CALL FOR APPROVAL OF A NEW EDITION OF IHO PUBLICATION S-58 ENC VALIDATION CHECKS

THIS CIRCULAR LETTER REQUIRES YOU TO VOTE IHO File No. S3/8151/S-58 CIRCULAR LETTER 21/2017 15 February 2017 CALL FOR APPROVAL OF A NEW EDITION OF IHO PUBLICATION S-58 ENC VALIDATION CHECKS References: A. 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; B. IHO CL08/2015 dated 16 January - Implementation date for Edition 5.0.0 of the IHO Standard S-58 - ENC Validation Checks; C. IHO CL18/2015 dated 26 February - Cancellation of the Vote on the Implementation Date for Edition 5.0.0 of the IHO Standard S-58 - ENC Validation Checks; D. IHO CL 08/2017 dated 25 January - Outcome of the eighth meeting of the Hydrographic Services and Standards Committee (HSSC) 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 announced in Reference A. This new Edition introduced the new concept of critical error and included associated “critical” (C) checks which, if not rectified, may cause a failure in an ECDIS, or at least, may severely compromise ECDIS performance. 2. Reference B sought the approval of Member States for 1 January 2016 to be the implementation date for Edition 5.0.0 of S-58. After that implementation date, Edition 4.2.0 of S-58 would be retired and S-58 Edition 5.0.0 would be effective and require that ENC data must not contain any critical error. However, as a result of advice from the Chair of the ENC Standards Maintenance Working Group (ENCWG) that a number of inconsistencies, grammatical omissions and some logic errors had been identified in Edition 5.0.0, the vote on the implementation date for S-58 Edition 5.0.0 was cancelled through Reference C. 3. Following further advice that S-58 would benefit from a full review of its language and syntax to make the standard more consistent with other international standards, including ISO terms for standard spatial operators and geometric operator relationships, the ENCWG was tasked to conduct a thorough review of the entire document. 4. At its 8th meeting in November 2016, the Hydrographic Services and Standards Committee (HSSC) endorsed the changes to Edition 5.0.0 of S-58 proposed by the ENCWG and tasked the working group to finalize a draft new Edition 6.0.0 and forward it to the IHO Secretariat for circulation to IHO Member States, for their consideration and approval (see Reference D - action HSSC8/24). 5. The proposed new Edition 6.0.0 is now available on the IHO website at: www.iho.int > Standards & Publications > Draft Publications Awaiting Approval by Member States (English version only). Due to the extensive re-drafting of the publication, a “red line” version indicating the differences between the proposed new version of the standard and the existing version is not available. Mapping our Seas, Oceans and Waterways - more important than ever 6. The main changes introduced in the proposed new Edition 6.0.0 are summarized in Annex A (in English only). As indicated in paragraph 1.3 of the draft, it is proposed that the new Edition shall enter into force 12 months after its adoption by Member States. On that date S-58 Edition 6.0.0 will replace Edition 5.0.0 which will be retired and no longer be valid. Accordingly, from that date: - all new ENCs must comply with Edition 6.0.0; - all ENC updates, new editions or re-issued ENCs must include any corrections required to ensure that the updated ENC comply with Edition 6.0.0. 7. Member States are requested to take into account the endorsement of the HSSC and to consider the adoption of the proposed edition 6.0.0 of S-58 by providing their reply on the Voting Form in Annex B, at their earliest convenience and no later than 15 April 2017. On behalf of the Secretary-General Yours sincerely, Gilles BESSERO Director Annexes: A. Main changes introduced in the proposed Edition 6.0.0 of S-58 (in English only) B. Voting Form 2  Annex A to IHO CL 21/2017 Main changes introduced in the proposed Edition 6.0.0 of S-58 Addition of Section 2 providing clearer definitions and examples of the spatial operators used within the standard. These align with ISO 19125-1:2004. Consistency of language used to describe the checks. The main changes are as follows: Replace phrase ‘Objects of type OBJNAM’ with ‘For all OBJNAM feature objects’; Replace phrase ‘For each object not of type’ with ‘For each feature object (excluding ….)’; Replace phrase ‘of type area/line/point’ with ‘of geometric primitive area/line/point’; Standardise the use of text in brackets; Remove all existing text shown as “strike through” (xxx) that indicated that a check had been removed in a previous Edition of S-58 Where checks have been removed or renumbered; retain the original check number and add text “Check removed” or “Check renumbered to nnnn”; Checks 1000 – 1005 reinserted and marked as “Check removed”; Checks 1000 – 1018b renumbered starting at 1006, brackets around old check number removed. New Checks added: 517f, 575, 1807 and 1809. Existing checks split for simplification and clarity: Edition 5.0.0 Check No. Edition 6.0.0 Check No. 20 20a and 20b 61a 61a and 61c 67 67a and 67b 543 543a, 543b, 543c, 543d, 543e and 543f 1500 1500a and 1500b 1665 1665a and 1665b 1685 1685a and 1685b 1772 1772a and 1772b 1789 1789a and 1789b 1791 1791a and 1791b Checks removed due to duplication/redundancy: 25b, 70a, 70b, 506, 1648, 1662. A-1  Annex B to IHO CL 21/2017 IHO File N° S3/8151/S-58 S-58 - ENC VALIDATION CHECKS Approval of Edition 6.0.0 Voting Form (to be returned to the IHO Secretariat by 15 April 2017) E-mail: [email protected] - Fax: +377 93 10 81 40 Note: The boxes will expand as you type your answers. Member State: Contact: E-mail: Do you approve the adoption of the proposed Edition 6.0.0 of S-58 (tick the appropriate box)? YES NO If you answer ‘NO’, please explain your reasons in the comment section below. Comments: Do you agree that the proposed Edition 6.0.0 should enter into force twelve months after its adoption by IHO Member States and edition 5.0.0 be retired at the same time (tick the appropriate box)? YES NO If you answer ‘NO’, please propose another date of entry into force: Proposed date of entry into force: Signature : Date : B-1 Dear Hydrographer, Please find attached herewith : CL 21/2017 : CALL FOR APPROVAL OF A NEW EDITION OF IHO PUBLICATION S-58 ENC VALIDATION CHECKS Yours sincerely, IHO M.MOLLET