MARINE NOTICE 9/2011
Carriage of Electronic Nautical Publications
Summary
This notice provides guidance to owners and operators of Australian registered ships intending to use electronic nautical publications on board to meet the carriage requirements for nautical publications as set out in Chapter V (Safety of Navigation) of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 (SOLAS 74), as amended.
Background
In accordance with Regulation 27 of Chapter V of SOLAS 74, as amended, nautical publications such as sailing directions, lists of lights, lists of radio signals, tide tables and all other nautical publications necessary for the intended voyage, must be adequate and up-to-date. Electronic versions of nautical publications stated above may be carried on board as an alternative to hard copy nautical publications.
Carriage requirement of electronic nautical publications
For the purpose of fulfilling the publication carriage requirement of SOLAS 74, the electronic version of all nautical publications must be:
- issued by an administration, authorised hydrographic organisation, or other relevant approved organisation;
- readily accessible to the Officer of the Watch without any limitations, by the use of a dedicated computer located on the bridge which is available at all times for the storage and retrieval of information and which is connected to the ship’s main and emergency power supplies; and
- provided with adequate back up in the event the primary electronic format becomes inaccessible. For back up, the digital publications may be installed on a second computer or in suitable digital format (e.g. through portable mass storage device, compact disc etc) from which the information can be made available to the Officer of the Watch within five (5) minutes, or as up-to-date paper print-outs of the relevant nautical publications. Where a second computer is used as the back up arrangement, it shall be connected to ship’s main and emergency power supplies.
All computer software and hardware used for accessing official electronic nautical publications shall comply with the recommendations of the International Maritime Organization MSC/Circ.891 - Guidelines for the onboard use and application of computers.
All electronic nautical publications and their automatic updates shall be provided with a time stamp to indicate the status of their latest edition/update. Guidelines for maintaining a regular and efficient system for correcting all electronic nautical publications must be provided on board and be followed.
Operational guidelines for using the digital system and viewing of the publications shall be available on board and made known to the officers concerned.
Note: The carriage of electronic nautical publications, as outlined above, is in addition to the requirements for the carriage of electronic navigational charts. The latter is the subject of AMSA Marine Notice 15/2010.
Further enquiries regarding the carriage of electronic nautical publications pertaining to this Marine Notice should be addressed to:
Manager
Ship Inspections
Maritime Operations Division
Australian Maritime Safety Authority
GPO Box 2181
CANBERRA ACT 2601
Graham Peachey
Chief Executive Officer
4 July 2011
Australian Maritime Safety Authority
GPO Box 2181
Canberra ACT 2601
File: 2011/500