Totem ECDIS Now Compatible with ADMIRALTY Information Overlay

Totem Plus, the manufacturer of Automation and Navigation systems, has announced that Totem ECDIS is now compatible with the ADMIRALTY Information Overlay (AIO).

Type approved by DNV, Totem ECDIS provides real-world innovation to the customer. It was the world’s first ECDIS to provide Collision Avoidance in the form of Decision Support Tools; it initiated the ‘Shift Change’ procedure to avoid ECDIS-assisted accidents; and is now also compatible with AIO, provided by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO).

AIO is a free service to ADMIRALTY Vector Chart Service (AVCS) customers and the only service available that includes worldwide Admiralty Temporary and Preliminary Notices to Mariners (T&P NMs) and new ENC Preliminary Notices to Mariners (EPNMs). AIO is also the only service to include the results of the ADMIRALTY Assurance Programme, which is a comprehensive review of the world’s Electronic Navigational Charts (ENCs) being undertaken by the UKHO to identify and resolve significant differences between ENCs and existing paper charts.

Mariners around the world rely on ADMIRALTY updates to help them navigate safely via the weekly ‘Notices to Mariners’ publication, which is used to manually update paper charts with navigationally significant information. The AIO does this vital job automatically, displaying the same trusted information directly over the ENC in order to make voyage planning more efficient and reduce the risk of plotting errors. It also plays an important role in helping mariners to demonstrate how they manage their T&P NM information if required during Port State Control inspections.

Mr. Dudi Shefer, the product manager at Totem Plus, commented: “We are delighted that Totem ECDIS is now compatible with the ADMIRALTY Information Overlay. Totem ECDIS has a well-earned reputation for incorporating the latest innovations in order to provide mariners with the most up-to-date, navigationally important data. By delivering the UKHO’s trusted ‘Notices to Mariners’ data in a digital format that can automatically be integrated with electronic charts, the AIO is a vital tool in our efforts to support safe, efficient navigation.”

Hugh Phillips, Head of Products, United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, added: “We are very pleased to be working together with Totem Plus in order to provide Totem ECDIS users with the essential navigational information provided by the ADMIRALTY Information Overlay. Safe, compliant navigation and efficient voyage planning depends upon mariners being armed with the latest information. We are working closely with leading ECDIS manufacturers like Totem Plus to ensure that as many vessels as possible that are navigating digitally can share the benefits of the updates provided by our AIO service.”

Within the Totem ECDIS the AIO display is a Mariner selectable feature that can be easily switched on and off. When passage planning and route checking the AIO is used to ensure the Mariner has all the latest information when needed most and that there are no unforeseen dangers on the intended route. If there is an AIO object of interest this can simply be transferred to the ECDIS in monitoring mode via the use of a Mariners object. This process removes the necessity to turn on the whole AIO display when critical navigation is underway.

Totem Plus will also continue with its free upgrade policy and users are welcome to get the required software patch that includes the AIO module.

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UK HO, July 23, 2013