S-100 for ECDIS 2.0
Just like Nintendo Switch 2, the maritime industry is developing a new version of a well-used electronic device on the bridge. For the past decade and a half, seafarers have become familiar with ECDIS for safer ship navigation using electronic data instead of charts.
Over the next few years, new versions of these electronic chart display and information systems will become available for retrofits, upgrades and newbuilds, and if the manufacturers get their way, these will become mandatory carriage requirements under IMO.
ECDIS is already mandatory under IMO regulations for fleets of ships and is increasingly installed on workboats, providing mariners with accurate voyage plans and positioning information. They use electronic navigational charts (ENCs) created using the S-57 data format by hydrographic offices and have been updated and improved over the years.
But the S-100 suite of data is being developed and tested for a new generation of ECDIS that will be much more immersive. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) is co-ordinating testing S-100 in ECDIS, promising greater data definition and visibility of seabed structures and sea conditions.
In 2026, the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) and French Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service will undertake sea trials of six interoperable S-100 data layers –S-101 for ENCs, bathymetric surface (S-102), water levels (S-104), surface currents (S-111), navigational warnings (S-124) and a catalogue of nautical products (S-128) – across multiple ECDIS units in live navigation scenarios.
A timeline for development will see S-100 layers further tested in 2026 by other hydrographic offices and ECDIS manufacturers, with commercial products becoming available in 2027-28, followed by IMO considerations and updates to ECDIS performance standards possibly as early as 2029.
But the biggest question is whether the shipping industry will really benefit from ECDIS 2.0, or is S-100 more for niche applications in defence, passenger shipping and maritime pilotage?
Remote control and autonomous ships
AI is enabling autonomous navigation through hazard detection and avoidance, preventing collisions, using ECDIS for voyage information, and the automatic identification system (AIS) to identify vessels to avoid.
Sensor fusion involving radar, lidar, camera streams and enhanced visuals has resulted in digital watchkeepers being installed on fleets of ships to enhance situational awareness for bridge teams.
Industry innovators have taken all these technologies further to introduce the first remotely operated and autonomous vessels (USVs). The first remote operations centres are demonstrating the benefits of commanding vessels in more applications and beyond the horzon.
Norway has multiple unmanned vessels transporting cargo, vehicles and passengers on shortsea routes. Offshore vessel owners are building, testing and commercialising unmanned assets for seabed surveys and deploying remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) for subsea inspections.
Reach Subsea gained approval to deploy its first Reach Remote uncrewed ROV deployment vessel without supervision from a manned ship in Norway in Q4 2025. Its second started testing in Australia and two more have been ordered.
Fugro is also well-advanced in deploying USVs for offshore surveys, and other owners have ordered remotely operated vessels.
2026 will be the year the adoption of remotely piloted USVs accelerates. It will not take many more years before an uncrewed merchant ship completes its first trans-oceanic voyage.
Ports test 6G communications
Communications in ports need to be fast, reliable and available everywhere without black spots or coverage gaps. With greater levels of automation and remotely controlled equipment, and rising demand from ships docking in these logistic hubs, comes the need for more bandwidth and availability at lower costs.
Port have installed 4G, long-term evolution and 5G mobile phone networks to provide this ubiquitous available coverage and low-cost connectivity, but as demand rises, constraints become more evident.
Having overlapping wide area networks of communications enables more users to connect and minimises issues when connectivity is critical, for example in remotely controlling terminal machinery and harbour craft.
In the UK, the Port of Tyne has started testing 6G with BT as it strives to become a connectivity hub.
Other telecommunications companies and research institutes in Europe, China, Japan and the US are trialling higher frequency bands, such as 6 GHz, to understand how they can improve mobile data throughput, uplink speeds and overall network capacity.
Ports around the world, such as in Singapore, are trialling 6G to become their own communication hubs, and connectivity experts expect the commercial rollout of 6G from around 2030.
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