E Navigation - Shore Side Control on the Way?

VTS Conning the ship from shoreside? (photo from Wikipedia)

e Navigation is, according to the Marine Safety Committee of the IMO:

“the harmonised collection, integration, exchange, presentation and analysis of maritime information onboard and ashore by electronic means to enhance berth-to-berth navigation and related services, for safety and security at sea and protection of the marine environment”.

At 59-56N - 10 technologies to change shipping - #3 ECDIS Ryan Skinner links ECDIS and e Navigation to integrated operations, -the link is to Wikipedia, the key phrase there is "Splitting the team between land and sea"

At present the process of getting a ship safely into or out of port is a shared responsibility between the bridge navigation team and the pilot while the VTS (Vessel Traffic Service) role is limited (at least in the U.S.) to advising the vessel regarding other maritime traffic. If the VTS had an electronic chart display which included the vessel's planned track line they could take a more active role in reviewing and then monitoring the vessel's progress.

Before entering or leaving port a vessel could be required to electronically create and then transmit a planned track-line. If the shipboard and shoreside displays were synchronized so that during the passage, if the trackline was modified by the pilot or crew, the modifications could be instantly be transmitted and seen by personnel shoreside in real time.

The key to bridge team management is that each team member share the same understanding of the passage plan. The shoreside VTS cannot esily monitor a plan they can not see. These capabilities would likely have prevented incidents such as the Casco Busan or the Exxon Valdez.

K.C.

Rules for Vessel in Fog. Out of Date?

What is a safe speed in restricted visibility?

According to this site - MCA orals the answer is:

(a) A speed that you can stop in half the visible distance you can see, so you can maneuver out of danger in the other half (if the visibility is zero, then minimum speed that you can keep your course.

That's what is known as the half-distance rule. Even my outdated edition of Farwell's acknowledges this rule is out of date. According to my sixth edition (1985) recent court rulings have allowed higher speeds but "not more then a knot or two"

However this article, Safe Speed in a Fog; Ancient Rules in a Modern Age (PDF) says what most mariners know to be true:

We all know that hardly any master will reduce speed in bad visibility nowadays. Instead radars and other electronic equipment are relied upon

and

We have experienced a tremendous technological development during the past 30 – 40 years while the rules have been static, in fact the present rules on speed in restricted visibility are based on the 1897 rules. And they do not recognise radars as a reliable instrument. This is in contradiction to how radars are viewed in other industries i.e. aviation and military and indeed to actual practise by the maritime community as well.

Why are mariners faced with this dilemma, that normal practices would be found in violation of the rules in the event of an incident?

The article argues that the rules need to be updated and quotes from Charles Perrow's Normal Accidents:

The navigation rules have developed to aid the courts in finding fault rather than aiding the ships in avoiding accidents

The author, Tor Lund, argues that:

Instead of taking any proactive efforts, administrations seems to be reactive; merely sending out occasional “notices” telling mariners to strictly follow the rules although they know that these notices will not be followed. This behaviour is contrary to what can be seen in other modes of transportation i.e. road, rail and air where authorities as well as other interested parties are proactive in order to constantly improve their systems and rules.

I agree, my derriere is hanging out too far already, time for an update taking into account such things as radar, AIS, VHF and VTS and other modern aids.

K.C.

Nautical Slide Rule - More Than Meets the Eye

Weams & Plath Nautical Slide Rule photo by K.C.
At first glance the Nautical Slide Rule is simply a tool used to solve speed-time-distance problems. The real power of the tool though, is hidden, consider this: (from Hutchins (PDF))

"At this end of the technological spectrum at least, the computational power of the system composed of person and technology is not determined primarily by the information-processing capacity internal to the technological device, but by the way the technology exploits the cognitive resources of the task performer."

"Cognitive resources of the task performer" - that's the key. In practical terms, when I arrive on the bridge at 3 a.m. prior to port arrival I check the speed required before I have that first cup of coffee, cognitive resources are sometimes short of what is required to reliably solve the problem. Using the slide rule gives me confidence that I fully understand the situation in just seconds. I can hold the solution in my hand and by moving the dials slightly I can literally get the "feel" of the problem and solution. Using the slide rule has been compared to the practice of rearranging scrabble tiles to search for words.

The full power of the nautical slide rule becomes more apparent when put to use.

-The solution found can be quickly rechecked in a glance as opposed to having to repeat the operation as is the case with a calculator.

-In the case the ship's speed may be within a range, for example when "loading up", (slowly increasing speed) the range of solutions can be quickly seen by moving the dial over that range.

-The solution is in the same form as it will be used, distance on the dial is related to distance on a clock or the distance on the chart itself

- In the case where the solution is changing, for example if speed required is 12 knots but the ship is doing 13 knots, the rate of change of the solution can be sensed by resolving the problem, which can be done in just seconds.

- The precision of the solution is consistent with the precision of the inputs

- Using the slide rule significantly simplifies the problem and reduces the chance of error. In the words of a scientist (From Hutchins):

" The navigation tools do not improve cognitive abilities but simply make them easier and less prone to error. They map the problem into a domain where the solution is more readily apparent.",

The full paper is "The Technology of Team Navigation (PDF FILE) by Edwin Hutchins. Here is a couple samples from the paper:

The Use of GPS in Marine Navigation

Casco Bay Boaters Blog has an interesting post - GPS Not the Answer
..
Most mates know not to rely upon GPS alone. On the other hand I sailed with a captain who forbid the use of the GPS while in confined waters, I don't think that is right either.

My view is, there is no navigation situation where I would completely abandon the use of the GPS, with the caveat that I would never rely upon it entirely.

In the open sea we use GPS but verify the position with a comparison to the DR. At the pier on the other hand, if we want to know if we are still alongside, we go out on the wing and have a look. In between, on the transit from the open sea to the pier, the role played by the GPS shifts from being the primary method (with verification by other means) to becoming a means to verify the position obtained using other methods.

As we approach the coast, at some point we shift from the GPS as a primary source to the use of radar and other means but still continue to use the GPS to insure we have not made a gross error. Even in a narrow channel I may not completely stop using the GPS, for example when I see that I am being set by the wind or current, a glance at the GPS course over the ground (COG) will quickly verify what I am seeing visually

Even relying upon the GPS as a backup however can hinder the ability to see clues in the environment that can aid in spatial orientation. As I gain experience in an area it becomes easier and easier to orient myself with visual landmarks. With each transit of an area I try to decrease the amount of assistance required from the GPS and increase my familiarity with local landmarks

K.C.

Navigation, Visually and by Radar

Photo from Try Looking out the Window at Casco Bay Boater Blog
Look out the window. That's my message to new third mates. More then that, gain experience in the interpretation of what you are seeing.

I honestly don't understand why almost all new third mates have such a strong preference for using the radar when the situation can be more easily understood visually.


In aviation new pilots must first learn to fly a plane using visual flight rules and then later gaining an instrument rating. New mates on the other hand seem bound and determined to navigate entirely by instruments. My message to them is the same one I gave the mate that night in Alaska - Look out the [expletive deleted] window.

K.C.

ECDIS requirments and training

Photo from Mariners Weather Log .
With regards to ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information System) my attitude is, any tool that aids the watch officer and leads to an increased situational awareness is good thing. Every new tool has its traps however:

From this post at MTVA Lack of ECDIS training leads to grounding

"time and again, we find that the adoption and implementation of exotic and complex new technologies often leads to the improper use of said equipment."

When radar was first installed aboard merchant ships it lead to what was called "radar assisted collisions." The collision between the Andrea Doria and the Stockholm in 1956 is often cited as an example. As a result of that incident deck officers are required to receive training in radar plotting in spite of the fact that this training has been made largely obsolete by ARPA.

ECDIS will be mandatory for some vessels starting in 2012 - two articles here at The Art of Dredging IMO backs mandatory ECDIS and an earlier ECDIS may prevent groundings.

Will the requirement to renew the radar endorsement every 5 years still be in place after 2012 when the first required ECDIS first start showing up on new builds?

K.C.

Electronic charts may prevent groundings

How could you not love a site called "The Art of Dredging"?

From that site, this is worth a read: Electronic charts may prevent one in three groundings.

"If Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS) are made mandatory on board ships, the number of groundings is likely to be reduced by a third according to a study carried out by Det Norske Veritas, a Scandinavian classification society."

I found site The Art of Dredging from the "recent remarks" at Bob Couttie's Marine Accident Casebook.

Navigation Software

Anyone doing research on Navigation Software, the place to start is Tim Flanagan's post the aptly named "The Best Navigation Software" on his excellent site NAVGEAR. His post summarizes and points the way to a extensive review over at MadMariner.

I've been researching navigation software myself. What I am looking for is a program running on a laptop which is plugged into a AIS pilot plug. At minimum I would like to be able to display the AIS data on the laptop's bigger screen. Beyond that, a display of the track-line and the cross track error would be helpful as would the ability to easily enter in data such as traffic separation limits and the like.

I have been using Waypoint for Windows for many years now, I consider it the American Express of software, I won't leave home without it. Aboard ship it is one of the main elements in the voyage plan. The principle advantages of Waypoint is, it passes the KISS test, it has a low learning curve and is designed for professional mariners.

One of the disadvantages of Waypoint for Windows is it is more or less a spreadsheet which calculates distances, bearing and ETAs but has no charting functions. We use paper charts so that by itself is not a big problem but I have found that it is easy make an error while keying in waypoints and it is somewhat difficult and time consuming to check for errors. If there is a clerical error in the waypoint file I often only discover it when I enter way points (again!) into to the proprietary weather routing program which has a simple, non-navigational type chart display.

Most of the software I've seen is directed at boaters or cruisers, anyone have any deep-sea, professional experience with navigation software?