- March 31, 2015
- 2015 , Circulars
- Comments : 0
ECDIS requirements
31 March 2015 | C15010
As already been informed through Dromon Circular C12003, ECDIS became mandatory and shall be fitted on board cargo and passenger ships engaged in international voyages. As of July 1, 2015 the equipment must be retrofitted on board existing tankers of 3,000 gross tonnage and above.
NOTICE TO
Ship Owners / Managers / Operators | Flag Administrations | Surveyors | Manufacturers
Amendments to SOLAS Regulation V/19.2.10 adopted by IMO MSC.282(86) made ECDIS mandatory to be fitted on board cargo and passenger ships. The system aims to assist crew members in ship’s navigation and was first used on board naval vessels. The system includes a Global Positioning System (GPS) feature to effectively locate the navigational points and is a highly reliable system for navigation. The system may also include AIS and Radar.
For existing tankers (i.e. built before July 1, 2012) with gross tonnage greater than 3,000 and engaged in international voyages, ECDIS must be retrofitted not later than the first survey on or after July 1, 2015.
For the overall applicability of ECDIS on board cargo and passenger ships engaged in international voyages please refer to the table below.
| Ship Type | Gross Tonnage | New Ships(Keel laying date) | Existing Ships(Not New Ships) |
| Passenger Ships | Greater than 500 | July 1, 2012 | Not later than the first survey* on or after July 1, 2014 |
| Tankers | Greater than 3,000 | July 1, 2012 | Not later than the first survey* on or after July 1, 2015 |
| Others | Greater than 50,000 | July 1, 2013 | Not later than the first survey* on or after July 1, 2016 |
| Greater than 20,000 but less than 50,000 | July 1, 2013 | Not later than the first survey* on or after July 1, 2017 | |
| Greater than 10,000 but less than 20,000 | July 1, 2013 | Not later than the first survey* on or after July 1, 2018 | |
| Greater than 3,000 but less than 10,000 | July 1, 2014 | There is no necessity for retrofitting to existing ships of gross tonnage less than 10,000 | |
| *The first survey means the first annual, periodical or renewal survey, whichever comes first after the date indicated. For passenger ships, this survey is the first passenger ship safety survey. For cargo ships (i.e. tankers and others), this survey is the first cargo ship safety or cargo ship safety equipment survey. | |||
act now
Dromon Surveyors must ensure that in the forthcoming annual, periodical or renewal safety or safety equipment surveys of existing tankers this equipment is retrofitted on board.
Ship Owners and Managers must make necessary arrangements to retrofit ECDIS on board existing tankers in the forthcoming surveys as indicated on the table above. Dromon suggests the retrofitting of the system to be carried out during forthcoming schedule dry-dock surveys. In addition to the retrofitting ship Managers must ensure that crew members on board have been trained and are familiar with the operation of this system. A procedure must be implemented in ship’s Safety Management System (SMS) as part of clause 6.5 of the ISM Code requiring from companies to establish and maintain procedures for identifying any training which may be required in support of the safety management system to ensure that such training is provided for all personnel concern.
