Request users of Digital Route Service to give feedback

As of June 15, 2020, a total of 395 digital sailing routes are available from the Oslofjord to Rørvik in northern Norway.

“By the end of the year, the service will be available nationwide with routes up to the Russian border in the north, and will also include routes for Svalbard. To ensure that the service meets user needs, we encourage mariners to give us feedback on the service through a survey,” says Senior Engineer John Morten Klingsheim in the Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA).

Fill out the survey here

Contributes to safer and smarter shipping

Via routeinfo.no, anyone planning to call ports from the Oslofjord to Rørvik in Trøndelag can download quality assured sailing routes directly into their on-board chart systems. The free of charge service that aims to contribute to safer and smarter shipping.

In addition to sailing routes, routeinfo.no provides route information relevant to specific routes – such as sailing conditions and local regulations for inbound voyages and arrival. The routes are quality-assured by NCA nautical personnel for vessels up to 150 metres in length and 9 meters in draught.

A risk-reducing measure

“By providing quality assured sailing routes we make it easier for vessels to use a safer route option, thereby reducing the risk of unwanted incidents," says Klingsheim.

“It is important to stress that the service does not replace the mariners need to validate their sailing route prior to the voyage,” Klingsheim adds.

Route information from the NCA is also available through other external map services through a so-called digital interface or API. PRIMAR and the Norwegian Pilot Guide are examples of chart services that now offer digital routes from routeinfo.no.

“I really do appreciate the routeinfo-initiative and honestly do wonder why this hasn’t been in the industry for years already, as it is such an obvious beneficial implementation as part of the digitisation of shipping,” says Director of Navigation Solutions, Ralf Lehnert, in SevenCs, which is a manufacturer of navigation software.

Used as reference routes prior to voyage

By offering reference routes that are quality assured by the NCA Pilotage Service, Vessel Traffic Service (VTS), Aids to Navigation Service and Pilot Exemption Certificate Unit, the NCA aims to strengthen safety at sea. Although the route service is not mandatory, the NCA recommends that mariners use reference routes as a basis for voyage planning. The routes have also been quality checked by the Norwegian Mapping Authority in relation to detailed bathymetry.

Berge Rederi AS is one of the shipping companies that plans to use the NCA’s Digital Route Service. The shipping company has ten self-discharging vessels that provide ship transport services along the Norwegian coast.

"Now that the route service covers large parts of the coast, we plan to use it on our vessels. For us it is important that the routes are quality assured by mariners and marine pilots in the Norwegian Coastal Administration. That will ensure that the courses we use on board are correct and that other issues have been considered,” says shipowner and Captain Øivind Berge in Berge Rederi AS.

To avoid oncoming traffic situations, the NCA has separated oncoming routes in waters where thid is possible. At routeinfo.no, mariners can download separate routes for northbound, southbound, inbound and outbound traffic.

“This is a major benefit for shipping, as separate routes will help to increase the safety of our vessels," says Berge.

Read more about Routeinfo.no