UKHO unveils future of navigation with E-Navigator

01 December 2009, 8:53pm

December 1st 2009, The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) today announced the launch of Admiralty e-Navigator, the UKHO’s new integrated digital catalogue, product viewer and passage planning tool which makes every stage of navigation and fleet management smarter, simpler and safer.

Admiralty e-Navigator organises, updates, and brings together all of the paper and digital information needed to plan safe voyages and simplify essential tasks. Whether on the bridge or in the office, e-Navigator will not only give access to a wealth of information, it will organise, maintain, and display all of that data, so bridge and office-based teams have instant access to all the navigational information they need, whenever they need it and wherever they are in the world.

In addition, Admiralty e-Navigator is a channel to a world of innovative digital products and services from Admiralty and from other companies. Best of all, e-Navigator takes care of all of this through a single user-friendly interface which will look and feel familiar to anyone who has ever used a PC.

The launch of e-Navigator marks 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.

Mike Robinson, Chief Executive of the UKHO, says “Maritime navigation is undergoing a fundamental shift, from paper to digital, from protective to proactive navigation. It is moving beyond the basic avoidance of risk towards the International Maritime Organization’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.

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.”

UK Hydrographic Office

Geo: International