MSC Fleet Wide Carriage of Electronic Chart Display and Information System Support

The Military Sealift Command (MSC) vessels are built to commercial standards and comply with the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and United States Coast Guard (USCG) regulations. MSC also voluntarily complies with International Maritime Organization (IMO) and Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) rules and regulations. In order to operate with the combatant fleet, MSC is required to use military unique data with unique software requirements not found with commercial navigation software. MSC must ensure that any military features added to commercial navigation software do not violate established certifications. In September 2007, MSC issued Military Sealift Command's Guidance for Implementing and Testing of ECDIS with DNC and TOD0 Capabilities, which established guidelines to meet MSC's military and commercial navigation requirements. ECDIS currently accesses and displays Electronic Nautical Charts (ENC) and Raster Nautical Charts (RNC); MSC requires the added capability to read and display Digital Nautical Charts (DNC) developed by the National Geospatial Agency (NGA). These charts contain additional data layers which MSC needs to access the Tactical Ocean Data Level 0 (TOD0). Part of MSC's self certification process will require coordinating NGA data with commercial industry. Currently, the NGA paper chart is MSC's primary means to navigate its vessels. NGA is in the process of phasing out support for the paper chart in favor of digital chart data starting no later than 2012. Before then, MSC must have certified ECDIS compatible with DNC products onboard. The purpose of this Contract is to provide Contractor services to: (1) Assist MSC in updating its Military Sealift Command's Guidance for Implementing and Testing of ECDIS with DNC and TOD0 Capabilities; (2) Provide ECDIS subject matter expert (SME) service to verify independent lab findings concerning Maker's ECDIS; and (3) Provide ECDIS SME service to assist MSC's side-by-side comparison testing of Maker's ECDIS with required DNC and TOD0 capabilities.