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Written by Emiliano Caroletti, screenshots and pictures are courtesy of Wärtsilä Corp. thorough visual inspection of an

ECDIS: The Automatic Route Check explained aircraft?

(part 2).
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Emiliano Caroletti You’re responsible for aircraft safety.

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Published Dec 22, 2021 to know about?

Marine Engineering

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3/7/24, 3:21 AM ECDIS: The Automatic Route Check explained (part 2).

In the previous article "ECDIS: The Automatic Route Check function (part 1)", the automatic How do you keep track of your
feature has been defined, pros and cons listed and the relation between Display Modes and marine navigation system records?
ECDIS ranges examined in detail. The conclusion of the first part was that the Automatic
Route Check is not affected by the Display Modes in use nor by the selected ECDIS range.
The ECDIS reports any violation within the Route Corridor analyzing all the ENCs interested Airport Management

by the route. How can you ensure airport personnel

are qualified to repair aircraft
In the second part, the relation between Automatic Route Check and the Route Corridor will systems?
be analyzed in detail, together with other settings. At the end, a summary of good practices
on how to interpret the result of the check will be presented. This guide is not intended to Show more
supersede company procedures or user’s manuals. (Functionalities and menus are related to
the Wartsila-SAM Electronics ECDIS Platinum software version [Link].)
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As mentioned in the IHO "Information on ENC Generalization, Over-scaling and Safety
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in ECDIS":
Comment
"The route checking function is dependent
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upon a number of
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parameters set by the Mariner as part of setting up the ship’s ECDIS for the voyage. These Offshore Wind: A Foreign
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parameters include a vertical accuracy component, resulting in a safety depth setting; and a
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horizontal accuracy component, which includes both an allowance for the accuracy of the Atlantic Oceanic LLC · 2w
ship’s navigation system and a minimum permissible planned distance from dangers. These
settings may be changed for different voyages, and even different phases of a voyage, based on Cognitive load and pop-out
the bathymetric data quality information included in the ENC (such as the Category of Zone of effect: why is less, more, even
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Confidence in Data (CATZOC) attribute on the mandatory Quality of Data (M_QUAL) feature).
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The settings combine to create a route safety region around a vessel’s planned track".
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be made for charted dangers on or near a planned route. These include allowances for the
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3/7/24, 3:21 AM ECDIS: The Automatic Route Check explained (part 2).

THE AUTOMATIC ROUTE CHECK AND THE ROUTE CORRIDOR Enhancing Safety at Sea
Steve Monk CMMar, FRIN, AFNI ·
The ECDIS will check the ENC database within the specified Route Corridor for each leg of 3y
the route.
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If the corridor is set to zero, then the system will
Automation
perform the Automatic Route Check only "under" the Nahida Richani · 3mo
planned route.
Show more

The following pictures show the Automatic Route check performed with two different Route
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Corridor settings for the last leg of the voyage. In the first screenshot, the port corridor does
not intersect the anchorage area. Sales

Marketing

In the second screenshot, the corridor has been extended to include a portion of the Business Administration

anchorage area; the violation has been reported and highlighted in yellow by the system.
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HOW TO SET-UP THE ROUTE CORRIDOR
Engineering

Soft Skills
It depends on the manufacturer and the specific ECDIS type. The Wärtsilä NACOS Platinum
allows the operator to independently switch the port and starboard corridor and to set See All
individual setting for each leg of the voyage giving a lot of flexibility to the mariner.

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3/7/24, 3:21 AM ECDIS: The Automatic Route Check explained (part 2).

The Route Corridor can be adjusted directly on the chart using the "Drag and Drop"
function. This is the fastest way to modify the corridor's width in respect to the available sea-
room.

CONSIDERATION WHILE SETTING UP THE ROUTE CORRIDOR

There is not a standard value for the Route Corridor that fits all the different situations,
scenarios and ship’s type. The Route Corridor represents the area, along the track, clear from
obstructions. The Route Corridor does NOT represent ALL THE SEA-ROOM available. In
other words, the Route Corridor should not end where the “No-Go” area begins. (Exiting
from the Route Corridor can happen while executing the voyage, in this case the look-ahead
sector will identify any charted hazard or obstruction outside the corridor.)

The Route Corridor width affects the Automatic Check outcome. The Route Corridor width
must be carefully evaluated for each stage of the voyage. A corridor set too wide triggers a
lot of violations located far from the intended track. A too narrow Route Corridor does not
give enough info about the surrounding area along the track. While planning the Route
Corridor the mariner should take into consideration: ship’s characteristic, expected traffic,
sea-room available, chart quality, Safety Margins (Reserve) and distance from “No-Go”
areas.

THE AUTOMATIC ROUTE CHECK FUNCTIONS

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3/7/24, 3:21 AM ECDIS: The Automatic Route Check explained (part 2).

(The functions described below are specific for the Wartsila-SAM Electronics ECDIS
Platinum).

The mariner can select which ECDIS Hazards are shown on the screen selecting them from
the menu.

This is a presentation function and DOES NOT affects the amount of violations detected by
the system. This menu controls how and when information is displayed (presented) on the
screen. The "ECDIS Hazards" menu controls how the violations are presented and does NOT
filters the number of violations detected by the system.

Selecting or deselecting the items under the "ECDIS

Hazards" menu does not affect the outcome of the
Automatic Check but only the visualization of the
violations!

The “ECDIS Hazards” settings allow the operator to select which hazards are displayed on
the screen. However, this function does not reduce the number of alerts triggered by the
Route Check function. For the operator, it will be difficult to identify where the Route
Corridor crosses the Safety Contour or a Special area. It is NOT recommended to perform
the electronic check with the "ECDIS Hazards" settings deselected. This function will display
the reported violations graphically on the chart helping the operator to understand the
severity of the alert.

"SHOW CROSSING THE SAFETY CONTOUR ON CHART"

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When the "Show Crossing Safety Contour On Chart" function is selected the system
highlights, in red, any part of the Route Corridor intersecting the Safety Contour as shown in
the picture below.

"SHOW NAVIGATION HAZARDS AHEAD"

When the "Show Navigation Hazards Ahead On Chart" is selected, the system highlights
in yellow any hazards to navigation inside the Route Corridor. The picture below shows two
warnings triggered by the lateral buoys. Deselecting the "Show Navigation Hazards Ahead"
has as consequence that the yellow boxes around the buoys are no longer displayed, this
action does not affect the amount of violations detected by the automatic check. (Note: not
all ECDIS systems have this function)

SAFETY DEPTH AND THE AUTOMATIC ROUTE CHECK FUNCTION

With the Presentation Library 4.0 the Safety Depth values are triggering the "Navigation
Hazards Ahead On Chart" warning. Deselecting the "Navigation Hazards Ahead On Chart"
function removes the yellow boxes around Safety Depth values and does not affect the
result of the automatic check. (To know more about Depths Contour function read the article
available here and Presentation Library 4.0 read the article available here)

"SHOW CROSSING SPECIAL AREA ON CHART"

“Show Crossing Special areas on Chart” function shows where the Route Corridor
intersects one or more special areas, highlighting the edge of the corridor in yellow. The
pictures below show the function switched ON.

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If the “Show Crossing Special areas on Chart” is deselected the ECDIS does not display on
the ENC where the Route Corridor intersects the special areas. It is difficult to visually
identify where the violation is occurring, as shown in the picture below.

ADMINISTRATIVE AREAS AND AUTOMATIC ROUTE CHECK

Some areas, such as Administrative areas, are not triggering the electronic check alert. So, a
thorough visual check, with the appropriate display mode and scale, is vital to identify
important information.

The following screenshot shows the result of the electronic check done in Australia. The
route is passing inside a Designated Shipping Area (DSA). In this area special rules apply. The
electronic check does not report this area.

The following screenshot shows the result of the electronic check of a route entering the 12
nautical miles line outside Key West. The crossing of the 12 nm boundary does not trigger a
violation. The screenshot also clearly marks the crossing of a PSSA and a Non-Discharge
Area further West along the track.

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3/7/24, 3:21 AM ECDIS: The Automatic Route Check explained (part 2).

The ECDIS Hazards function DOES NOT reduce the

amount of violations detected by the electronic check!
This function only controls the visualization of
information.

POINT FEATURES, HAZARDS AREAS AND AUTOMATIC CHECK

ECDIS safety check only verifies data along the user-defined Route Corridor. The Automatic
Check will be performed against the largest scale information within the ECDIS system
irrespective of the ECDIS display scale, as we saw in Part 1.

Point features will only be identified as hazards if they fall within the Route Corridor being
checked, regardless of the size of the symbol displayed on screen and regardless of the
actual extent of the physical feature it represents.

Due to the compilation scale of the ENC there could be

occasions where the charted point feature may not
represent the full extent of the real-world feature.

The Mariner must therefore ensure his safety corridor is sufficiently wide enough to identify
all navigational dangers along the intended route.

The two following fictitious examples show how a hazardous point feature could be missed
if the correct ENC scale charts are not loaded and used in the ECDIS and Route Corridor or
the Route XTD is not adequately set.

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3/7/24, 3:21 AM ECDIS: The Automatic Route Check explained (part 2).

In the first example, the charted position of the Generic Isolated Danger point feature
representing the reef lies North of the planned route and falls within the Safety Corridor. As
this point lies within the Safety Corridor set by the Mariner, the ECDIS will detect the reef as
a danger close to the planned route and include it in the list of dangers for that leg of the
route.

In the second example, the planned route lies further to the South. The charted position of
Generic Isolated Danger symbol now lies outside the ECDIS Route Corridor set by the
Mariner. In this case, the ECDIS will not detect the reef as a danger on or close to the
planned route. However, the reef still clearly represents a danger to the ship. In this situation,
if the vessel has not taken into account the possibility of isolated reefs within the region, and
therefore extended the Safety Corridor to at least account for the horizontal accuracy
component of the underlying quality information (CATZOC), there is a possibility the danger
could be missed during the visual inspection and the vessel could potentially run aground
without the ECDIS indicating the danger on the planned route.

(Another interesting article on the Generic Isolated Danger feature is available here)

EVALUATING THE AUTOMATIC ROUTE CHECK RESULTS

At the end of the check a list of violations will be presented.

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If the cursor is placed on the screen a pop-up window will list the cause of the alert.

The outcome of the check can vary enormously from few to hundreds of violations reported.
Most of the time the large amount of violations consist mainly of the same violation
repeated for each leg intersecting it. Sometimes the violations reported do not pose any risk
to the ship or are well-known information. Sometimes the system reports something that
was overlooked by the mariner.

Any violation that concerns the mariner must be evaluated, investigated and visually cross-
checked using the appropriate Display Mode and Scale. Objects and areas must be
interrogated using the "Pick Report" function. The route and/or the Corridor must be
adjusted if needed. Running the Automatic check and a second-person check is strongly
suggested.

GOOD PRACTICES

The visual and Automatic Route checks are integral part of the Voyage Planning. The checks
must be performed with adequate display settings and ENC scale. Any violation must be
evaluated, investigated and visually cross-checked. The route and/or the Route Corridor
must be adjusted if needed. Enough resources and time must be allocated to perform this
vital task.

CONCLUSIONS

The route must be automatically and visually checked at the largest scale possible, based on
the available portfolio of ENCs, before the voyage commences. To ensure all dangers are
identified by the ECDIS Automatic Check function the Route Corridor or the Cross Track
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Distance must be appropriately set, taking into account factors such as the accuracy of the
ship’s positioning and navigation system; the bathymetric data quality information included
in the ENCs (such as CATZOC); and the intended navigational purpose of the ENCs loaded
into the ECDIS.

References:

All the screenshots and pictures were taken by the author using a Wärtsilä NACOS Platinum
version [Link].

Disclaimer: This article has been written purely as guidance to be used at the user's own risk.
No responsibility is accepted by the author for the accuracy of any information or any
omission in this document of for any consequence whatsoever resulting directly or indirectly
from compliance with or adoption of, guidance contained in the document. The views
expressed herein belong to the writer; they do not necessarily reflect the views of CSMART
or Carnival Corp.

Davor Koleb 2y
HSEQ & Vetting Manager at Dorval Ship Management / Port Captain at DSC Melbourne

Hi Emiliano.
Yes, useful function but the setting of parameters for allowing effective use of route check not understood by
many and also not well implemented by many or most ECDIS manufacturers.
For example, you are referring to Wartsila ECDIS in your good article.
Wartsila ECDIS software includes one very important feature than most other makers do not have - safety
corridor to port and starboard.
With majority other makers, you have to use either XTD or XTL function to define the safety corridor. This
creates on board confusion as XTD definition in context of defining route corridor is not given and not known
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by many.
Secondly, many ECDIS manufacturers DO NOT have options for making port and starboard corridor or XTD
different. Many ECDIS models allow you only single setting as same value for port and starboard off the
planned route leg.
Then, some ECDIS makers also have large limitations on max width of corridor. For example, TOKIMEC EC
8600 allows the operator to set XTD to max 2,000m (meters). This means that any areas surrounding the
ship’s plannex route at a distance larger than 1.2NM off planned course is NOT interrogated by ECDIS. Very
limiting indeed. Many practical issues with different ECDIS.

Like · Reply

Ezio B. 2y
Manager Standards & Design at CSMART - Center for Simulator Maritime Training, Master Mariner

I was wondering 😃 Thank for the excellent article.

Like · Reply

Zdravko (Zack) Zlatev, MSc, Assoc(RINA) 2y

Specialist Nautical Instructor - NAPA Loading Computer / ECDIS-INS SME at CSMART - Center for Simulator Maritime Training

Thank you, Emiliano! Great article!

Like · Reply 1 Reaction

Capt. John Pace 2y

CEO & Principal Consultant, PMC Ltd.

Emiliano, Another exceptionally clear and informative article on a crucial aspect of ECDIS passage planning
which, once again, reveals the computing power that can be harnessed by navigators to identify potential
risks along the planned route. Excellent!

Like · Reply 1 Reaction

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