licensing would need a re-think. “No it’s not a perfect system – it’s still too complex – but real steps are being taken towards greater standardisation to get the service to end users.”

But he said he felt there had been real progress since the 2003 conference in terms of ENCs, hardware, training and awareness. “The technology is here now – more can be done at lower cost.”

After whatever deadline was reached for their ship types, he mused, mariners would have an ECDIS and probably paper onboard too but for day-to day-navigation, they might actually continue to work on unofficial ECS systems – some of them the laptop and GPS combination he mooted on Tuesday.

The might be more about familiarity than malign intent. It would still be illegal and presumably the ECDIS would be switched on when Port State Control rocked up, but he said “the temptation would be very strong to use your own device. We are going to have to be very clear in messages about who can use what, where and when.”

His analysis of Generation Y held out plenty of potential for IT-savvy new kids to jump on the bandwagon but must also have given chart and machine-makers pause for thought about what they would demand as standard.

“This group learns from its peers, they are digital natives whereas the older generation are digital immigrants. They will take technology in a totally different direction,” he said.

Their interest in sharing – modifying, originating and collaborating means they work to new rules, but he said, research had shown that the digital generation really was able to track more objects and decode clutter.

The risks were that if something wasn’t online it didn’t exist and a tendency towards DIY build and usage meant that control of information and content might not be as rigid as now. The tools that shaped their world were mobile but they relied on new paradigms – the ubiquitous Google amongst them.

But none of that hardly mattered – as Casey said, they could be navigating 20 years from now and Moore’s Law meant the technology they be using would be very different too. “They will work in a world of instant updates, with no limits to drill-down or overlays, with 3-D realism and feedback provided as a matter of course.”

He also predicted that price would be – if not irrelevant – then certainly buried in continuous service provision. A call for a show of hands as to who was inspired and who horrifed by this prospect was pretty much even.

A delegate wanted to know was the equipment good enough to make the process efficient. “It’s chicken and egg,” replied Rob Grool. “If you start having a big demand for something then there’s more usage and the cost comes down.”

The problem he thought – and where the bills might spike – was that the shoreside treated everything as urgent for commercial reasons, which led to overload and ultimately the undermining of what was trying to be achieved.

Nick Lemon agreed that exploiting the I in ECDIS was a question of information management. “No more information is needed – what we need is for some solutions to emerge.”

“Hydrograhic Offices – as well as IHO and IALA – can give guidance and leadership to IMO on this issue but that’s been lacking and the process has been the poorer for it. At times, it’s been like trying to nail jelly to a tree.”

This was in large part because the human factor is in danger of being overlooked in the rush towards new technology but he said what really concerned him was the lack of defined back-up for satellite position input.

“e-Loran is expensive and only covers half the world. For eNav to proceed, this issue is going to need closer attention. The regulators and the generators can co-exist but they need to share a vision about ENCs and ECDIS – we need to maintain the service, not just the equipment.”

Rob Grool: "when you want directions - do you ask three people and take the average?"

Rob Grool of shipmanager Wallem gave the kind of forthright presentation for which he is well-known and had a firsthand case study to impart to the last day crowd about how to manage information overload.

Grool had been marked to speak on the second day in the training session and had always thought that was on Wednesday. No said the organisers, it was always Tuesday. “It just shows you what can happen when your information doesn’t agree,” he suggested.

Formalities out of the way, Grool tore a strip off ECDIS mandation as an “unspecified” system which reminded him of GMDSS but not in a good way. “We have to remember – eNavigation should mean enhanced navigation. It’s a process not a product.”

The usual suspects – wonky satellite position inputs, incorrect chart data, insufficient training and pure bad practice – were all wheeled out and sunk by Grool gunfire. But he spoke whereof he knows.

Expressing incredulity at the serious of collisions with the Tricolor in the English Channel after the wreck had been marked – a good example of where mandatory ECDIS cold have helped the situation - he gave examples of incidents on Wallem ships that he had learned from. Those included performing a re-survey in one instance to satisfy himself that the right thing had been done.

The problem was clear he said – much like his speaker slot – mariners had to sift and separate information to find what they needed. And too few manufacturers really understood the process. “To be honest you can do bridge team management on your kitchen table if you know what you are doing, but personally I can’t read too much information only on a screen. And mark my words, there are going to be more accidents because underlying data has not been kept up to date.”

A standardised set of symbols based on the S-57 standard could be used to help ECDIS play a vital role – a point driven home by a dramatic video of the aftermath of Singapore’s worst ever spill.

“IMO member states should be actively engaged but hydrographic offices and the IHO can play a role, a wider view is required,” Mr Oei suggested. With the advent of the new S-100 IHO standard, larger amounts of information could be easily included.

This meant better distribution of the data but he said the initiative was firmly in line with the IMO’s electronic highway concept. The MPA had demonstrated the concept at regional level with good feedback but accepted to move forward national ‘turf’ needed to be respected – and money must be found at a time when costs were under pressure.

More videos and speaker presentations will follow at the official ICE09 website – http://www.ecdis09.com/

Zakiriil Bhuiyan, Satinder Virdi and Christian Fellinger: training in need of an overhaul

Speakers tightened the focus on training as the day went on, with the spotlight falling on the IMO model course, manufacturer training, refresher and onboard provision – oh and the quality of the trainers themselves.

Stolt’s Petter Brandt said his company’s dissatisfaction with generic training meant that the tanker owner put more emphasis on type specific training with CBT and refreshers to follow-up. David Patraiko was not the first or last to say that many a student had more direct experience of ECDIS onboard ship than the person training them.

With an estimated 300,000-500,000 seafarers in need of training over the next few years, chair Melissa Hyak wanted to know how the industry would spot the cowboys. ECDIS Ltd’s Mark Broster agreed this was an issue which flag states should consider, whether through audit, an increase in the standards or addition to White List requirements for the flags themselves.

Capt Zakirul Bhuiyan of Warsash Maritime Academy suggested IMO should address the shortfall in training resources through capacity building in developing countries and by working with other stakeholders such as port state control.

His preference was for a five day minimum course  with type-specific training and a refresher but he said owners should really start considering how ECDIS mandation would affect their ISM Code procedure and safety management system.

Dave Elliot of Arklow remarked that he had PSC inspectors onboard everyone of his ships and they had no idea what the ECDIS was. Caris’ Christian Fellinger agreed that not enough chart producers had shipboard experience to appreciate how their charts would work on a busy bridge.

The debate kept going but in some ways the argument was becoming circular – training standards and methods need to be right so that the next generation of paperless bridge gets the best information delivered with the latest techniques.

There are a clutch of high quality training facilities out there but work is needed on approach, quality and validation, work that will require an approach as integrated as ECDIS itself.

Stolt-Nielsen’s Petter Brandt estimated the indirect cost saving of 1,000 to 1,500 hours of work on chart corrections per ship – and with a newbuilding programme of 20 ships, that’s a lot of corrections saved.

Brandt himself proved a math geek, going on to note the pressure on ECDIS training that his company would be under.  “we will have about 700 officers in all who need training. Assuming seven people on a course of five days, 350 in both of our training sites then theoretically that’s 50 weeks. In fact it will take us two years.”

But he said the fact that he wouldn’t have to change out paper charts on these ships every five years at a cost of $35,000, “gives us the money for quite a few ECDIS systems.” Sailing paperless he estimated would mean yearly cost reductions of around 25% compared to running paper ships, money which went straight to the bottom line.

Brandt is the softly-spoken type and it was left to a delegate to remark that the speakers should be talking about making money rather than just saving it. “Yes,” said Brandt, “but only if you get your training right.”