Shanghai: The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) today launched its new integrated digital catalogue, product viewer and passage planning tool, Admiralty e-Navigator. The product has been designed to organise, update, and bring together all of the paper and digital information needed to plan safe voyages and simplify essential tasks. The product, which boasts a user friendly PC-based interface, not only showcases Admiralty products, but also those of approved product suppliers.
"Maritime navigation is undergoing a fundamental shift, from paper to digital, from protective to proactive navigation," said UKHO chief executive Mike Robinson. "It is moving beyond the basic avoidance of risk towards the IMO's vision of e-navigation, which will deliver enhanced services to the mariner. The UKHO is at the forefront of bringing that vision to life. Admiralty e-Navigator will provide seafarers with not just navigational data, but intelligence which significantly improves their ability to sail safely and efficiently."
Using e-Navigator, the mariner can quickly plot a route and identify the most appropriate products needed to navigate that route safely and compliantly. It compares the products required with what the ship currently holds, and allows new products to be ordered if needed. New products can be accessed instantly and, if appropriate, transferred to the front of bridge ECDIS for the execution of the voyage.
As well as tide and weather data, one of the first new digital products available in e-Navigator is Admiralty Information Overlay (AIO), the only global digital service that includes worldwide Temporary and Preliminary Notices to Mariners. Combined with Admiralty Vector Chart Service (AVCS), AIO will give the mariner the power, utility and safety which electronic charts provide as well as the quality, reliability and integrity of Admiralty assured data.
Admiralty e-Navigator, which will be available in the market for free from early 2010, will allow users to,
- organise all Admiralty products and services in one place to make them easier to view, use, manage and maintain;
- order the products, from on-board or ashore, easily and simply from their preferred Admiralty distributor;
- download permits for Admiralty digital charts and publications in real-time on-board or ashore any time, day or night;
- select the right mix of digital or paper charts for each vessel for maximum efficiency and value for money;
- seamlessly synchronise digital charts and publications with the latest Admiralty updates;
- allow fleet managers to swiftly check the real-time status of the maritime information held by the fleet;
- improve safety, fleet management and emergency response by providing a single, view of the maritime environment whether on board or ashore;
The launch of e-Navigator is said to mark the first stage of the UKHO's plans to help mariners and shipping companies meet the requirements of a rapidly changing commercial and compliance environment and to provide better decision making tools at every stage of planning and voyage execution.
Hugh Phillips, head of products at the UKHO says, "The UKHO has worked closely with mariners at every stage of e-Navigator's evolution, and the result is a product which uniquely combines the flexibility and real-time benefits of digital technology with the breadth and depth of information the mariner requires for sailing today. I believe Admiralty e-Navigator sets new standards for safe navigation and efficient planning and fleet management." [01/12/09]
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