REPORT

WORKSHOP ON METEOROLOGY AND OCEANS FOR ECDIS

WMO, GENEVA, 18-19 MAY 1998

1. INTRODUCTION

At the kind invitation of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), this Workshop took
place at the WMO headquarters in Geneva.

Five specialists participated in this two day workshop. This included representatives of
National Meteorological Services (NMS) of France and UK, as well as of satellite data
transmission providers (Fugro Starfix) and ECDIS software developers (SevenCs), and of the
host Organization, WMO. Five other participants were expected, however during the last two
weeks before the workshop they found it impossible to attend and sent their apologies. These
were the representatives of NOAA, USCG, UKHO, German Marine Met. Service, and of
Meteomer. The final Agenda is enclosed as Annex 1, and the list of participants as Annex 2.

Mr. Fernando Guzman, Scientific Officer of the Ocean Affairs Division, welcomed the
participants on behalf of WMO and explained the administrative and logistic matters. The
participants introduced themselves to each other.

Due to the small number of participants, no chairman or rapporteur were elected. Hence, it
was agreed that the workshop should be run as a round-table discussion. It was conducted by
Dan Pillich of SevenCs who also undertook to prepare the report of the workshop.

The provisional agenda was approved.

The aims and scope of the workshop:

One of the outcomes of the "Workshop on development of TVO for ECDIS" held in Monaco
(26-28 Jan. 98) was a decision to hold a specialised workshop on the Meteorological and
Oceanographic Objects at the WMO in Geneva on 18-19 May 1998.

The principal aim of this workshop is to start working on interfacing meteorological and
oceanographic parameters with ECDIS, leading to creation of new Marine Information

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Objects (MIO) necessary to provide a most up-to-date image of these phenomena. This will
make ECDIS a more versatile tool to assist the mariner in decision-making, and in making
navigation more efficient and safer as a result. It will also promote cost effectiveness of
shipping and better protection of the environment.

The discussion during the workshop covered all the points of the Agenda but, due to
complexities of the issues, not necessarily in the order shown in Annex 1.

In addition, a report from the Japan Hydrographic Department (JHD) entitled

“Oceanographic and Marine Safety Information by Japan Hydrographic Department” from
Dr. Minoru Odamaki, who could not attend the workshop, was tabled for the participants to
consider in their discussions (see Annex 3).

2. EXAMINATION OF THE PROPOSED METEOROLOGICAL AND OCEANOGRAPHIC

PARAMETERS TO BE INCLUDED IN ECDIS AS THE MARINE INFORMATION OBJECTS
(MIO), INCLUDING THE DISPLAY OPTIONS.

As most of the participants have not been exposed to ECDIS before, Dan Pillich provided a
general explanation of the principles and operation of the system.

Fernando Guzman then explained the role of the WMO in creating and coordinating
standards for the meteorological and relevant oceanographic data. He stressed the importance
of the Technical Regulations of WMO (WMO- No. 49) and manuals and annexes, which
together comprise a mandatory set of rules for the marine meteorological services. Since the
WMO symbology has been long established and standardised, and is well understood
particularly by the maritime users, WMO expects that this symbology will be used for ECDIS
displays. The WMO Manual of the Global Data Processing System (WMO No. 485) clearly
describes the representation of meteorological and relevant oceanographic phenomena,
including the use of colours.

This was followed by the discussion on the meteorological parameters:

i. essential for safety of navigation

ii. non-essential for safety but convenient for other purposes.

N.B. Term “meteorological parameters” used in this report includes also the relevant
oceanographic parameters.

2.1 METEOROLOGICAL PARAMETERS ESSENTIAL FOR SAFETY OF NAVIGATION

It was agreed that the basic display of meteorological data on an ECDIS screen should follow
the mandatory requirements of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS):

Wind,
Sea state,
Visibility,
Significant weather

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Ice accretion is also mandatory under GMDSS, but its inclusion in ECDIS has been dealt
with already at a series of specialist workshops.

2.1.1 Wind

Wind information is provided as:

i. a surface (10m height) mean value – direction and speed (in knots or m/s)
ii. gusts – direction and speed

The wind field data for the surface wind is derived usually from numerical models, the gust
information from forecasts and real-time observations. There are WMO symbols for the mean
wind values which ECDIS is expected to use, but no separate symbol for gusts. This is a
matter that ECDIS developers will need to look into and continue to confer with WMO on the
subject. One of the options is an operator switchable symbol, another – alphanumeric display
alongside the standard wind symbol, but other solution are also possible.

There is also a question of interpretation of the gust information: Is a gust the same as
maximum wind speed?

The WMO definition of a gust is "a sudden, brief increase of the wind speed in a period of at
least 3 seconds, where the value exceeds the mean wind speed by more than 10 kt or 5 m/s"
(ref. International Meteorological Vocabulary, WMO No. 182). However, it was felt that
mariners are interested in what is the maximum possible value of the gust. Capt. Keith Millen
of Port of London Authority is not available to provide an interpretation from the mariner’s
point of view and another representative of mariners (possibly from IMO) will be asked to
advise.

2.1.2 Sea state

Sea state information is provided as:

Direction   seas (sea waves)

Period  of  &
Height   swell

At present, these data are represented in form of continuous lines for the sea waves and of
dotted lines for the swell; both supplemented by alphanumeric information alongside. It is
proposed that ECDIS should follow these principles with an addition of isolines in a global
view and of pick reports for the single point data. Another possibility for graphical
representation of swell forecast is to plot arrows showin direction of swell with their length
depending on the height of the swell.

Significant wave heights are usually disseminated by the NMS. Additional information for
the sea state in form of wavelength and maximum wave height is generally available at the
NMS, but not disseminated widely at present. They are made available for site-specific
operations. Some new symbols may be needed to display this information by ECDIS if there
is a requirement for it by the mariners.

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The meteorologists would also like to have wave spectrum information, however it is not
within the scope of the current navigational information requirements, and at present difficult
to achieve within ECDIS. For the customers requiring this information it could be provided
as a specialised pick report. The matter will be revisited if warranted.

2.1.3 Visibility

Visibility data is usually a time and location specific information at the point of observation
(e.g. ship report). Interpolation or data smoothing is not viable.

When visibility information is forecast, the predictions apply to an area. It is possible to draw
a parallel with the aviation visibility forecasts where general, occassional (i.e. temporally
variable) and isolated (i.e. space variable, e.g. fog patches) conditions are predicted for a
given area with the following thresholds of visibility:
> 5nm - good
2 – 5 nm - moderate
< 2 nm - poor
<0.5nm -very poor

WMO has developed a very comprehensive symbology for point data on fog/visibility. Its
symbol for an area affected by fog is a solid shading in yellow which is the same as the land
areas in ECDIS, thus requiring development of a different method.

One option is enclosing the affected area in a frame of different colour for for different fog
conditions (occassional, isolated, etc.). Another one is using a yellow line of different kind
for each type of conditions enclosing an area with additional point data symbols inside. The
final solution will have to be produced by the ECDIS developers in cooperation with the
WMO.

2.1.4. Significant weather

Significant weather data can be considered as one meteorological parameter which provides
additional values to the general weather information (e.g. description of precipitation: rain,
showers, drizzle, squalls, thundersqualls, etc.). WMO symbology applied to the affected area
will need to be used in ECDIS, possibly using the frames of various colours do delimit such
areas (as proposed for the visibility above).

General weather information for mariners is provided in form of warnings (for gales, storms
and tropical cyclones), and of weather forecasts. The requirements for both these forms, as
well as for the SAR operations are very precisely described by the WMO Technical
Regulations.

The warnings are normally transmitted in plain language, and at present there is no facility of
translating this into a graphic representation. The mandatory GMDSS requirements for the
weather forecasts are as in paragraph 2.1 above, and at present sent in plain written language
and as weatherfax which can be adapted for ECDIS (see para 3 & 5 below). Any other

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information is optional for general forecasts, however it may be of value to SAR operations,
and is then provided.

ECDIS should follow the WMO requirements and symbology in every case.

2.2. METEOROLOGICAL PARAMETERS NON-ESSENTIAL FOR SAFETY OF NAVIGATION

2.2.1. Storm surges

Storm surges are very important to coastal management, and in many cases to navigation. In
tidal waters, this is a question of depth adjustment (provided mostly by the models) applied to
tidal heights. This can be accomplished using the existing S-57 standard for the ENC data,
with only a minor modification. In the non-tidal areas, an automatic warning should be issued
advising of the impending depth changes.

The surge models tend to cover much smaller areas than atmospheric and wave models, so it
might be difficult to ensure consistency across some areas where different countries’ surge
models overlap.

2.2.2. Sea temperature

Sea temperature is normally transmitted either as actual values or forecasts. This is a very
slowly changing parameter and therefore updated infrequently – e.g. weekly or every 10
days. This information could be provided in 3D to fishermen if required. Surface temperature
can be represented by isotherms, but no symbology for 3D information has been developed
yet. Similar situation exists for 3D information for currents – the data may be available, but
only the surface currents symbology exists.

2.2.3. Air temperature

Air temperature is available to marine meteorological services as single point data from the
observing stations. From these, isotherms can be produced. These data are available via the
grid format used by the NMS for data transmission (see para 4 below). ECDIS can represent
this parameter as isotherms.

2.2.4. Humidity

This is a non-ECDIS item. No symbology exists, and data is not usually transmitted to ships.
Will be revisited at a later date.

2.2.5. Surf & breakers

It is proposed that INT1 cartographic symbols be used to show these phenomena with
additional information available from the pick report.

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2.2.6. Bar conditions

It is proposed that INT1 cartographic symbols be used to show these phenomena with
additional information available from the pick report.

2.3. DEMONSTRATION OF ECDIS DISPLAY OF THE BASIC METEOROLOGICAL DATA

Dan Pillich demonstrated an early attempt to show the basic meteorological information
(isobars, fronts, wind data, etc) in ECDIS. This has been developed by Ms. Jana Schulze, a
student-worker at SevenCs, for her university degree thesis. Ms. Schulze used the real data
obtained from the German Met Office, created the objects and attributes along the S-57 lines
and produced a vector weather image for ECDIS display using the standard WMO
symbology. The workshop participants liked the general idea, although they had criticisms
regarding too simplified display of fronts, which were shown as a series of interconnected
straight lines rather than curves. It is expected that later versions of display will overcome
this problem. The meteorologists among the participants suggested that, particularly for early
coordinating purposes, it would be appropriate do demonstrate ECDIS and its weather
overlay at the next GMDSS meeting (Toulouse, 14-18 Sept. 1998).

The meteorologists were surprised that the data obtained by Ms. Schulze from the German
NMS was in a CGM format and not in any WMO approved format. IAC FLEET is a similar
ASCII format to encode objects, and it is an official international exchange format. Other
WMO approved formats are GRIB and BUFR used to encode fields (grid data). German
NMS explained after the workshop that CGM is their internal format, and the data that Ms.
Schulze requested was most accessible in this format; they use BUFR for international
exchange.

3. INTEGRATION OF MSI/GMDSS DATA, CONSOLIDATION AND INTERACTION

(ALARMS) OF THE METEOROLOGICAL AND OCEANOGRAPHIC PARAMETERS IN
ECDIS.

The GMDSS mandatory set of information should form the basis for the meteorological input
to the ECDIS overlay. The format of data transmission to vessels is open for discussion.
WMO provides several standards for data transmission (ASCII, binary, Weatherfax), but
there is no provision for a format readable by ECDIS at present. S-57 format is a possibility,
however some countries responsible for data transmission in their GMDSS areas of
responsibility may find it impossible for financial reasons. The cost of satellite transmission
of large data files for graphic display may be considerable and would have to be borne by
these countries, as provision of meteorological data is at present free to the end users.

As from 1 Feb. 1999 Inmarsat C onboard receivers will be mandatory for all SOLAS class
vessels to enable them to receive the GMDSS messages. These plain text messages may be
interfaced with ECDIS after format conversion. It is possible that graphic images can be
transmitted in the future. If transmission of these images using S-57 format is too costly, then
the existing WMO formats may have to be used for transmission, with format conversion
being performed within the onboard ECDIS (see also para 5 below).

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Interaction of meteorological data with the ECDIS functionality offers a possibility of alarms
raised when certain thresholds are reached or exceeded. The most important is a storm alarm.
This would inform the navigator that the vessel is likely to encounter storm conditions within
a preset number of hours. Both the number of hours, and the threshold of e.g. wind speed or
wave height should be selectable within the ECDIS equipment by the operator.

Specialised alarms could also be provided, e.g. when certain air/water temperature levels are
important for vessels transporting fragile cargo.

Whatever oceanographic data is available to the NMS can be incorporated already into the
meteorological forecast transmission for a full integration. At present, not all these data are
made available to the vessels.

4. PROVISION OF THE REAL-TIME AND FORECAST METEOROLOGICAL DATA TO VESSELS

The meteorological data supplied to the vessels can be divided in two parts:
i. real-time information, and
ii. forecasts: short, medium and long term.

The infrastructure for the real-time data transmissions has been developed over the last 5
years. While it may need an additional interface for ECDIS requirements, it is not a major
technical problem. Internet is still not considered 100% reliable; most of transmissions are via
Inmarsat.

Mr. Gareth Almond made a short presentation of OceanStar - the meteorological and DGPS
data transmission system used by his company, Fugro Starfix. It utilises the spare capacity of
the Inmarsat A, B and M for a continuous point-to-multipoint data transmission. This appears
to be a most economic way of using Inmarsat, but cannot be used with Inmarsat C which will
be soon compulsory for all SOLAS class vessels. Fugro Starfix do not expect a dramatic fall
in the costs of the satellite data transmission with an introduction of Iridium low orbit satellite
network later this year. It may occur only when another competing network starts operating
in a few years time. In addition to OceanStar, Fugro Starfix has SeaMet, a meteorological
forecast software operating on a 60km grid.

At present, vessels navigating the high seas rely on Weatherfax, routine forecasts (twice a
day) and warnings. While data can be provided in the WMO binary formats GRIB and BUFR
for graphic display onboard, all graphic material is until now sent by fax. It is possible that in
the near future ECDIS will take over graphical representation of the meteorological data.
Whether the format conversion will take place ashore or onboard will need to be determined.
One option is for the ECDIS Kernel (the library of ECDIS functions imbedded in the onboard
computer) to be able to read GRIB and BUFR and convert and interpret the data for display.
It was recalled however, that meteorological information provided to ships in any format by
meteorological services is completely free of charge, at least for the time being.

Short-term forecasts are available up to 5 or 6 days ahead depending on a model, with

reliability decreasing through the forecast period. In most cases it’s irrelevant, as they are
updated twice daily. Experienced forecasters can add considerable value to the model results
for up to three days. The medium term forecasts from e.g. European Centre for Medium
Range Forecasts (ECMWF) are for 7-14 days. They are available to the NMS, and can be

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made available to shipping. The long-term forecasts usually take form of month-long
evaluations using an ensemble method giving a frequency distribution of the results.

Commercial routing services use a deterministic, not a probability, approach and generally
make use of numerical models up to 5-6 days ahead operated by the major NMS. They seem
to satisfy their customers who report fuel savings of 7-15% when using these services. The
main reason for the usage of the routing services appears however, to be the need for a back-
up in possible disputes regarding shipping delays etc.

Specialised users (e.g. offshore industry, cable layers, sports) have special requirements
which are provided for by a small number of specialised data providers.

It doesn’t really matter whether the forecast is short, medium or long-term, the problems of
supplying them in an ECDIS suitable form to a ship are identical. In port the vessels can use
ftp or e-mail to download the forecasts from the NMS or a service provider via landlines or
GSM, close inshore they can still use GSM, but offshore only the satellite telecommunication
is viable through Inmarsat or the low orbit systems. To maintain the twice-daily update of
ECDIS meteorological picture offshore, a ship will have to make special arrangement with
the service providers – GMDSS Office or commercial.

The users are satisfied with the present system of twice-daily updates of the weather
forecasts. They do not need higher frequency of forecasts, the quality of predictions is most
important to them. They consider the warnings to be the most reliable forecasts.

At present, basic marine weather services are provided free by NMS under SOLAS, and the
users may need convincing that it is worth to pay for integration of the weather information
with ECDIS. Enabling the ECDIS Kernel to read the met data and provide this facility would
make it easier to accept, as the cost of the ECDIS Kernel is covered at the installation of
ECDIS onboard.

Several NMS may wish to provide more than the basic level of advice, but almost certainly,
this would need to be on the “user pay” basis (as it is now for the aeronautical services). This
would make the implementation of a sophisticated ECDIS interface more viable, but the
matter is likely to remain under consideration for some time yet.

5. GENERAL DISCUSSION

It appears that there is a demand for more meteorological information as proven by the
existence of several commercial service providers. In principle, users are satisfied with the
existing system – official warnings and forecast from the NMS supplemented by the
commercial services.

WMO is monitoring the users satisfaction and other parameters of meteorological data (e.g.
in Oct. 1998 it will be again monitoring the quality of data acquisition and of data
transmission). The main sources of customer complaints at present are:
Timeliness of transmissions
Quality of forecasts
Availability of forecasts (in some areas).

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Graphical data transmission via Inmarsat for the GMDSS using BUFR or GRIB format is
under consideration as an additional service to supplement the plain language messages. The
cost of transmissions, even with the various forthcoming low orbit satellite systems, may be
the main obstruction for some time yet. Automatic decoding of plain language into a graphic
image could be a possible solution.

It was recognized that WMO should be very closely involved in ECDIS developments as
soon as possible. The NMS may also need to be informed of these developments in the near
future. Once ECDIS is a fully developed service, including the ability to display graphic
meteorological images, the NMS may want to become ever more active participants and to
provide more of their expertise to ECDIS developers.

6. RECOMMENDATIONS

The workshop recommends that the following steps should be taken to enable an orderly
integration of meteorological data in ECDIS:

6.1 Overlays containing the meteorological/oceanographic data are to be allowed in S-57

Edition 4.

It was agreed that in due time, an appropriate mechanism should be found, probably through
WMO, to approach the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) of IMO for the mandatory
approval needed to allow these overlays in ECDIS. Since no hydrographic or nautical
charting information is involved in these overlays, there is no need to involve IHO directly;
IMO could notify them of their approval via the IMO/IHO Harmonizing Group on ECDIS
(HE).

6.2 Specialized Objects and Attributes for the S-57 standard, and symbology for the S-52
standard are to be created to allow encoding meteorological/oceanographic
information for display in ECDIS.

The present WMO colours and symbols for meteorological objects are strictly adhered to by
the WMO member countries. ECDIS should follow these rules. It is recommended that the
default display should be black, with optional colours schemes provided to the mariner to
choose from.

6.3 Only the registered Objects and Attributes are to be used for encoding the
meteorological/oceanographic phenomena.

There is no restriction on creating new objects and attributes by any organisation, however to
maintain a full world-wide compatibility of data for display on any ECDIS, these objects and
attributes must be unique. To ascertain that no duplication of encoding occurs, only those
objects, which are registered internationally, are to be allowed. The only international registry
for new objects and attributes is operated by the Open ECDIS Forum under aegis of the IHO.
To register the new user defined object classes and attributes at the Open EDCIS Forum, the
relevant data should be sent to: ocrs@openecdis.org. For more information, see the Forum’s
web page: http://www.openecdis.org.

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6.4 GMDSS planners and operators should be acquainted with ECDIS and the display of
meteorological information in ECDIS.

It is recommended that Mr. Pillich (and/or another person from SevenCs) be invited to the
next meeting of the GMDSS (Toulouse, 14-18 Sept. 1998) to explain and demonstrate
ECDIS and a prototype of meteorological ECDIS overlay to the GMDSS issuing services
representatives. WMO was requested to consider to make such an invitation to the IHO.

6.5 WMO should be very closely involved in ECDIS development and should be
represented in future ECDIS conferences and Marine Information Objects (MIO)
workshops.

It is clear from the last two workshops (Monaco and Geneva) that the WMO's contribution to
ECDIS is not only important but essential. The need for a continued coordination and
technical contribution of WMO to ECDIS cannot be overstated and calls for a closer
relationship in the future. In view of that, it is recommended that WMO be represented at the
next ECDIS Conference (26-28 Oct 1998) and MIO Workshop (29-30 Oct. 1998) in
Singapore. An invitation will be sent from the organisers (Singapore Maritime Port
Authority) and/or IHO.

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ANNEX 1

WORKSHOP ON METEOROLOGY AND OCEANS FOR ECDIS

18-19 May 1998, WMO, Geneva.

AGENDA

1. Introductions and welcome.

2. Approval of the agenda.

3. Examination of the proposed meteorological and oceanographic parameters to be

included in ECDIS as the Marine Information Objects (MIO):

3.1 essential for safety of navigation

3.2 non-essential for safety but convenient for other purposes.

4. Integration, consolidation and interaction (alarms) of the meteorological and

oceanographic parameters in ECDIS.

5. Integration of MSI data (Marine Safety Information related to, or provided by the
GMDSS: Global Marine Distress and Safety System of IMO/WMO)

6. Examination of the display options for the new MIOs.

7. Real-time vs. forecast meteorological data

8. Provision of the MIO data to vessels:

8.1 Long-term predictions,

8.2 Short-term forecasts,
8.3 Real- or near real-time data transmission.

9. Discussion of other matters associated with MIOs.

11. Formulation of recommendations.

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 ANNEX 2

WORKSHOP ON METEOROLOGY AND OCEANS FOR ECDIS

18-19 May 1998, WMO, Geneva.

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

France

Mr Henri Savina Mr Jack Hopkins

Météo-France Meteorological Office
SCEM/PREVI/MAR Johnson House
42 avenue Gaspard Coriolis London Road
31057 TOULOUSE Cédex BRACKNELL, Berkshire RG12 2SY
France United Kingdom
Telephone: +33-5 61 07 82 91 Telephone: +44-1344 856684
Telefax: +33-5 61 07 82 09 Telefax: +44-1344 854906
E-mail: henri.savina@meteo.fr E-mail: jshopkins@meto.gov.uk

Germany WMO Secretariat

Mr Bohdan Pillich Mr Fernando Guzman

Seven Cs GMBH Ocean Affairs Division, World Weather Watch
Ruhrstrasse 90 World Meteorological Organization
22761 HAMBURG Case Postal No. 2300
Germany CH-1211 GENEVA 2
Telephone: +49-40 8517240 Switzerland
Telefax: +49-40 8515440 Telephone: +41-22 730 84 49
E-mail: pi@sevencs.com Telefax: +41-22 733 02 42
E-mail: fguzman@www.wmo.ch
UK Telex: 41 41 99 OMM CH

Mr Gareth Almond
Fugro Starfix (UK)
Denmore Road Last moment apologies
Bridge of Don
ABERDEEN AB23 8JW Mr. Denis Bonicel - Meteomer
Scotland Ms. Irene Gonin – USCG
United Kingdom Mr. Horst Günther – GWS
Telephone: +44-1224 257537 Mr. Peter Jones - UKHO
Telefax: +44-1224 257523 Mr. Richard Sillcox - NOAA
E-mail: g.almond@starfix.co.uk

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 ANNEX 3

For the workshop on Meteorology and Oceans for ECDIS

18-19 May 1998, WMO, GENEVA

Oceanographic and Marine Safety Information by Japan Hydrographic Department

Minoru Odamaki

Meteorological and Oceanographic parameters to be included in ECDIS as MIO.

In the last TVO meeting held in MONACO Jan. 1998, the priorities were discussed based on the object
groups listed by Mr. Keith Millen. Priority #1 group includes meteorological information such as wind,
wave and swell, and etc. Meteorological Agency in Japan supplies these meteorological now-condition and
forecasting to navigators through Fax broadcasting service, which are almost raster data. Further #1 group
also includes oceanographic information such as sea ice, ocean current and etc., which are supplied by
Hydrographic Department, Maritime Safety Agency of Japan. Sea ice report around Hokkaido area,
especially Okhotsk Sea, is published every day in winter Season from December to April from Ice
Information Center of 1st regional Maritime Safety Headquarters. You can see the report in the JHD home
page, http://www.jhd.go.jp/cue/KAN1/ice_center/ice_center.html, which is raster data, too. Ocean current
report around Japan is also published every 2 weeks from JHD, shown in the home page,
http://www.jhd.go.jp/cue/KAIYO/qboc/image/9809fig1p.html. Regrettably the latter home page is edited
in Japanese. As mentioned above, these meteorological and oceanographic informations are raster data at
present. It is necessary for these MIO in ECDIS to consider converting to vector data. Then our JHD now
tried to change these information from paper-form, i.e. raster data to digital computer form; vector data.

Marine Safety Information

JHD already published Notice to Mariners in the JHD home-page
http://www.jhd.go.jp/cue/TUHO/nme.html, not only for the paper chart but also for ENC, which is revised
every week. Like this, we consider these MSI should be served easily, conveniently and promptly to
access. I think, in the next step, these informations should be supplied to each ECDIS.

Other MIO in ECDIS

As mentioned in the last meeting, we intend to change other oceanographical information such as Tide
Tables and Tidal current charts to the ECDIS available form too, in near future. Some non-governmental
organization already to try to start such information service in contract with some ship company. Then we
should make an attention and lead to such services as a responsible organization for safety navigation.

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