A Harmonized ENC Database as a Foundation of Electronic Navigation

The current discussion on the future of electronic navigation is focusing on the expansion of ECDIS by integrating additional data streams, like AIS or real-time tide information. While this are important aspects, which will be touched on in the paper, it is important to note that the ENC data layer is the necessary data layer to enable advanced data display. The current focus on ENC production has a limited view on coverage within scale bands and on datum code. While this allows concentrated efforts to produce the necessary country coverage to meet the timeframe of the IMO ECDIS mandate, future mariners will require a more solid basis of chart data for their electronic naviga-tion needs. The IMO e-Navigation discussion and the discussions in related the IALA e-Navigation Commit-tee are starting to join efforts with the new IHO S-100 and S-101 standards as well as the developing S-10X series of standards. The Hydrographic community needs to take that in account when preparing for the future of electronic navigation to increase safety of navigation in a rapidly changing environment with larger ships and more traffic in areas with specific navigational challenges. The paper will focus on the following topics: – The ENC data layer as the basis of electronic navigation, – Closing gaps and overlaps in ENC coverage by adjusting cell boundaries, – Moving from a cell based data structure to a seamless database structure, – Integration of Scale-Independent and Scale-Dependent objects, – Adaption of harmonized and flexible data models – an S-10X outlook, – Enabling integration of advanced data streams – an e-NAV outlook.