Captains whose yachts are fitted with ECDIS units supplied by Transas are being advised to check the age and model type of navigation computers following the overheating and failure of some hardware fitted aboard yachts
The failures have all been hardware related problems. Of significance is that all the computers were of the older RS6 type, of between 2-4 years old depending when they were supplied to the shipyards and also how long they had been in storage.
In more recent times, ECDIS units supplied by Transas have the newer RS6B, which, is understood to be far more reliable.
Transas, have said that older RS6 PCs have fans, that need to be cleaned after a while to help with air flow. The new RS6B computers do not have fans, have solid state hard drives and employ less moving parts. This results in newer units being more reliable and less prone to overheating failures because they are designed to disperse heat in different ways.
Adrian McCourt the Managing Director of super yacht managers Watkins Superyachts advises “I am currently checking ECDIS units on board the entire fleet to see if they are the older RS6 type computer. If so, they could fail at any time, placing the yacht in a difficult position.”
“We are preparing contingency plans in case of ECDIS failure and have contacted the provider to replace older RS6 type for the newer RS6B type computers with Navisailor 4000 Transas.”
