THIS CIRCULAR LETTER REQUIRES YOU TO VOTE
IHB File N° S3/8151/ENCWG
CIRCULAR LETTER 08/2015
16 January 2015
IMPLEMENTATION DATE FOR EDITION 5.0.0 OF THE IHO STANDARD
S-58 – ENC VALIDATION CHECKS
References:
A. IHO CL 18/2014 dated 11 February – Approval of New Editions of IHO Publications: S-57,
Appendix B.1, Annex A – Use of the Object Catalogue; S-58 – ENC Validation Checks; S-57
Supplement No 3
B. IHO CL 46/2014 dated 17 June – S-57, Appendix B.1, Annex A – Use of the Object Catalogue;
S-58 – ENC Validation Checks; S-57 Supplement No 3
C. IHO CL 07/2015 dated 16 January - Outcome of the 6th Meeting of the Hydrographic Services
and Standards Committee (HSSC-6)
Dear Hydrographer,
1. The adoption by the IHO Member States of Edition 5.0.0, of the IHO Standard S-58 - ENC
Validation Checks was proposed by Reference A and announced by Reference B. This new Edition
introduces the new concept of critical error and includes associated “critical” (C) checks which, if not
satisfied, may cause a failure in an ECDIS, or at least severely compromise ECDIS performance.
2. Reference A explained that satisfying the critical checks would not be mandatory for ENC
producers until validation software conforming to edition 5.0.0 was available. Reference A also
indicated that an implementation date when the checks would become mandatory would be announced
in due course by IHO Circular Letter. After that implementation date, Edition 4.2.0 would be retired
and only S-58 Edition 5.0.0 would be fully in force and would require that ENC data must not contain
any critical (C) error.
3. At its 6th meeting held in November 2014 (reported in Reference C), the Hydrographic Services
and Standards Committee (HSSC) considered the necessity of including all appropriate ENC updates
in ER profiles (including those affecting existing ENCs), in order to make updated ENCs compliant
with Edition 5.0.0 of S-58.
4. The following provisions will be applicable from the date of mandatory use of Edition 5.0.0 of
S-58:
- all new ENCs published from that date must comply with Edition 5.0.0;
- all ENC updates, new editions or re-issued ENCs published from that date must include any
corrections required to ensure that the updated ENC comply with Edition 5.0.0.
5. Based on the information provided by some developers of validation software, the HSSC
considered that validation software compliant with Edition 5.0.0 of S-58 would be available in 2015
and therefore considered that 1 January 2016 should be the target date for the mandatory use of
Edition 5.0.0 of S-58, provided that there is no major objection from the ENC producers nor from the
Regional ENC Coordination Centres (RENCs).
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6. In accordance with the instructions and recommendations of the HSSC (action HSSC6/14
refers), the Directing Committee is now seeking the approval of Member States to agree on 1 January
2016 as the implementation date for Edition 5.0.0 of S-58, from which time all ENCs issued, updated
or re-issued must be fully compliant with Edition 5.0.0 of S-58.
7. As RENCs are involved in ENC quality and validation checks, they are also invited to confirm
their agreement to the implementation date of 1 January 2016.
8. IHO Member States and the RENCs are requested to indicate their position by returning the
Voting Form, provided in Annex A, by 15 March 2015.
On behalf of the Directing Committee
Yours sincerely,
Gilles BESSERO
Director
Annex A: Voting Form
______
Distribution:
- IHO Member States
- IC-ENC
- Primar
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Annex A to IHO CL 08/2015
IHB File N° S3/8151/ENCWG
VOTING FORM
(to be returned to the IHB by 15 March 2015
E-mail:
[email protected] - Fax: +377 93 10 81 40)
Member State:
or
RENC:
Contact: E-mail:
IMPLEMENTATION OF EDITION 5.0.0 OF S-58 – ENC VALIDATION CHECKS
Do you agree that the implementation date for Edition 5.0.0 of S-58 should be 1 January 2016,
from which time all the ENCs issued, updated or re-issued under your responsibility will be
fully compliant with Edition 5.0.0 of S-58?
YES NO
Comments (including a list of any potential implementation issues) (if required)
Date: ………………………………………… Signature: ……………………………………………
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