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One of the many natural factors the ship’s navigator must be conscious of when in command of a ship’s steering is the effect of wind. Vessels such as container ships and roll-on, roll-off ships have large freeboards. This means they are more affected by the effect of wind than ships with lower freeboards, such as tankers and gas carriers. This exposed area of the ship is called the windage area, as it is here that the wind has the most prominent effect. The effect that wind has on a vessel is dependent on the location the wind assails the vessel’s freeboard, and on the draught condition of the vessel. For example, a wind with a force of 3–4 on the Beaufort Scale will have a similar effect on a ship in light conditions as a wind with a force of 7–8 on the Beaufort Scale when the vessel is down to her marks. This means wind direction is important for the ship’s navigator. When a vessel is making way at slow speed, manoeuvring, or when sailing near the coastline, wind direction is comparatively easy to establish. It is not nearly as easy to discern when the vessel is out in open sea. The reason being the perceived direction of the wind when standing on deck is relative to the position of the person making the judgement. This is because the true direction of the wind is masked by the vessel’s course. Because manually determining wind direction is so difficult, modern ships are fitted with a piece of equipment called the gyro compass. The gyro compass is linked to a set of repeater compasses via a transmission system. Within the compass is a fast-spinning rotor that weighs between 0.56 kgs (1.25 lbs) and 24 kgs (55 lbs). This is driven thousands of revolutions per minute by an electric motor. Connected to the motor is the spinning wheel, which is called a gyroscope. It is the gyroscope which provides the ship’s navigator with the true wind direction.

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Navigation marks and buoys are an indispensable part of safe maritime navigation. Just as road users must follow road signs and traffic lights, ships’ navigators must follow a uniform system of marks and buoyage. The development of a uniform system of buoyage is one of the greatest improvements in global shipping. To establish a system that could be followed anywhere around the world, the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) developed a set of rules called the IALA Buoyage System for Mariners. To maintain worldwide uniformity, the IALA divided the world into two regions: Region A and Region B. Region A encompasses Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, the Gulf States, and some countries in Asia. Region B incorporates North, Central and South America, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines. To enhance the safety of the system, the IALA assigned colours to the port and starboard sides of navigable channels. These sides would then be marked using coloured buoys called lateral marks. This system is called the Lateral System. In Region A, the colour red is used to designate the port side of the channel and the colour green is used to designate the starboard side of the channel. In Region B, the colours are reversed. The IALA Buoyage System provides six types of marks that navigators must observe: (1) lateral marks; (2) cardinal marks; (3) isolated danger marks; (4) safe water marks; (5) special marks; and (6) emergency wreck marking buoys. Importantly, regional colour variations do not apply to cardinal, isolated danger marks, safe water marks, or special marks.

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Ships, by necessity and design, carry a vast selection of navigational equipment and systems. Some of this equipment, such as the sextant, are almost as old as seafaring itself; others are a truly modern invention. In this chapter, we will briefly look at the role and function of some of the main navigational equipment and systems used by contemporary ship navigators.

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Everybody, both onshore and at sea, has a responsibility for improving the safety of ships and for saving lives at sea. Aids to Navigation, also known as AtoN, are important tools that enhance ship safety. Unlike the roads and motorways that we drive on, the waterways do not have road signs that tell us our location or the distance to a destination, or of the hazards we may expect to encounter along the way. Instead, navigators are provided with aids to navigation. For hundreds of years, maritime authorities have marked safe and hazardous waters with buoys and beacons. In summary, aids to navigation help ship’s navigators to find and safely navigate within a narrow channel in a very wide expanse of water.

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The marine radar is the piece of equipment on the ship’s bridge that is perhaps most used by the OOW when carrying out a safe navigational watch. A mandatory aid to navigation, the radar is used for the identifying, tracking (with integrated ARPA) and the positioning of vessels (including one’s own vessel). The marine radar is classified either under the x-band (10 GHz) or S-band (3 GHz) frequencies. The x-band, being of higher frequency than the S-band, is used for a sharper image and better resolution whereas the S-band is predominantly when visibility is poor such as during heavy rain or fog or when vessel identification and tracking is required. Ship-tracking devices are compulsory under the COLREGS. SOLAS Chapter 5, regulation 19 states that all ships of 3,000 gross tonnes and upwards shall, in addition to meeting the requirements of paragraph 2.5, have a 3 GHz radar or where considered appropriate by the Administration, a second 9 GHz radar, or other means to determine and display the range and bearing of other surface craft, obstructions, buoys, shorelines and navigational marks to assist in navigation and in collision avoidance, which are functionally independent of those referred to in paragraph. With the help of marine radar, accidents can be prevented at sea by determining the closest point of approach (CPA) and the time to closest point of approach (TCPA), electronic bearing line (EBL), variable range marker (VRM), and so forth. The benefit of radar does not stop when the ship is no longer at sea. Even alongside or within port confines, radar can be used to monitor traffic at short range. The marine radar has a screen (referred to as the Plan Position Indicator (PPI)) which displays all the targets that are present within the radar range. Since these objects are clearly visible on the screen, navigating and monitoring the position of the ship is vastly improved.

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The Electronic Chart and display Information System (or ECDIS) is a relatively recent development in the navigational chart system used on board naval vessels and merchant ships. With the use of the electronic chart system, it has become easier for the ship’s bridge team to navigate and plot positions with greater confidence and accuracy. ECDIS complies with IMO regulation V/19 and V/27 of the SOLAS Convention as amended, by displaying selected information using a System Electronic Navigational Chart (SENC). ECDIS equipment that complies with SOLAS requirements can be used as an alternative to paper charts. Besides enhancing navigational safety, ECDIS greatly eases the navigator’s workload with its automatic capabilities such as route planning, route monitoring, automatic ETA computation and Electronic Navigational Chart (ENC) updating. Furthermore, ECDIS provides many other sophisticated navigation and safety features, including continuous data recording which can be used for later analysis as well as the gyro, radar, ARPA, echo sounder, and so on.

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Handling a ship in congested or high traffic areas is no easy task. Congested waters are high-density traffic areas where a vessel is likely to collide with another vessel if ship navigation is not carried out correctly. Open water navigation is not especially easy either, but by virtue of lesser traffic as well as the availability of sea room it does not pose as much of a threat as that posed by congested waters. Approaches such as those found in Singapore or China have dense traffic from fishing boats, small watercraft as well as vast numbers of large merchant vessels which, by default, equates to a higher degree of precaution, situational awareness, and decision-making.

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Shipping cargo from one port to another involves the coordinated working of various operations both on land and at sea. One of the integral parts of shipping operations is passage planning, which is mainly undertaken by the ship’s navigational officer. A passage plan is essentially a comprehensive, berth-to-berth guide, developed and used by the vessel’s bridge team to determine the most efficient route, to identify potential problems or hazards along the route, and to adopt Bridge Management Practices to ensure the vessel’s safe passage. SOLAS Chapter V, annexes 24 and 25, entitled Voyage Planning and Guidelines for Voyage Planning respectively, provide guidelines regarding the regulations pertaining passage planning. It is vital that all ship’s navigators are fully cognisant of the demands SOLAS Chapter V places on them. In this chapter, we will discuss the main requirements and basic stages of passage planning.

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The navigational watch is one of the most significant shipboard operations performed by deck officers. When the ship is at sea, the bridge is the only location that is perpetually manned. This is not a moment in time where the bridge can be left unattended, even if just for a few minutes. As the navigating officers must keep bridge watches round the clock, the practice of taking over the watch by a relieving OOW from the outgoing OOW is performed twice daily. When taking over the watch, the oncoming OOW is acquainted with the ship’s position, speed, and course; traffic density; past, present, and expected weather and sea conditions; the state and condition of bridge equipment; logbooks, checklists, and daily orders; readiness of the lookout and or helmsman; any activities taking place on deck or in the engine room; and any conditions that may require the master to attend the bridge. Whilst on watch, the OOW is responsible for complying with the COLREGS and with all standing orders issued by the master. In summary, the OOW has three primary duties: perform safe navigation; maintain watchkeeping; and monitoring the GMDSS.

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Throughout the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, ships in distress depended on Morse Code to communicate their position to other passing ships. Though advanced for its time, Morse Code was far from perfect. Signals were often ignored, misinterpreted, or lost in the ether. Following the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, the international maritime community realised a new method was needed to for ships to communicate their distress. This led to the development of the GMDSS. GMDSS was fully adopted by the IMO under SOLAS Chapter 4 on 1 February 1999. GMDSS sets a universal standard for communication protocols, procedures, and equipment that ships must use to communicate in times of distress. Under the GMDSS regulations, all cargo ships and passenger ships above 300 gross tonnes, and sailing in international waters, must carry GMDSS equipment on board. When the ship is in distress, the GMDSS transmitter on the ship sends a signal via satellite or radio wave which is then picked up by other GMDSS receivers. GMDSS is also used for sending and receiving MSI.

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Anchoring is one of the myriad operations that falls within the responsibility of the deck department. It involves the use of critical shipboard equipment and requires a high level of situational awareness. The key responsibility of the deck officer in charge (OiC) of the anchoring station is to use the anchoring machinery and available manpower for carrying out the operation safely and efficiently in accordance with the master’s instructions. This chapter provides some practical suggestions for deck officers engaged in anchoring operations. First and foremost, for any successful operation on board a ship, is proper and efficient communication between the master, officers, and the crew members responsible for carrying out the task. In an anchoring situation, the bridge and the anchor station are the most important locations. The OiC should be thoroughly familiarised with the necessary reporting procedures. When anchoring, giving clear and succinct commands to the crew is as significant as receiving commands from the master. It is essential to regularly update the bridge on the status of the anchoring operation. There are two distinct anchor operations: Letting go (i.e., dropping the anchor); and Heaving (taking up the anchor). In either case, the OiC has several responsibilities and duties to execute when overseeing the anchor operation.

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Whilst the ship’s master is in overall command of the vessel, the role and function of the maritime pilot is of equal, if temporary, importance. As the name suggests, the maritime pilot supports the master in bringing the ship safely into and out of port. Whereas the master is concerned with the navigation and handling of the ship, the pilot’s role is to advise, and counsel, the master on the most effective and safest ways of manoeuvring the ship. The role and importance of the pilot increases exponentially as the size of the vessel increases and the manoeuvrability of the vessel decreases. Indeed, ships that carry hazardous cargoes or dangerous products, such as oil tankers, are more dependent than most on the pilot’s expertise. The profession of the maritime pilot requires years of training and expertise about local waters, tides, currents, and weather conditions. If the entry to the port is narrow or has unusual hazards such as sandbanks or precautionary channels, then a pilot must be brought on board to provide expert guidance. The pilot must therefore work alongside the ship’s master, complements the expertise of the master about their ship with expert knowledge of the port and its seaways.

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Ports are incredibly complex facilities that thrive on efficiency and well-organised supply chains. By ensuring there is no lag between vessels entering the port, having their cargo loaded or unloaded, refuelled, and inspected, cleared to depart, and finally pushed clear of the berth, ports are central facilitators to global trade and national and regional prosperity. Many ports today utilise the very latest in technology to minimise the time ships spend alongside, therein reducing turn-around times and maximising berth space. To put this into perspective, China has some of the most technologically advanced port facilities anywhere worldwide. In 2019 the Chinese port of Ningbo-Zhoushan handled some 1,120,090 tonnes of containerised cargo; in 2020, this increased 4.7%, to 1,1720,400 tonnes. Shanghai, by comparison, handled 716,770 tonnes in 2019 and 711,040 tonnes in 2020, a drop of 0.8%. 1 Part of the reason why Ningbo-Zhoushan and Shanghai can handle such vast quantities of cargo lies in the automation of cargo loading and discharge systems, specialised truck trailer docking sites, railway wagon identification mechanisms and advanced load-bearing cranes. When added together, these make for an extremely efficient, cost-effective and time-saving operation. Despite these quite amazing feats of technological advancement, port operators can do very little until the ship is safely alongside. This, unfortunately, remains an agonisingly slow operation.