Small Vessel Electronic Chart System (SV-ECS) - The detail.

[[70521]]

In case anybody needs some light bedtime reading the new Small Vessel Electronic Chart System (SV-ECS) guidance can be found here

Small Vessel Electronic Chart System (SV-ECS)

 

[dunedin]

For clarity this is intended primarily for small commercial & fishing vessels under 24m, who wish to stop carrying paper charts but maintain compliance with coding / certification rules.
Would be nothing to stop private vessels adopting a system of this type when available - but unlikely to have the features of a typical yacht MFD, especially the aspects intended for sailing craft.
Section 5 is very relevant to read - can only use official ENCs as charts, the ones also used by large commercial ships. Use of Navionics, C-Map etc not permitted.

 

[Pye_End]

Strange that they reject RNCs but accept paper charts.

 

[dunedin]

Strange that they reject RNCs but accept paper charts.

The point of these new standards is to prepare for the end of paper charts. When paper charts go I assume RNC (electronic raster charts) will be dead simultaneously.
Until then commercial / coded vessels can continue to use paper charts if they prefer (or more likely have in a drawer for compliance reasons whilst using Navionics or similar for real world use).

 

[justanothersailboat]

And yet huge numbers of commercial and private leisure boats under 24m are currently being navigated using consumer chartplotters with non-official charts to a reasonably high level of safety - and where they are unsafe it is usually not in ways this will address. The only sane option here would have been to legislate in what everyone's already using as "acceptable", but I guess that "official ENC" monopoly really needs to expand...