Navigating the future: Three expert views on e‑Navigation and NavStation’s role
- Apr 22
- 3 min read
Who better to give advice on how to get the most value from NavStation than Timo Essers, our very own e-Navigation Director?
1. My first piece of advice is to treat NavStation as a trusted system and trust the technology.
It’s natural to feel some scepticism when a software platform automates tasks that were traditionally handled by humans. People often wonder whether a system can deliver the same level of accuracy and reliability as a navigator.
What users can be confident in is that the accuracy, level of detail, and consistency produced by the software, combined with its ability to instantly derive data from databases, charts, and required publications, simply cannot be matched by a human being working alone.
We already place a great deal of trust in ECDIS (in many cases, perhaps even too much trust). NavStation is built on the same underlying technologies as ECDIS, but it is not restricted by the same limitations. That is a key advantage.
Our goal with NavStation is to bridge the gaps and address some of the shortcomings of ECDIS by giving navigators more context, more validation, and more decision support. If you trust ECDIS, you can certainly trust NavStation.
NavStation is designed to provide everything the navigator needs in one place. Of course, the interpretation of the information remains a human responsibility, but we ensure that all relevant data is presented clearly and reliably to support safe and efficient voyage execution.
2. My second piece of advice is: don’t overthink it and don’t overcomplicate things.
We often see shipping companies adding layers of complexity where none are needed. It’s a very human instinct, but it rarely leads to better outcomes.
A good analogy is the classic game where you whisper a message around a circle. By the time it reaches the last person, the message has usually changed completely. The same thing happens with guidance and regulations. They are often written in a very generic way, and after multiple interpretations, the result can look very different from the original intent.
Let’s be honest: maritime regulations and guidance are not always easy to understand. That’s exactly why my advice is to let us do that work for you.
Everyone involved in developing our navigation products has a very solid maritime background, collectively well over 100 years of seagoing experience, and, just as importantly, we bring together diverse competencies. Within our product teams we have master mariners, nautical lecturers and researchers, former marine superintendents, and specialists from the OEM ECDIS industry. When you combine that experience with talented software engineers and whizz kids, you get something powerful!
We know shipping companies invest significant time and effort into building safe management procedures and quality management systems. Whether you operate tankers and follow SIRE 2.0 and TMSA, or you’re in dry bulk and follow RightShip RISQ 3.2 or the ICS Bridge Procedures Guide, all this guidance is being interpreted by your counterparts across the industry as well.
What we do is bring all that knowledge together, not just from working closely with our customers, but also through dialogue with industry organisations and counterparts across the sector. We then translate those requirements into a consistent, digital solution.
There’s also a lot of tunnel vision in the industry. We tend to look only at what we have to comply with. But because NAVTOR serves all segments of the maritime industry, we continuously absorb best practices from different sectors. And trust me, there’s a lot we can learn from each other.
Our aim is to bring all that collective knowledge into one platform, so navigators can focus on safe and efficient operations, without unnecessary complexity.
3. My third piece of advice is that change may be easier than you expect.
We all know that change management is often the biggest challenge. We recognise that asking customers to adopt a solution that forces them to abandon procedures built through years of hard work is a very poor starting point.
That’s why NavStation is designed to absorb what you’ve already established, rather than replace it. The system is flexible enough to build on your existing practices, while at the same time giving you more than you likely have in place today.
This ties back to my earlier point about how we consolidate knowledge and best practices from across the maritime industry. By bringing insights from different segments together, we help you benefit from collective experience, without forcing disruptive change.
We often say that we can talk about this all day, but the proof is in the pudding. NavStation is genuinely easy to adopt and just as easy to adapt to your current way of working.
So, my advice is simple: don’t just read about it, have a look at it. See how easily it fits into what you already do.
