ENC updates and permits

What you do on the bridge

1. Load the new permits
2. Apply the updates
3. Chart status report

The oral questions, and what a good answer covers

The key points are in our own words. In the course, these questions come once you have done the job.

1. How do you know the ENCs on your ECDIS are up to date?Often asked

   A good answer covers:

   • Check each cell's edition and the last update applied against the latest available, from the weekly update and the chart agent's list
   • Check permits are in date for every cell needed, for the whole voyage
   • Make a chart status report and check it, and record updates in the chart log
   • Check the updates were applied properly: review the changed features on the chart
   • Check temporary and preliminary notices and navigational warnings are on the chart, as manual updates or notes if needed

   Show me on the bridgeThe ECDIS Charts tab: one cell behind, one permit expired, one about to expire.

2. What is an ENC permit, and what happens when one expires?Often asked

   A good answer covers:

   • ENCs are encrypted; the permit is the key that lets this ECDIS decrypt and display a cell, for a set period
   • Permits come from the chart agent and are loaded on the ECDIS, usually as a permit file
   • An out-of-date cell does not meet the carriage requirement and should not be relied on
   • Check expiry dates before sailing, cover the whole voyage, and renew in good time
3. You find a cell with an expired permit and an update waiting. What do you do, and in what order?

   A good answer covers:

   • Load the new permits first, or the update cannot be applied to that cell
   • Then apply the updates, and check every cell has taken them
   • Review the changes on the chart for the area of the passage
   • Make and keep a chart status report, and tell the master if anything needed for the passage is missing

How the lesson runs

The tutor's narration from the lesson, step by step. On the bridge, each control lights up as it is named.

1. Brief

   We sail this afternoon. Before the passage plan goes to the master, I want to know the electronic charts are up to date.

   The paper charts have their correction log. On the ECDIS, it is the chart manager: editions, updates and permits, cell by cell.

2. Read the holdings

   On the ECDIS, open the Charts tab. Each line is a cell: its band, its edition, the update applied, and its permit.

   Look at the approach cell: update three, and five are out. And the harbour cell's permit ran out two days ago. The coastal one goes in eighteen days.

3. Load the new permits

   Permits first. With the harbour permit expired, that cell can't take its update. Load the new permit file from the chart agent.

4. Apply the updates

   Now apply the updates, and check every cell has come up to the latest.

5. Chart status report

   Last, make a chart status report. It goes with the passage plan, so the master can see the folio is up to date.

6. Before every passage

   On a real ECDIS you'd also review what each update changed on your route, and check the temporary notices and warnings are on the chart.

   And check the permits cover the whole voyage, not just today.

The rules and guidance behind it

• MGN 379 (M+F) Amendment 1: use of electronic navigational aids