|
ChartCo
The ChartCo system provides
bulk data delivery direct to ships at sea by means of satellite
communications broadcast. The ship's existing Inmarsat A, B or Fleet
F77 terminal is used in conjunction with a special ChartCo broadcast
receiver. There is no interference with normal ship communication
and the ChartCo data is received automatically. ALL communication
costs are included in the service subscription fee which is charged
via Thomas Gunn on a quarterly, six monthly or annual basis.
Services
ChartCo have an ever-expanding
range of data services that fall into three main categories, Weather,
Navigation and News. The system is fully modular and controlled
by a suite of software known as OceanMaster.
Benefits
| 1. Increased
Safety |
 |
Notices
to mariners and tracings are received on the vessel soon after
release by hydrographic offices, enabling immediate update
of navigation charts en route. In addition, if a ship diverts
or mail is misdirected, this does not result in correction
information being unavailable for the next voyage.
NB The ChartCo service for UKHO notices
to mariners and tracings is broadcast under license from the
UKHO and is intended to meet the requirements of the UK and
other maritime administrations as being the equivalent of
the paper copy. |
| |
|
| 2. Virtually eliminates
possibility of arrest of vessel or fines for use of out-of-date
charts |
|
It is easy to keep
charts updated. Receipt of data is automatic and records are
kept of the correction status. Special reports may be printed
off which meet the requirements of a port-state audit.
Charts may be corrected while the vessel
is at sea at convenient times. This avoids the rush to correct
charts while the vessel is in port, before the next sailing,
which can result in mistakes. 'little but often' chart correction
procedures ease compliance with STCW requirements. |
| |
|
| 3. Saves manpower |
|
The easy-to-use interface
of chartmanager, coupled with its automatically updated database,
reduces the time and mental effort needed to keep the outfit
updated. Only information relevant to the particular vessel
is presented to the user (although all update information
for the whole chart catalogue may be accessed, if necessary).
Subject to flag state approval, the
shipping company will not have to organise the despatch of
notices to mariners and tracings to each vessel and there
are no manpower intensive rushes to get duplicate copies of
correction data to vessels when they are diverted or mail
is misdirected. |
| |
|
| 4. Cost effective solution
|
|
Getting bulk data to vessels at sea is normally
very expensive but the unique ChartCo broadcast system provides
an affordable solution, (the same data is being identically
transmitted, at the same time, to many vessels). It is a global
solution and data reception requires no manual intervention;
data is always available for use by the mariner. |
| |
|
| 5. Future proof |
|
The ChartCo service has been designed with electronic
updates in mind. It is compatible with official formats and
has primar approval for the transmission of european encs.
|
|
