Electronic Navigation chart is a modern tool that can definitely save ships from possible sea accidents. Like cars and other land vehicles with GPS, marines should also have something that will guide them in the ocean. The Electronic Chart Display and Information System or ECDIS is a type of modern map for ships.

ECDIS integrates radar and GPS, and uses the Automatic Identification System (AIS)  which is used to broadcast  their position to other ships by using radio signals, and displays an electronic map in real time with accurate readings of the weather and the local water depth.

UN International Maritime Organization released a mandate to use ECDIS in 2012. International ships will  be required to use electronic navigation charts to prevent accidents and unexpected incidents that may ruin the underwater world. There is no exact date released yet, but definitely, it will be implemented soon.

Numerous sea accidents have ruined pristine marine lives. The most recent is the MV Rena Oil Spill killing thousands of sea birds and fishes. Coral reefs and other habitats of smaller fishes were also destroyed. The smell of the oil on the beach can also affect the health of people living near coastal areas, and the clean up may take quite a long time even as hundreds of volunteers  teams up with New Zealand's local government to fix the problem immediately and to mitigate the extent of the damage.

On the other hand, some sea accidents killed thousands of people. Who will forget Titanic's tragic sea accident? The collision with an iceberg, which led to its sinking and killed 1517 people in 1912.

A 2007 study shows that ECDIS will minimize the ships that run aground by thirty eight percent. The study was conducted by Rolf Skjong at Det Norske Veritas in Hovik, Norway.

The International Maritime Organization wants all the ships built on the second half of 2012 to have ECDIS. On the other hand, existing ships have to comply with different dates depending on what they carry - passengers or cargo? However, all commercial ships should be upgraded by 2018.The main reason for ECDIS's slow adoption is that navigators are taking time to manage the navigation system since  they are used to old fashioned paper.

"Maritime organizations were already busy making paper charts," according to Nick Lemon of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.Source: International Business Times

Source: International Business Times