Theme: Implementation in the Asia-Pacific region

 18 – 20 June 2017

 Lotte Hotel, Jeju Island, Republic of Korea

Organized by the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and supported by IALA and the Danish Maritime Authority, the e-Navigation Underway Asia-Pacific Conference will focus on the harmonized implementation of e-navigation in the Asia-Pacific region, in the interests of enhanced safety of navigation, maritime security and protection of the marine environment. It will highlight, in particular, technologies to provide e-navigation services for non-SOLAS ships, the implementation of Maritime Service Portfolios (MSPs) and supporting infrastructure, regional coordination and collaboration, and cooperation with IALA to develop training programmes.

Details on CONFERENCE REPORT

The first e-navigation Underway Asia-Pacific conference was held from 18th to 20th June, 2017 at Lotte Hotel, Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. It was organised by the IALA (International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities), DMA (Danish Maritime Authority) and MOF (Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries). The conference was attended by 245 delegates, representing 25 countries and 11 APHoMSA (Asia-Pacific Heads of Maritime Safety Agencies) members. The associated exhibition attracted 6 exhibitors, displaying the latest developments in e-navigation and the IALA conference 2018. 

The Conference focused on technical aspects of providing enavigation services, not only for SOLAS but also for non-SOLAS ships, on further developing global test bed cooperation for field testing of newly developed e-navigation technologies, and on seeking capacity-building and regional cooperation for the implementation of e-navigation in the Asia-Pacific Region.

The conference agreed the following five highlights: 

1. It is desirable to strengthen global e-navigation testbed initiatives to facilitate implementing the IMO Strategy Implementation Plan (SIP). This work should be based on harmonised standards, a common communication framework and human centered design to ensure interoperability and usability.

2. Web based solutions such as ArcticWeb, BalticWeb and a future Asia-PacificWeb could be a means of accessing enavigation services at an early stage.

3. MSPs should be scalable to include non-SOLAS ships. This might include developing connectivity between Non-SOLAS and SOLAS ships, customised e-navigation services and onboard e-navigation capable platforms for Non-SOLAS ships. 

4. It is important for all relevant stake-holders to contribute to the activities of the IMO-IHO Harmonisation Group on Data Modeling (HGDM), which will work on the development of guidance on definition and harmonisation of the format and structure of e-navigation Maritime Service Portfolios (MSP).

5. It is essential to develop an e-navigation technical cooperation program for developing countries which includes training and capacity building.