Plan, monitor, cross-check
- Plan and check the route with the ECDIS route-check function against the ENCs.
- Monitor the passage with the cross-track, look-ahead and safety alarms active.
- Cross-check the position by an independent means — radar and visual — and do not blind-trust GNSS.
- Keep an approved backup arrangement — a second ECDIS or paper charts — per the ship's approval.
The great danger of ECDIS is over-reliance: the display looks equally confident whether the underlying survey is good or coarse and whether the GNSS position is right or wrong. The source-data quality is shown by the CATZOC rating, and a poorly surveyed area demands extra caution. Generic ECDIS training teaches the concept, but the officer must also complete type-specific familiarisation on the exact equipment fitted, because the menus and functions differ between makes.
WARNING — Over-reliance is the real danger ECDIS shows a confident picture even when the survey is coarse or a sensor is wrong. Keep a visual and radar lookout, check the CATZOC, and never let alarms be silenced into meaninglessness.
NOTE — Type-specific training is still required Generic ECDIS teaches the principles; you must also complete type-specific familiarisation on the exact equipment on your ship, because the operation differs between makes.