Nautical documents and computer-aided navigation : The point of view of the French Hydrographic Office

The nautical paper documents produced by the national Hydrographic Offices have not evolved much since the advent of the so-cailed modern charting during the 19th century. However, maritime navigation has considerably changed as much with the density of the traffic as with the characteristics of ships. Today a real computer-aided navigation is needed. Facing these new needs, the electronic chart appears a panacea. This concept appeared at the beginning of the 80's but its official version - ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information System) - is not available yet in spite of sustained efforts. The private sector already offers systems called ECS (Electronic Chart System), combined with products obtained by the mere digitization of paper charts. Considering the time needed to get the ECDIS operational and given the risks of using ECS whose reliability is dubious, many national organizations are offering an intermediate ECS-like system using a chart database which is simplified but official and kept up to date. While ECDIS has been conceived as the minimum system adequate to replace safely paper charts, several attempts have been undertaken in order to obtain the approval of other systems. Confronted with such a confusing situation, SHOM upholds a pragmatic but rational approach.