ECDIS possibilities for BWE adoption

The Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) development and implementation have been linked primarily to the safety of navigation. Further development allows the implementation from other aspects of navigation. This primarily pertains to the Harmful Aquatic Organisms and Pathogens (HAOP) from Ballast Water Exchange (BWE) and the use of ECDIS system for improving environmental protection. The paper contains an overview of important legal aspects of sea environment protection related to the Ballast Water Management (BWM) Convention on global as well as on local scale. Apart from enhancing the safety of navigation, integration of the proposed tool for sea environment protection in the ECDIS with onboard ballast water system can significantly contribute to sea and sea environment protection from harmful substances. In this paper, the architecture of such system is suggested. This approach also ensures a reduction of possible consequences on ecological incidents and human errors.