Navtor Works on Simplified ENC Distribution
Newly-established e-navigation company Navtor, Norway, has signed a distribution agreement with Primar for the supply of official electronic charts (ENC) for the global professional maritime market. Navtor is a part of the Stavanger-based company Smedvig. Navtor marketing & communications manager, Willy Zeiler, announced that their ENC service is due to launch in the first quarter of 2012.
The company aims to simplify ordering, licensing, updating and, importantly, administration of the ENC chart portfolio. Up to now, the company sees that the market has been slow to begin using ENC, primarily due to today's cumbersome solutions.
As carriage requirements for ENCs move towards an official IMO mandate, Smedvig saw the opportunity to establish an e-navigation company to provide electronic navigation services for the distribution and updating of electronic charts and related maritime information. In Egersund, a coastal town south of Stavanger well known for its maritime electronic industry, Smedvig established NAVTOR together with experienced personnel from the maritime industry, all with extensive experience in electronic chart production and distribution.
The ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information System) will be the central navigation console aboard ships once the IMO mandate comes into force from July 2012. ECDIS manufacturers, data and information providers will meet the growing demand from the maritime industry and NAVTOR will join forces with these players to jointly develop and supply a fully automated cost-effective, user-friendly electronic maritime navigation services.
