🗺️ Chart Plotter (ECDIS) Simulator
Plan the passage. Then test it for your vessel.
Lay a route on a chart with the real depths of the Baltic, then press TEST THE ROUTE and give your vessel's length, beam, height and draft: every leg is checked against the shallows, the narrow places and the bridges, and every turn for the room she needs. The verdict lists every problem and where it is.
Free · in your browser · no account needed · best on a computer.
How it works
- ▶ START ROUTE — lay the waypoints. The first click is your start (WP1), every next one a turn; the box by the cursor gives the leg's bearing and distance. DEPTHS shades the water and draws the 2, 5, 10 and 20 m contours.
- ■ END ROUTE — look it over. Zoom in on every leg; click a waypoint to MOVE or DELETE it, click a leg to put another waypoint in.
- ▶ TEST THE ROUTE — your vessel. Type her length, beam, height above the water (air draft) and draft, or pick one of the boats.
- The verdict. She passes — or every problem listed: too shallow (her draft plus the under-keel clearance), too narrow (the safe water across her way), a bridge too low, a turn too sharp for her length or without room. Click one and the chart takes you there.
- Fix it and test again. ✕ EXIT takes you back to all simulators.
What you practise
- Passage planning — legs, turning points and a sensible distance off headlands, shoals and harbour entrances.
- Safety depth and under-keel clearance — the same route can be safe for one boat and fatal for another.
- Reading depths — contours, shoals and the narrow channels into the harbours of the Gulf of Riga.
- Checking before you go — the habit of a route check, as on a real ECDIS, before the plan is sailed.
| The boats to test with | Draft | Safety | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kayak | 0.2 m | 1.0 m | 1.2 m |
| Motor yacht | 1.5 m | 1.0 m | 2.5 m |
| Sailing yacht | 2.3 m | 1.0 m | 3.3 m |
| Cruise ship | 8.0 m | 1.6 m | 9.6 m |
A training simulator, not a navigation chart. The coastline, harbours and seamarks come from OpenStreetMap and OpenSeaMap, the depths from EMODnet: close to the real chart of the Gulf of Riga, but never for planning a real passage.
Frequently asked questions
Is it free? Do I need to install anything?
Yes, it is free and runs in your browser — no account and nothing to install. It needs a browser with WebGL, as the rest of the bridge simulator does.
Is this a real ECDIS?
No. It is a training simulator, not a type-approved ECDIS or a navigation chart: the coastline, harbours and seamarks come from OpenStreetMap and OpenSeaMap and the depths from EMODnet, close to the real chart but not for navigation. What it trains is the planning habit — waypoints, safety depth, a route check, then the passage.
What does TEST THE ROUTE look at for depth?
Every leg, from the first waypoint to the last, is sampled about every 20 m against your safety depth and against the shore. The safety depth is the boat's draft plus the under-keel clearance: 1 m for a boat or a yacht, 20 % of the draft for a ship of 60 m or more — at full speed in shallow water a big ship squats a metre and more. A leg that crosses shallower water or the land turns red, and the shallowest point is named.
How are the narrows, the bridges and the turns judged?
Across her way, about every 100 m, the safe water each side is measured: she needs her beam plus 10 m, or 2.5 times her beam for a ship. A bridge over a leg needs her height plus 1 m of clearance (a ship: 5 % of her height); a bridge without a charted clearance is flagged to check. At every waypoint she turns on an arc of 1.5 times her length (a ship: 2 times): the legs must be long enough for it, and the arc, with her half-beam each side, must stay in safe water.
Which boats can I test with?
Any size you type in — her length, beam, height above the water and draft — or start from a kayak, a motor yacht, a sailing yacht or a cruise ship and change the numbers. The bigger the vessel, the narrower the safe water.