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Safety Contour

The document discusses safety parameters in ECDIS, including safety depth, safety contour depth, and safety contour. It provides the following key points: - The safety depth is used to portray soundings and has no effect on alarms. The safety contour depth is used by ECDIS to select an equal or deeper depth contour as the safety contour from the ENC. - The safety contour represents the boundary between safe and shallow water. ECDIS will alarm if the vessel is predicted to cross the safety contour within a specified time. - Mariners can set the safety depth, safety contour depth, and time to alarm independently based on the vessel's draft and clearance. ECDIS will automatically select the next

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Razvan Radu
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587 views

Safety Contour

The document discusses safety parameters in ECDIS, including safety depth, safety contour depth, and safety contour. It provides the following key points: - The safety depth is used to portray soundings and has no effect on alarms. The safety contour depth is used by ECDIS to select an equal or deeper depth contour as the safety contour from the ENC. - The safety contour represents the boundary between safe and shallow water. ECDIS will alarm if the vessel is predicted to cross the safety contour within a specified time. - Mariners can set the safety depth, safety contour depth, and time to alarm independently based on the vessel's draft and clearance. ECDIS will automatically select the next

Uploaded by

Razvan Radu
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Safety parametres

Safety Depth Contour & Safety Depth


• There are two “safety contours” described in S-52.
• “Safety Contour Depth” to mean the depth value set by the mariner
• “Safety Contour” to mean the actual ENC depth contour selected by ECDIS.
• The term “Safety Depth” refers to the value set by the mariner that is
used in the portrayal of soundings and is unrelated to depth contours.
• S-52 specifies no link between the values set by the mariner for safety
depth (used by ECDIS to highlight or dim soundings shoaler or deeper
than the safety depth) and the safety contour depth (used by ECDIS to
select an equal or the next deeper depth contour as the safety
contour).
safety depth safety contour
The sole purpose of the safety depth is In contrast, the safety contour depth has several purposes,
to portray soundings either in gray for including:
deeper depths or black for shoaler • ECDIS designates a safety contour that is equal to or
depths. The safety depth value has no deeper than the safety contour depth. ECDIS makes this
affect on alarms or any other aspect of selection from the depth contours available in the ENC
ECDIS. being displayed at the ship’s position.
• IMO ECDIS Performance Standards specify that "ECDIS
OOW has flexibility in how they set the should give an alarm if the ship, within a specified time set
values for safety depth and safety by the mariner, is going to cross the safety contour."
contour depth in ECDIS. • The safety contour demarks the boundary between “safe-
1. Safety Depth is set to the same value water” and shallow water with an extra wide isoline.
set for the Safety Contour Depth • Deep-water and shallow-water tints are shown on the
2. Safety Depth is set shoaler than the respective sides of the safety contour (either in two or four
value set for the Safety Contour Depth shades)
3. Safety Depth is set deeper than the • The option to “show isolated dangers” will display isolated
value set for the Safety Contour Depth dangers on the shoaler side of the safety contour (isolated
dangers are always shown on the “safe-water” side).
Soundings
• ECDIS enables mariners to set their own-ship “safety depth.”
• If no depth is set, ECDIS sets the value to 30m.
• Soundings equal to or shoaler than the safety depth are shown in black;
• deeper soundings are displayed in a less conspicuous gray.
• Fractional values are shown with subscript numbers of the same size.

Depth Contours & Depth Areas


• Depth contours in ECDIS are portrayed with a thin gray line.
• Each pair of adjacent depth contours is used to create depth area features. These are used by ECDIS to tint different depth
levels and to initiate alarms when a ship is headed into unsafe water.

Depth Contour Labels


• ECDIS depth contour labels are not centered and oriented along isolines as they appear on paper charts. They are displayed
upright and may appear either on or next to the contour lines that they describe.
• The labels are black and the same size as soundings, but the labels have a light “halo” to set them apart. The graphic to the left
shows depth labels and soundings both deeper and shoaler than the safety depth.
• Note that depths on NOAA paper charts and ENCs are usually compiled in fathoms and feet. Because ECDIS displays depths in
meters, soundings and contour lines often show fractional meter values. The “own-ship safety contour” (described below) is
always displayed, but mariners may choose to have all other depth contours turned off.
Safety Contour
• ECDIS uses a “safety contour” value to show an extra thick line for the depth contour that separates “safe
water” from shoaler areas. If the mariner does not set an own-ship safety contour value, ECDIS sets the value to
30m. If the ENC being displayed does not have a contour line equal to the safety contour depth value set by the
mariner, then ECDIS sets the next deeper contour as the safety contour. Depending on the contour intervals
used on individual ENCs, ECDIS may set different safety contours as a ship transits from one ENC to another.
ECDIS will initiate an alarm if the ship’s future track will cross the safety contour within a specified time set by
the mariner.

Two or Four Tints for Shading Depth Areas


• ECDIS tints all depth areas beyond the (green tinted) foreshore in either one of two or one of four shades of
blue. This is similar to the convention used for paper charts, but the depths used to change from one tint to
another are based on the safety contour and thus “customized” for each ship. If the mariner chooses two
shades to be displayed, water deeper than the safety contour is shown in an off-white color, water shoaler than
the safety contour is tinted blue.
The image presents different water depth limitations when navigating with an ENC in ECDIS.
Mariners can set an advance time warning to indicate when the vessel is approaching the set
limits. The following limits can be set:

Safety depth:
The depth defined by the mariner, e.g. the ship's draft
plus underkeel clearance, to be used by the ECDIS to
emphasize soundings on the display equal to or less
than this value.

Safety contour:
The contour related to the own ship selected by the
mariner from the contours provided for in the SENC, to
be used by ECDIS to distinguish on the display
between the safe and the unsafe water, and for
generating anti-grounding alarm.

If an ENC does not offer a depth for the selected water depth, the next deeper option will be
selected instead.
Isolated
danger
symbol
Incorrect Deep Contour and Shallow Contour Following settings are defined to generate an
settings may cause problems with alarms based on appropriate alarm and a most convenient chart
those settings. Additionally, the chart presentation presentation.
of the ECDIS system is in that case insufficient.   
Draught: 12 m
Deep Contour: 25 m
Safety Contour: 15 m
Shallow Water: 10 m

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