Electronic Navigation specialist Maris has launched ‘Zero downtime ECDIS’, a new product support service devised to ensure that, once mandatory, Electronic Chart Display Information Systems are available at all times. The International Maritime Organization has ruled that mandatory carriage of ECDIS equipment onboard ship will be phased in from July 2012, starting with newly built passenger ships. The move recognises the inherent benefits of ECDIS as a way of improving the safety of navigation, such as its ability to act as a tool for identification and its automatic generation of grounding alerts. While some ship owners intend to back up ECDIS with up-to-date traditional paper charts…