The Master of the ship must ensure that watch keeping arrangements are always adequate
for maintaining a safe navigational watch. Under the Master’s general discretion, the Officers
of the navigational watch are responsible for navigating the ship safely during their periods of
duty.
The Officer on watch has to follow the Master’s Standing Orders and International rules and
regulations (e.g. COLREG).
In case of any violation and official claims the Officer on watch will be held fully responsible
for the incident.
The Officer on watch shall not deviate without the Master's approval from the planned route
unless to avoid collisions or other imminent dangers to the vessel.
A safe navigational watch shall be maintained at sea (incl. anchorage) according to basic seamanship and COLREG Part B Rule 5. The Officer on watch shall then ensure the safe navigation
of the vessel by following the Master´s Standing Orders. During darkness, restricted visibility
and upon request from the OOW, the Look Out shall be mandatory. A Look Out is also mandatory during anchorage.
An entry must be done in the Logbook.
The Officer on watch (OOW) may be the sole Look Out during daylight (between sunrise and
sunset) provided that on each such occasion:
that it is safe to do so
o state of weather,
o visibility,
o traffic density,
o proximity of dangers to navigation, and
o the attention necessary when navigating in or near traffic separation schemes
o assistance is immediately available to be summoned to the bridge when any
change in the situation so requires.
It goes without saying that the passage plan must be followed, changes shall be documented
in the respective Logbook and later discussed as best practice.
Position fixing
Regular position fixing in the sea chart and proper documentation in the Logs is mandatory
and shall be observed closely. Therefor a review and approval from the passage plan by the
Master is required.
In any way the position fixing interval shall not exceed the following:
120min Open waters
60min Coastal waters
15min Pilotage
The Master may deviate from the requirements of position fixing in cases where there is a
danger for the vessel to run into dangerous situations or hazardous navigation occurrence.
Position fixing only by means of GPS is not allowed and does not show good navigational management.
Positions shall be verified by 2nd means of position fixing e.g. cross bearing, sail offset bearing
or other means as well.
Positions need to be marked in the sea chart acc. to the required intervals.
Using radar as aid to navigation requires experience and skills to evaluate and determine the
echoes. False interpretation may lead to dangerous situations.
The pictures below may give you an idea on the effects of ship´s position, beam width and
pulse length on radar shoreline.
For further info pls. also consider the NP 100.
Bridge Procedures
Various routine bridge operations require special attention by the bridge team or are bound
to lead to dangerous situations, if not properly carried out. The company refers to the Bridge
Procedures Guide in its 4th Edition.
Vessels which have Bridge Procedures Guide 2016 5th edition on board may refer to ISM
Safety Newsletter March 2017 for equivalent numbering.
Forms from the Bridge Procedures Guide 4th Edition may be adopted and used like company
forms and filled accordingly if no other company form exists.
Laminated checklist may be used if an entry in the logbook can proof evidence for the carried
out checks.
Mandatory checklist to be used from the Bridge Procedures guide
Watch Schedules
The following two (2) watch schedules grant compliance with regulations regarding keeping
the rest hours as required in best way potentially but has to be seen as a guideline only.
Watch 1 0000-0700 // 1200-1700
Watch 2 0700-1200 // 1700-2400
Master's Standing Orders and Watch Orders
The Master shall give his own Standing Orders which should reflect his own particular requirements and circumstances relevant to that ship, her trade and the experience of the bridge
team employed at that time. These orders are to be signed for acknowledgement by all Watch
Officers. The Standing Orders must not be in contradiction to any regulations and Company
instructions and to be left on the bridge for reference.
For special expected circumstances or actions which are not covered by Company procedures
or standing orders the Master has to give specific Watch or Night Orders which are recorded
in the Watch Order Book and signed for acknowledgment by each Watch Officer prior to commencing the watch.
Taking over the watch
The Officer in charge of the navigational watch shall not hand over the watch to the relieving
Officer if there is reason to believe that the latter is not capable of carrying out the watch
keeping duties effectively, in which case the Master shall be notified. If at any time the Officer
in charge of the navigational watch is to be relieved when a maneuver or other action to avoid
any hazard is taking place, the relief of that Officer shall be deferred until such action has been
fully completed (Checklist B12 required).
In accordance with SOLAS and STCW `78 as amended the following logbooks/documents are
to be kept:
Standards on which these logbooks are to be maintained are laid out in SOLAS and STCW`78
as amended of which relevant sections are cited in the front of the deck logbook. Special attention should be given on entries with relevance to the safety status of the vessel.
Prior to departure the Master/ Substitute has to enter into the deck logbook the vessel's sailing condition (draughts, deadweight, quantity of cargo on board, stability, stress etc.) as well
as to state the seaworthiness and integrity of the vessel.
Use of “Dead man alarm”/Navigational Watch Alarm System
The use of the navigational bridge watch alarm system is mandatory at all times the vessel is
underway (Company’s standing order).
It is upon the Master to decide whether the Key will be taken off or kept in the device.
Safety Round (SR)/Fire Rounds (FR)
SR and FR must be carried prior taking over the night watch by the relieving bridge team*. The
safety rounds and fire rounds shall include a tour through workshop(s) and accommodation
and engine spaces which are not covered under the UMS Alarms and control. Checks to be
entered in the Logbook. *Rating performing part of the navigational watch
Passage Planning/Voyage Planning
For ships with ECDIS and creating passage plans automatically (e.g. MyRA) no extra PP has
to be printed. The Masters approval must be available in printed version.
The Master has the right to delegate the initial responsibility for preparing the plan for a voyage to the Officer being also responsible for navigational equipment and publications on
board.
Prior to departure the navigational Officer will prepare the detailed voyage plan from berth
to berth in accordance with all relevant rules and regulations and according to the Master’s
requirements.
The Master must provide the navigational Officer with all necessary instructions and own orders which might not be covered by this procedure. If the port of destination is not known or
is subsequently altered, the navigational Officer must extend or amend the original plan as
appropriate.
A detailed review of the passage plan route should always be carried out in conjunction with
an automated route scan when using ECDIS.
The voyage plan must be approved by the Master and signed by all navigational Officers (reference is made to IMO Res. A.893 (21) Section 3.4)
The minimum information contained in the Passage plan shall be:
in relation to the available water depth.
of night passage, tidal restrictions, or allowance for the increase of draught due to
squat and heel effect when turning
depth
speed and any expected effect of tidal streams and currents
where maximum reliability must be obtained
the emergency itself reference to the Companies Emergency manual may be sufficient
Under Keel Clearance (UKC)
In certain circumstances the vessel may be required to navigate in areas with reduced or even
with minimum Under Keel Clearance (UKC). It is important that the reduced/minimum UKCs
have been planned for and are clearly shown on the charts and in the Passage Plan throughout
the whole voyage. Every waypoint/leg requires a consideration of the actual UKC.
Waypoint list
The waypoint list must contain as a minimum the following requirements and can be a free style
form or pdf or printout from ECDIS
route or track, the maneuvering characteristics of the vessel and its draught in relation
to the available water depth
night passage, tidal restrictions, or allowance for the increase of draught due to squat
and heel effect when turning
“Go”-/ “No-Go”- Area
Go-/No-Go-Areas shall be considered in the sea chart and during passage planning as per IMO
Res. A.893 (21) and Bridge Procedures Guide as far as practicable.