PC Maritime reports that it has added the universal route format RTZ to its ECDIS system, to provide ship operators with the ability to share routes across their fleets regardless of the ECDIS type on board, in line with IMO’s e-navigation strategy.
The RTZ format allows routes created in PC Maritime’s ECDIS to be transferred to other makes of ECDIS and to other equipment such as radar, vessel tracking systems, integrated bridges, back-of-bridge planning applications, and shore-based planning tools.
This provides vessel operators with a greater capability to standardise across different platforms, with new services already being developed around the new format, such as the Norwegian Coastal Administration’s digital route service where vessels can download recommended, quality-assured routes free of charge to their ECDIS.
Also included in PC Maritime’s latest ECDIS version is Lightweight Ethernet compatibility in accordance with IEC61162:450, a standard used to replace serial port communication on marine instruments, providing multiple talker/receiver pathways via a single network cable instead of several individual serial cables to and from instruments.
Customers with service contracts will receive the upgrade free of charge, the company says.
