Over half of ships trading internationally are living with the Electronic Chart[ds_preview] Display and Information System (ECDIS), according to the latest figures published by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO). Of an estimated 41,500 internationally trading ships around the world, 24,300 or 58% are now using an ENC (Electronic Navigational Chart) service on ECDIS as a result of the SOLAS-mandated carriage of the electronic system, which is being introduced on a rolling timetable for different ship types and sizes. On this basis of this positive trajectory for ECDIS adoption, the UKHO believes that the shipping industry is broadly on course to comply with the SOLAS-mandated timetable for ECDIS carriage across the global fleet by the end of this decade. Positive progress towards the adoption of this electronic system is also being made by different categories of ship types and sizes.
The proportion of tankers over 3,000 gt that are ECDIS ready has risen from 54% in April 2015 to 69% in October 2015, following the ECDIS carriage regulations entering into force from 1 July 2015 for tankers. The SOLAS regulations on the display system carriage will be extended to all existing cargo ships over 50,000 gt from 1 July 2016. At present, 62% of the 3,500 large cargo ships that will be subject to these regulations are already ECDIS ready.
At present, 57% of bulkers are living with ECDIS, compared to 65% of RoRos and 71% of container ships. However, there is near-parity in ECDIS readiness between the Asian and European large cargo ship fleets. 63% of large cargo ships in Asia are ready for the electronic systems, compared to 62% in Europe.
