Panel 2: Display issues raised by the expanded use of AIS and the ENavigation initiative

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Panel 2 Display issues raised by the expanded
use of AIS and the E-Navigation initiative

• Seattle AIS06
• October 10-11, 2006

Capt. Douglas J. Grubbs, Crescent River Port Pilot
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Definitions

• Aid to Navigation (AtoN)A device or system
  external to vessels that is designed and operated
  to enhance the safe and efficient navigation of
  vessels and/or vessel traffic. (IALA Navguide)
• The U.S. Aids to Navigation System is primarily a
  lateral system which employs a simple arrangement
  of colors, shapes, numbers, and light
  characteristics to mark the limits of navigable
  routes. (33CFR 26.21)

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Virtual AtoN

• Digital symbols represented on vector-based
  electronic charts indicating navigational hazards
  and AIS-equipped vessel movements

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Virtual AtoN Structural Components

• Accurate, comprehensive, up-to-date electronic
  navigation charts
• Accurate and reliable electronic positioning
  signals
• Information on a vessels route, bearing,
  maneuvering parameters and other status items, in
  electronic format
• Transmission of positional and navigational
  information from ship-to-shore, shore-to-ship and
  ship-to-ship, using the AIS
• Clear, integrated displays of the above
  information on board ship and ashore, using
  electronic chart display and information system
  (ECDIS)
• Information prioritization and alert capability
  in risk situations on ship and ashore

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Shipping Trends

• New technology and techniques such as
  containerization
• Larger, faster ships
• Require smaller crews
• Reduce time, expense and man-hours
• Encourage globalization
• Globalization
• Increased exports/imports from China, India,
  Brazil, Russia
• Longer cargo transportation routes
• Increased competition to drive down costs
• Cruise Industry Boom
• Fastest growing maritime industry
• Bigger vessels
• More passengers
• Emphasis on safety
• Increasingly congested major shipping lanes

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World Bank Projection

• According to World Bank estimates, sea trade will
  have grown at a rate of 4 per annum over the
  period 2000-2010. The result will have been a
  near doubling of the total volume of seaborne
  trade by the end of this period.
• (IALA Navguide)

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AtoN Chain of Responsibility

• Federal Government and International Maritime
  Organization (IMO) issue general mandate
• International Association of Marine Aids to
  Navigation Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) and
  International Hydrographic Organization (IHO)
  codify and promulgate universal standards to meet
  general mandate
• US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) and National
  Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
  gather survey data and generate charts compliant
  with universal standards
• U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), COE and Local Mariners
  identify navigational hazards for marking
• USCG generates specifications for necessary
  AtoNs, awards and oversees manufacturing
  contracts, assembles, positions and maintains
  AtoNs

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U.S. Coast Guard AtoN Operation

• Annual Budget of 840 million supports
• 90 ships
• 150 boats
• 2100 personnel
• Maintains a constellation of 50,000 buoys and
  markers

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Advantages of VAtoN

• Reduced cost
• Substantial reduction in number of physical AtoNs
  required
• Fewer man-hours to update and maintain
• Reduced energy requirements to operate and
  maintain
• Greater range than physical AtoNs
• Control over and ease of marker placement and
  adjustment
• Timeliness/immediacy
• More efficient and flexible shipping operations,
  especially in congested areas
• Enhanced safety with robust electronic safety
  nets including collision avoidance and
  anti-grounding systems
• Removes the need to deploy additional
  installations
• To account for the increased reaction times
  needed by faster and larger vessels
• To mark and re-mark new and shifting navigation
  channels.
• Ability to provide unique information for a
  particular vessel or class of vessel

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Hypothetical Use for Ice Breakers
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Example of Actual Implementation

• Port of New Orleans accommodations for Carnival
  Cruise
• To date, the ONLY actual use of Virtual Aids to
  Navigation

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Mini-IENC Background
Carnival Cruise Line selected the Port of New
Orleans as homeport for its super cruise ship,
the Conquest. Crescent River Port Pilots
recognized that low clearance power lines along
transit route at Chalmette, LA, Lower Mississippi
River, Mile 89.2 would present a serious problem
and requested a safe navigation tool. The U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District
tasked MD Atlantic Technologies with developing a
vessel-specific version of the existing Inland
Electronic Navigational Chart, called the
Mini-IENC which would depict mariner-friendly
safe and unsafe transit areas for the Conquest at
varying river stages throughout the year.
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Vessel Dimensions and Safe Clearance
Calculations
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Safe Clearance Calculation and River Stage
Therefore, the Conquest can safely pass under the
power lines when the river stage is at 12 and
above on the Carrolton Gauge, the Conquest must
use caution to avoid the lowest point of the
power line in order to avoid the possibility of
arching as the vessel passes under the energized
power lines.
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Mini-IENC Edition 2 -- Overview
Mini-IENC Edition 2 - Overview
VTS Safety Zone Limits
User Note Vessel - River Stage Specific
Dock Safety Zone 100 150
Diamond Shaped Precautionary Area
Virtual Approach Buoys Up/Down River 2000,
1000
Virtual Green Can Buoys West Bank 300, 1000
Virtual Green Can Red Nun Buoys Up/Down
River 300
30 Depth Curve
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17 River Stage
New March 2004 Ed. 2
Old March 2003 Ed. 1
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Mini-IENC Virtual Buoys
SAFE-WATER buoys Red and White vertical striped
buoys Lead-in navigation aids Assist in
either a west or east bank approach to transit
under the power lines. Placed at 1000-foot
intervals, both up and down river of the power
line. Each 1000-foot interval is approximately
one Conquest ship-length and aids in
determining relative distances to the power
lines.
RED NUN AND GREEN CAN buoys Mark approach sides
of the diamond-shaped precautionary area Assist
in proper routing. Placed at 300-foot
intervals, both up and downriver of the power
line, 300 feet approximately 1/3 ship length
the critical ship pivot point. Additional Green
Can buoys placed along the river's west bank to
mark the 30-foot depth curve.
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Mini-IENC w/ Depth Curve GeneratorSouthwest Pass
Scenario
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Disadvantages

• Potential degradation of traditional skills
• Vulnerable to intentional and unintentional
  interference such as terrorism, criminal acts and
  accidental electromagnetic jamming
• Vulnerabilities necessitate redundancy
• Requires that vessels be properly equipped and
  operators thoroughly trained
• Lack of training can lead to dangerously
  incorrect usage and/or over reliance
• Can magnify the effect of small errors

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• Automation is becoming more prevalent on
  commercial ships, affecting such areas as
  engineering, bridge, and cargo operations. When
  designed properly and used by trained personnel,
  such automation can be helpful in improving
  operational efficiency and safety. However, when
  designed poorly or misused by undertrained or
  untrained personnel, automated equipment can be a
  contributing cause to accidents. In one study of
  100 marine casualties, inadequate knowledge about
  equipment was found to be a contributing cause in
  35 percent of the casualties .
• (NTSB Marine Accident Report Notation 6598A)

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1993 Amtrak Derailment

• History
• Nighttime collision of towboat MAUVILLA and
  nearly 400-foot tow with a railroad bridge near
  Mobile, Alabama
• Impact displaced a bridge girder, causing the
  derailment of an Amtrak train eight minutes later
• Forty seven people died
• Cause
• Tow boat operator became lost and disoriented in
  dense fog
• Operator had no experience operating in fog
• Operator had no formal training using on board
  radar, only on-the-job training on a different
  type and model than that on the MAUVILLA.

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1995 Grounding of Cruise Ship Royal Majesty

• HISTORY
• Panamanian passenger ship Royal Majesty grounded
  about 10 miles east of Nantucket Island,
  Massachusetts
• About 17 miles from where the watch officers
  thought the vessel was.
• Damage estimated at 7 million (no injuries)
• Ship's automated navigation system had been
  programmed to rely on its Global Positioning
  System
• Within an hour of departure from Bermuda, the GPS
  antenna came loose, thus disabling the GPS
• Integrated navigation system automatically
  defaulted to a "dead reckoning" mode (follows the
  last heading assigned)
• No one on the bridge in the 34 hours leading up
  to the accident noticed that the GPS system had
  gone down or noticed that the ship was sailing
  farther and farther off course, even though
  visual cues were available to them.

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1995 Grounding of Panamanian Cruise Ship

• CAUSES
• Over-reliance on the automated features of the
  integrated bridge system
• Officers inadequately trained in the automated
  features of the integrated bridge system and in
  the implications of this automation for bridge
  resource management
• Deficiencies in the design and implementation of
  the integrated bridge system and in the
  procedures for its operation
• Second officers failure to take corrective
  action after several cues indicated the vessel
  was off course
• Inadequacy of international standards for
  training and for design, installation and testing
  of electronic navigation systems and integrated
  bridge systems

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Technology-Centered Approach vs. Human-Centered
Approach to Automated Systems

• Technology- centered approach
• Often the result of inadequate training and poor
  human-factors design
• Seeks to replace mariner functions with machine
  functions
• Does not consider mariners capabilities and
  limitations
• Effectively leaves mariner out of meaningful
  control or active participation in the operation
  of the ship
• Human-centered approach
• Recognizes mariner as the central element in the
  operation of the ship
• Emphasizes designs that fully utilize human
  capabilities and protect against human
  limitations, such as unreliable monitoring and
  bias in decision making
• (NTSB
  MARINE ACCIDENT REPORT, Notation 6598A, Adopted
  April 2, 1997)

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Why Training?

• Daunting new technologies
• (could you figure out an iPod without help??)
• Modern maritime environment requires faster
  reaction time
• Larger, faster vessels magnify the potential
  impact of small errors
• and some errors are not small

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Remember?
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Effect of Deck Officer Training

Number
100
Insurance Premium Index
90
No of Casualties
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
Maersk Fleet Casualties and Premiums
10
0
Year
1995
1996
1997
1998
(1994 Maersk starts simulation training at
DMI)
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Conclusion

• Modern shipping environment necessitates
  increasingly more accurate and responsive aids to
  navigation
• E-navigation, including virtual aids to
  navigation, as demonstrated by the Carnival
  Conquest in New Orleans is an effective and cost
  efficient tool for the facilitation of safe and
  economic inland waterway transit
• Like any new set of tools, e-navigation is only
  as useful as the knowledge, experience and
  training of the people using it

Thank you, Capt. Douglas J. Grubbs Crescent
River Port Pilots