New structure of Sailing Directions

Charts, Sailing Directions (SDs) and other nautical publications constitute an information unit for the mariner. All relevant charts and publications together provide the mariner with an overview of a particular sea area. SDs are publications for voyage planning rather than for direct navigation. These days, the Electronic Chart Display Information System (ECDIS) is on the way to become a digital information system, which should comprise all information relevant for the mariner. Therefore, the integration of Sailing Directions information into the present ECDIS is necessary to obtain a comprehensive ECDIS, which makes conventional SDs and other publications superfluous.