When consumers get cornered into buying from one supplier, they’re gonna get soaked, then pissed

By Ryan Skinner (email)

Through my work, I’ve become intimately acquainted with what feels like a scandal in the making. Right now, it’s only a big deal in the small hydrographic community, but – as mandatory ECDIS drives more attention to the market – it may explode into headlines.

The gist is this: Mandatory ECDIS will require shipowners to get ENCs (the official Electronic Navigational Charts proscribed by the IMO and IHO), or risk port state detention. Contrary to its own intentions to make ENCs widely available to a non-profit, central and independent organisation, the UKHO is withholding hundreds of ENCs. They’ve basically betrayed their multilateral intentions and gone bilateral, using governmental muscle. Think this will be good for competition or good for shipowners in the long run? Doubt it.

It didn’t have to be like this. A principle called WEND stated that hydrographic offices would make all ENCs available through non-commercial entities called RENCs (Regional ENC coordinating centres). Today, there are two: the Primar RENC in Norway and the UK’s IC-ENC; the UKHO actually runs the latter. These non-profit entities make the full database of ENCs available to distributors.

The beauty of the RENCs is this: They provide a quality-controlled and professional channel for hydrographic offices to make charts available to the market. Without RENCs, shipowners and distributors would need to patch together dozens of agreements with individual hydrographic offices. Most hydrographic offices, distributors and owners are not prepared for the complications such a situation would create.

Thus it’s disturbing that the UKHO has quietly neglected to make hundreds of ENCs available to the RENCs. On the face of it, this is a cynical play to grab as much market share as possible, based on access to charts. Both hydrographic offices and distributors have complained that this move compromises safety and innovation. As one insider so eloquently put it: “Chart suppliers should not compete on access to charts, but on the price, the service and the value they add to delivery.”

This issue pops up frequently within the hydrographic community, most recently at Digital Ship Oslo and in the ECDIS Yahoo! group. Usually, the ENC distributor community, some of the savvier owners and operators and some hydrographic offices express a great amount of consternation; the UKHO stays mum. Then, nothing happens. It’s a fait accompli.

Why has the UKHO ventured into these murky waters? The UKHO possesses two conflicting missions, one as governmental regulator and another as market actor. Unfortunately, the latter role, which is exposed to competition, is leveraging the former, which is granted by the queen. The result bends any definition of fairness.

Anyone doubting the UKHO’s profit motives need only go to their own web-site. I quote their vision: “To become the world leader in the supply of digital hydrographic information and services.” Sounds like Google, right? But these guys are supposed to be the government…

Time will tell if the UKHO’s move blows up in their face. As more and more shipowners scrutinise this market, they will start screaming. After all, we all know what monopolies do to prices, and if there’s anyone in the world who’s price conscious it’s shipowners.

For more on the WEND principles, see the IHO web-site here.

For the IC-ENC co-operation agreement (establishing a RENC), see this page.

For an example of how the UKHO is using exclusive ENC access to win market share, see this story.

[via 59° 56' N]

Related Forum Discussion.

While we have covered eLoran before, most notably in this eLoran FAQ early last year, new headlines provide the need for revisiting the topic. In an article titled “Will Obama Kill Navigation Backup System as GPS Threatens to Fail?” Popular Mechanics tells us:

Even as a government watchdog agency warns that GPS navigation satellites could fail, the Obama administration’s proposed fiscal 2010 budget has quietly killed the nation’s backup navigation system.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report last week warning, “It is uncertain whether the Air Force will be able to acquire new satellites in time to maintain current GPS service without interruption. If not, some military operations and some civilian users could be adversely affected.” The report also notes that the current program is about $870 million over budget and the launch of its first satellite has been delayed to November 2009, almost three years late.

This GAO report comes at a bad time for the Obama administration, which cut funding for the nation’s only backup to GPS from its 2010 budget. The LORAN system, which stands for Long-Range Aids to Navigation, is a network of terrestrial transmission stations, equipped with antennas as tall as 900 feet and staffed with Coast Guard personnel.

The network has been on the verge of obsolescence because GPS has a wider range and can transmit more precise information. That’s why Peter Orszag, director of Obama’s Office of Management and Budget, in an online posting on the White House’s websitewrote the “long-range, radio-navigation system has been made obsolete by GPS.” (Full Article Link)

From its invention by Alfred Lee Loomis to assist the Navy and Air Force during WWI to the wide scale adoption of GPS in the 90′s, Loran served the navigation needs of mariners in coastal waters. While Loran-C receivers have been taken off the bridges of most merchant ships it’s replacement, GPS, suffers from enough faults that every mariner is still required by the US Coast Guard to learn both terrestrial and celestial navigation.

What is eLoran?

Enhanced LORAN, also known as eLORAN or E-LORAN, comprises an advancement in receiver design and transmission characteristics which increase the accuracy and usefulness of traditional LORAN. With reported accuracy as good as ± 8 meters, the system becomes competitive with unenhanced GPS. eLoran also includes additional pulses which can transmit auxiliary data such as DGPS corrections. eLoran receivers now use “all in view” reception, incorporating signals from all stations in range, not solely those from a single GRI, incorporating time signals and other data from up to 40 stations. These enhancements in LORAN make it adequate as a substitute for scenarios where GPS is unavailable or degraded. (Source Wikipedia)

(Find out more: gCaptain’s eLoran section)

So what are the problems with GPS?

Control

First, although other systems, like Russia’s GLONASS, the EU’s Galileo and China’s COMPASS, look to provide redundancy of satellites and control, the GPS system is wholly owned and operated by the US Military. In my career at sea I have only seen failure of the system once, while sailing in the Bay Of Bengal around the start of the Iraq War… coincidence?

Redundancy

At sea we like redundancy. All large ships carry two systems for critical operations including 2 compasses (gyroscopic and magnetic), 2 abandonment systems (Lifeboats and Liferafts) and 2 emergency communication systems (radio and INMARSAT satellite based). Currently our primary costal navigation is done via GPS with redundancy provided by fixes, either radar or visual bearings taken from a gyro compass repeater, and I hope this does not change, but as electronic data becomes further integrated in systems like Dynamic Positioning, ECDIS and AIS, safe navigation of vessels in no longer 100% in the control of the watch-stander and his trusty lookout. Should these new systems not have the redundancy of eLoran built in?

For an answer to this question you need not look any further than the offshore industry. New drillships and Semi-submersibles, operating in water depths of up to 10,000 feet, require extremely accurate positioning data to feed their dynamic positioning (DP) computers and they do not rely on GPS alone. To keep station directly above a wellhead thousands of feet with strict tolerances these vessels deploy accoustic bouys on the sea floor to confirm the GPS data. While moving ships can not lay buoys on the sea floor, do large cruise ships and shuttle tankers using the same DP computers not deserve similar redundancy?

Line Of Sight

All positioning systems are line of sight which creates problems. Celestial navigation can not be done under heavy cloud cover, terrestrial bearings are no good in fog and radar fails when a target is behind land. In the same way GPS has it’s failings. While GPS satellites are capable of transmitting signals regardless of weather conditions if the unit’s view of the sky is obstructed it can fail. A recent report (that I can’t seem to locate at the moment) even discussed how GPS receivers are getting so sensitive that they are picking up signals from satellites not in view but bounced off nearby structures. The result is a loss of accurate positioning.

Signal Strength

For various reasons the signal strength of GPS is significantly weaker than that of terrestrial radio systems. This creates the problem of GPS being easily muted anything from a foreign military anti-satellite missiles to a terrorist’s home-built system.  There are even documented cases of GPS receivers interfering with nearby units.

New Devices

Imagine a car navigation unit (maybe one that inspires a new form of ECDIS?) that works inside a parking garage? While GPS may never have this capability eLoran will. As development money is put into manufacturing small chips for this new system your next TomTom may auto-switch from GPS to eLoran. While parking garages are of little concern to mariners, with a little imagination, new systems will be developed to utilize these chips in marine systems.

Next Steps

The mariner is facing a few critical battles in the electronic navigation front. With their adoption of Web 2.0, the deployment of Rescue 21 and a myriad of other, forward thinking, initiatives the USCG is taking a leading role in the development of new technology aimed at maritime safety but, as encouraging as their work towards using new technology to keep safe is, questions still arise within the USCG on the necessity of  critical systems. You need not look further than gCaptain’s post titled “Vessel Search And Rescue – Should LRIT Replace Amver?” to realize the USCG, IMO and others are struggling with questions that seem rhetorical to the average mariner. It is our job to help guide the decisions, let our thoughts be known and avoid failures in imagination.

Let’s support the adoption of eLoran and continue dreaming of reasons for its use. Sure it is not absolutely needed to safely operate ships and competent mariners will continue to learn traditional navigation but, like GPS today, future mariners will view eLoran as a tool they couldn’t possibly live without.

eLoran Links

• eLoran 101 – Enhanced Loran FAQ
• The Case For eLoran – USCG NavCenter
• Enhanced Loran – Definition Document
• International Loran Association

Last week we were pleased to bring you google’s announcement of ocean data inclusion in Google Earth. Today we bring you an interview with the leading google earth developer of marine products, Virgil Zetterlind of EarthNC. For those unfamiliar with Virgil’s work, the company translates marine charts into vector graphics for use in Google Earth. They also assist you in overlaying additional services like AIS based vessel tracking and marine weather charts. The result is a powerfull alternative to ECS products like Coastal Explorer or TADS.

Everyone seems to know the power of google earth, how does your product unleash this power for use on the water?

Similar to needing road data to create driving directions or plan road trips, EarthNC provides the navigation context critical for planning and conducting boating trips within the Google Earth environment.  Our core datasets are based on official government charting or reputable private chart data where government data is not available.  We also incorporate extensive weather layers, ocean forecasts, and point-of-interest reference information to give boaters a comprehensive picture of the environment.

We have seen your growth in the recreational market but is your product of use for the commercial mariner?
We believe EarthNC is of use for anyone with an interest in boating – whether recreational or commercial.  The combination of Google Earth imagery with EarthNC charting provides an unprecedented 3D view of port facilities, tricky channels, and shallow waterways.

Do you know of any ships using your product now?

EarthNC is currently used by a wide variety of commercial mariners for inland and blue water applications.  We have active user Captains using EarthNC on Gulf Crew-Boats, Boat Delivery service, sail and power charters, River Boats, ICW Tow Boats, and more.  We’ve been delighted to field calls direct from some well-known ships and learn that their crew are using EarthNC.  EarthNC is used at the US Merchant Marine Academy as part of their hands-on power boat navigation instruction.

Why did you choose google as your platform?

The choice of Google Earth allows EarthNC to concentrate on the development of top-notch, nautical themed content while leveraging Google’s multi-million dollar investment in worldwide imagery (and now Bathymetry with Google Earth 5).  Google Earth also allows us (and our users) to leverage a growing community of information providers who publish content in Google’s format.

How does it compare with currently available ECS solutions?

Feedback from captains indicates that they like EarthNC’s intuitive interface via Google Earth and price-point well below other PC/Mac based charting systems.  EarthNC is not as fully featured as more expensive systems in terms of autopilot support, radar integration, or advanced routing features, but we’ve found most boaters are more interested in the improved situational awareness that EarthNC provides via the Google Earth 3D viewpoint.

We were excited by Google’s recent announcement to support hydrographic charts, who does this benefit?

Google now supports 3D bathymetry (not charts per se) and will be updating it with high resolution sonar scans as data is made available by governments and private companies.  They have also enhanced Google Earth to support custom development of ‘Ocean’ aware content.  This is an indication that Google recognizes than many uses of our waterways and the importance to protect and preserve the marine environment.

Can your product integrate with other google earth plug-ins like Live AIS feeds and marine weather chart overlay?

One strength of Google Earth is the ability to ‘layer’ in large amounts of data from disparate sources.  EarthNC offers delayed AIS feeds for the Houston Galveston area and the English Channel via data sharing partners.  We are always open to data sharing agreements for AIS, weather, or other nautical interest data.  We presently support our own Google Earth layers for NOAA Marine Forecasts, NOAA NBDC Buoy Data, NOAA Voluntary Observing Ship (VOS) Weather Reports, US Nexrad Radar, and North American Tide Predictions.  Premium subscribers also have access to animated 6-day current, wind, and wave prediction maps for the global oceans.

Are there any features you would like google to add to their product?

We hope Google continues to add improved resolution 3D Bathymetry, especially in near shore areas.  We’ve asked that they consider a ‘ocean’ mode that would remove the ocean surface images so that 3D chart overlays would be visible above the water’s surface and that they consider a different color model for shallow water depths to better convey subtle depth variations near shore.

What’s next for EarthNC?

We are working to expand our chart coverage into the Bahamas, the Sea of Cortez, Canada, Europe, and the Pacific. We recently partnered with Marinas.com to offer a Coastal Aerial Photos layer in Google Earth featuring nearly 500,000 high-resolution waterway photos from around the world – all taken within the last few years.  We are working to capture more weather and coastal observations in Google Earth such as the NOAA PORTS system and more detailed tidal/current predictions for major US ports.

____

We thank Virgil for his time and encourage you to visit EarthNC.com to view the video demonstration and download the selection of free charts.

Could it be time to dig out your old ten point dividers and loran-c charts? Probably not but the same technology behind these devices is making a comeback. HKLaw tells us:

Budget of the United States Government for Fiscal Year 2009 and related documents. Among other things, the Budget documents note enhanced LORAN (eLORAN) has been identified as the primary candidate as the national backup system for position, navigation, and timing. This budget includes funding for modernization of LORAN-C as the first step to implementation of eLORAN. Through a contracting-out arrangement, the Coast Guard will operate the LORAN-C/eLORAN system on behalf of the DHS National Protection and Programs Directorate. In addition, the budget provides $20 million in new funding for more USCG marine inspectors.

eLORAN FAQ

What is eLORAN?

Enhanced Loran is an internationally standardized positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) service for use by many modes of transport and other applications. It is the latest in the long-standing and proven series of low-frequency, LOng-RAnge Navigation (LORAN) systems and takes full advantage of 21st century technology.

eLORAN meets the accuracy, availability, integrity and continuity performance requirements for aviation non-precision instrument approaches, maritime harbor entrance and approach maneuvers, land-mobile vehicle navigation and location-based services, and is a precise source of time and frequency for applications such as telecommunications.

eLORAN is an independent, dissimilar, complement to Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). It allows GNSS users to retain the safety, security and economic benefits of GNSS, even when their satellite services are disrupted. (Source: USCG NavCen)

Why is it needed?

• e-Navigation is a potential enabler of new applications to meet emerging and future requirements for marine navigation
• e-Navigation has the potential to deliver direct benefits to users through improved operational capabilities and also to reduce Light Dues if it enables the GLAs to remove physical AtoNs
• the benefits of e-Navigation could be seriously eroded through the measures that would have to be taken to avoid prejudicing safety in the event of failure of a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) that was the sole source of input position data

Translated that means eLORAN will be able to enable new technologies like positioning devices that work indoors and it provides redundancy to gps and gallileo systems.

How Is It Different From GPS?

Post 9/11 Concerns:

“And look: the weaknesses of LORAN are so different from those of
GPS. GPS is vulnerable to interference because the distant satellites
deliver so little power to our receivers. LORAN, with its megawatt
stations and tall transmitting antennas, is at least 10,000 times harder
to jam. Then, you cut out single-point failures by using microwave
signals from satellites and low-frequency signals from LORAN. On
land, where buildings and mountains block GPS signals, LORAN
travels along the earth’s surface, deep into city centres, even into
buildings and – for aviation – down into the valleys, to ground level. And
like GPS, LORAN’s a complete navigation and timing system.” Professor David Last

eLORAN in Operation

To find out more visit the USCG Navigation Center’s eLORAN page then download their eLORAN info PDF.

Meadows said problems also cropped up in “bridge management,” the communication between the pilot, who had years of experience on the bay, and the ship’s officers, who had never navigated the bay in the Cosco Busan. All were supposed to work together and exchange information on how to successfully navigate the harbor.
“While some information was exchanged, perhaps it could be said it wasn’t a full transfer of information. It was enough for the pilot to work with the master and get the ship ready for sea,” Meadows said.

We have previously reported on bridge management also know as Bridge Team Management or BRM.

gCaptain’s BRM related articles;

• Cosco Busan – Bridge Resource Management
• Environmental Catastrophe Possible Averted – M/V Pasha Bulker
  
• Pasha Bulker Incident Report – Nearly Unbelievable
• What Went Wrong Aboard the MV Pasha Bulker? (Telstar Logistics)

The article continues;

The Cosco Busan’s radar “conked out” twice – first before departure and again as the ship was near the lighthouse on Yerba Buena Island.

Cota was forced to rely on an electronic chart display, showing the track of the vessel and its speed, plus charts of San Francisco Bay. Meadows said the pilot told him he was “not familiar” with the electronic system on the Cosco Busan. “They are all different,” Meadows said.

Cota asked Mao Cai Sun, the captain of the Cosco Busan, to point on the display to the center of the bridge span between the Delta and Echo towers on the western side of the Bay Bridge.

“The master pointed that out,” Meadows said. “In fact, several times during the trip. That’s what the pilot was heading for.”

…

“The pilot had to go along with what the master indicated on the electronic chart display was the center of the span,” Meadows said. “That turned out to be the tower instead.”

We have received email asking; Should the vessel have left without a working radar? and Did the second radar work? …unfortunately those are questions we can’t answer. You will have to wait until the NTSB investigation report is complete.

Read the full SF Chronicle article HERE.

Related Maritime Blog Posts;

Pilot Terror by Bob Couttie