S-100 gains momentum — what’s driving adoption, and what’s still missing

Momentum for S-100 is increasing 

More work needs to be done for S-100 to be the global phenomenon it is designed to be, but the fundamentals are already in place. The people behind the data products and the software tools are working hard to fuel the roll-out of enhanced navigational functionality.

“S‑100 is no longer theoretical. It’s arriving — unevenly, with complexity — but with real momentum,” said Penny Haire, Tidetech’s CEO.

“There’s a recognition by the hydrographic offices and the International Maritime Organization that they need to move into the 21st Century, really augment the information already available and then present it to the mariner and other users in a unified way.”

Ports need better under keel clearance data, ECDIS producers need to meet compliance deadlines and hydrographic offices need to manage the dissemination of S-100 data sets.

Haire says Tidetech is ready with solutions. The company provides high resolution metocean data from the world’s foremost ocean scientists — its data is already used by thousands of ships worldwide to save fuel and reduce emissions. Customers include major shipping lines, hydrographic offices, weather routing companies and vessel efficiency software and service providers.

With S-100, Tidetech is already performing an indispensable role, supporting trials and training exercises and ready now to provide world-leading accuracy in water level and surface current data that will enhance the accuracy and safety of both SOLAS and non-SOLAS vessel navigation.  

“Our job is to turn science into something you can use on the bridge of a ship, in a port’s planning software or in your routing model,” Haire said.

Challenges ahead

Ed Kuwalek, chief technology officer at geospatial solutions provider IIC Technologies, sees a bright future ahead as S-100 becomes operational with more data. The focus going forward will be on getting all the players fully behind the development.

“Within the S-57 electronic navigational chart world, there is currently about 30,000 cells that together provide global bathymetric coverage,” Kuwalek said.

“For S-100, we probably have less than five percent of that coverage available right now, and then we need all the overlays like the high-resolution bathymetry, navigational warnings, surface currents and other information.”

Hydrographic offices are considering the resources they have available as they move forward. Many already outsource their S-57 chart work, and S-100 will add another responsibility – which may again be outsourced.

Kuwalek said a lot of people will need training to ensure the smooth implementation of S-100, but he is optimistic about industry developments.

“We’ve been visiting customers and attending conferences. Five or six years ago, you would see one standard S-100 slide in every presentation. There was very little awareness, but now, the topics are, how do you encode S-104 and what’s your perception of time slices every 20 minutes versus every two hours? So, people are diving into operational topics at conferences rather than keeping it at very high level, and that tells me the fundamental information has been properly disseminated.”

S-100 version 5.2 is intended for SOLAS navigation applications. S-100 version 6 is intended for global consumption beyond the 100,000 SOLAS-class vessels to the millions of registered boats around the world.

David Crossman, managing director Oceania at IIC Technologies, points out how both SOLAS and non-SOLAS vessel navigation will benefit from better unification of data from multiple sources than is possible with S-57. Under S-100, expanded producer codes will be used to ensure that navigators know where different data sets have come from, as the S-100 framework will be able to seamlessly integrate port, hydrographic office and other third-party data sets such as those developed by local yachting clubs.

“There are many data sets that could provide enormous benefit to mariners, such as ocean model data, environmental feeds, and real-time observations, however they generally sit outside traditional hydrographic holdings,” Crossman said.

“S-100 unlocks the ability to integrate these wider sources  into a single, approved, interoperable product, giving end users a level of situational awareness that simply wasn’t possible before.”

“We’ve got disparate sources of unofficial information being used to best effect wherever possible. S-100 will bring all of this data in real time, with national authority approval, into one place, fully interoperable.”

S-104 and S-111 ready to go

Tidetech’s S-100-ready products — namely S-104 water levels and S-111 surface currents — are designed to integrate with ECDIS and navigation software that support S-100 or equivalent data feeds. They can work through pilotage tools and portable pilot units (PPUs) in S-100 or vendor specific formats and feed port call and decision support systems. Tidetech handles the model configuration, validation and packaging for its customers.

The adoption of S-100 functionality and datasets offers mariners opportunities for fuel savings, reduced emissions, improved just-in-time logistics, virtual arrival, scheduling, safety, and enhanced passenger comfort. 

“We’re not a data company in the abstract. We’re here to help people make better decisions at sea — whether they’re racing a yacht, piloting a ship, or managing emissions across a fleet,” Haire said.