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The ECDIS Paradox: A Controversial View on Navigation, Freedom and Safety at Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2009

Fosco Bianchetti
Affiliation:
(C-MAP)

Abstract

The unexpected commercial success of electronic charting systems has put an unusual pressure on the regulatory organizations to come up with some accepted international standard for this new technology. Unfortunately, the scope of this issue is far-reaching and touches the most sensitive nerves of maritime tradition and culture. This cumbersome legacy was noticeable from the very first US RTCM meetings on the subject and has conditioned the development of recommendations ever since.

This paper, written by an outsider, tries to look at the whole issue with an unprejudiced eye, arriving at a conclusion which casts heavy doubts on the wisdom of the current course and which advocates a different approach to take advantage of the incredibly powerful potential of this new technology – a technology which could radically change the rules and laws of commercial navigation to the benefit of safety and economy.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Navigation 1994

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References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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