Enhancing navigational safety on limiting routes of inland waterways with 3D electronic navigational charts

The review study focuses on piloting vessels on inland waterways that presents persistent challenges due to the influence of variable external factors on vessel passage. Under such conditions, a navigator must possess a clear understanding of the vessel's present state and anticipate its behavior over a predictive time horizon. Therefore, expertise in ship handling is critically important not only for navigating particularly challenging routes but also for routes where extremely low water levels necessitate a reduction in the ship’s maximum draught and require minimal ship speed. Routes affected by low water levels, which require a reduction of the permitted draught, are considered limiting routes. These routes, due to their length, can include sections that are difficult to navigate. Extremely low water levels, coupled with unpredictable currents and winds, can amplify the influence of external factors on a vessel. A navigator's thorough assessment of prevailing navigation conditions influenced by external factors is paramount for ensuring the navigational safety of the voyage. A potentially transformative approach to enhance navigational safety is the use of 3D electronic navigational charts (ENCs). Successfully performing essential navigation duties on limiting inland waterways requires proper assessment of modern methods of electronic chart use, and potentially modifying existing methods to perform specific navigation tasks in new ways.