I. Introduction
International Maritime Organization (IMO) has decided to introduce an e-navigation in order to improve safety of navigation and to reduce errors. In spite of the huge development of technologies in navigation and communication systems, there is a need to coordinate systems and more use of harmonized standards. IMO defined e-navigation as “the harmonized collection, integration, exchange, presentation and analysis of marine information on board and ashore by electronic means to enhance berth to berth navigation and related services for safety and security at sea and protection of the marine environment” (IMO, 2009a). The Strategy Implementation Plan (SIP) was adopted at the 94th Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) meeting in 2014. According to the identified tasks and timelines for the implementation of prioritized e-navigation solutions, new standards and regulations will be developed until 2019. In Korea, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) plans to perform the Research and Development (R&D) project on e-navigation from 2016 to 2020 to implement the national e-navigation strategy.
According to the IMO's Strategy, the main benefits of e-navigation are expected to be improved safety and better protection of the environment through the promotion of standards of navigational system and a reduction in human error. In order to meet the expectations on the benefit of e-navigation, e-navigation services should be focused not only on ships which are complying with the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), hereinafter referred to as’ SOLAS ships’, but also on non-SOLAS ships, such as coastal operating ships and fishing vessels.
According to the statistics, the most of marine accidents were occurred in fishing vessels and smaller ships under 100 Gross Tons (GT) in Korean coastal waters (KMST, 2014). In addition, the 88.4% of registered ships are fishing vessels and the 94.9% of registered ships are smaller ships under 100 GT. In this regard, it is crucial to establish a safety support system for non-SOLAS ships based on e-navigation in order to reduce marine accidents.
The purpose of this study is to present necessary e-navigation services for non-SOLAS ships in order to prevent marine accidents. To achieve the purpose of the study, a present shipboard navigation and communication systems of non-SOLAS ships were examined and findings were discussed in this paper. The present global status of the development and implementation of e-navigation were also discussed including Korean e-navigation project in order to forecast the future trends of e-navigation services for ships. In addition, the necessary navigational support services and communication services for smaller ships and fishing vessels were discussed through literature review.
This study will help for the planning and designing of the Korean e-navigation system. It is expected that the further researches on the navigation support systems based on e-navigation will be carried out in order to improve the navigation safety of non-SOLAS ships.