[SatNews] The all-important important data links offer charting that's charged by use...

Datema Delfzijl B.V. has received international approval for its ENCTrack electronic chart distribution service, which uses global satellite data links provided by Iridium Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:IRDM). ENCTrack is the first and only postpaid electronic cartography licensing and provisioning service that charges ships only for the charts actually used. This method eliminates the need for license management and substantially improves safety at sea. GTT Systems B.V., an Iridium value-added manufacturer and reseller, together with its sister company Leap Development B.V., developed the Iridium ship tracking device for the ENCTrack service.

Datema's "pay-as-you-sail" service records the ship's movements accurately using the GTT Systems tracking device, which sends position reports at intervals through the Iridium short-burst data (SBD) service. The position reports received via Iridium are fed into a redundant gateway server, which generates invoices based on the duration of use and the charts used. Datema originally introduced the ENCTrack service in 2009, and received approval from the International Center for Electronic Navigational Charts (IC-ENC) to continue the ENCTrack service as of April 1, 2011.

"The IC-ENC approval couldn't have come at a better time, with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) carriage requirements for Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS) coming into force next year," said Jan ten Thije, CEO, GTT Systems. "It is estimated that ships can save up to 20 percent in licensing and chart acquisition costs with ENCTrack."

"ENCTrack is a great example of how Iridium's continually expanding ecosystem of partners is developing innovative solutions that require reliable data communications services at sea, everywhere around the world," said Dan Mercer, vice president and general manager, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia, Iridium. "By commanding the furthest reaching communication network, only Iridium can provide cost-effective, near real-time, global electronic chart distribution to ships."