Cosco Busan

Although the system was capable of performing as an electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS), it was an ECS rather than a certified ECDIS because of the way it was configured and the type of electronic charts that were being used on board the Cosco Busan. As an ECS, the system was permitted to be used as a navigation aid only; paper charts were required for primary navigatio

Neither the master nor any other bridge officer took full advantage of the capabilities of the electronic chart system. An effective response by the master to the question from the pilot about the “red triangles” would have been to use the chart system’s query function to call up data about the buoys. Such data may have alerted the pilot, even in his diminished cognitive state, that the red triangles marked an obstacle to be avoided, not a target to be aimed for. The fact that the master did not avail himself of this chart function suggests either that he had not been adequately trained in its use or that he had not been provided sufficient time to fully  familiarize himself with its functionality.

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Cosco Busan (February 2009)