• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.146-156
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• 2018

The ship's chart system was changed from the use of paper chart to the ENC (Electronic Navigational Chart) using ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information System). The introduction of ENC in ships is necessary for ship automation and for the digitalizing of data and integration of information, but unexpected various problems have occurred and are posing a great threat to safe navigation in the transitional period when the new system has been applied to the sea. In this paper, to assess whether ECDIS contributes to the safety of navigation for its intended purposes as new navigation equipment, a usability test of ECDIS was conducted on masters and crew who have used ECDIS on ocean-going vessels. The result was verified with a paired sample T-test, and it was significantly analyzed with the effectiveness of a simplified task; cost efficiency was decreased since ECDIS was used. By analyzing 'MSC.1/Circ.1503 ECDIS - Guidance for good practice', we found that the effects of the maintenance of ECDIS software, operating anomalies identified within ECDIS, differences between raster chart display system (RCDS) and ECDIS, and matters of identification were compounded by the overlapping information on the safety of ships. The anomalies were also grouped according to their characteristics, and we proposed suitable improvements accordingly. The reason for the reduction in efficiency in the usability test was that the problems with ECDIS were intended to be solved only with the careful use of navigational officers who did not have systematic solutions. To solve these problems, the maintenance of software, the improvement of ECDIS anomalies, the reliable ENC issuance including the global oceans, and S-mode development are a priority.