Tag: ship bridge

Gregor Stevens, Master Mariner, Senior Marine Advisor, International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), mentions that one of the key root causes of navigation failure is a lack of situational awareness; reliance on electronic navigation aids is not enough and only if combined with proper look-out, crew members onboard can achieve full appraisal of the situation.

In January 2022, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) published the new edition (6th) of the Bridge Procedures Guide, seven years after the previous edition. Bridge procedure guide is an edition globally accepted as an industry’s best practice for bridge procedures.

From 30 August 2021, the EU Marine Equipment Directive (MED) requires compliance with the Bridge Alert Management (BAM) test standards IEC 62923-1 / IEC 62923-2 for new installation of GMDSS communication equipment’s placed on board SOLAS ships.

NTSB issued an investigation report on the collision of the cargo ship 'Nomadic Milde' and with bulk carrier 'Atlantic Venus' on the Lower Mississippi River in May 2020. The investigation stressed poor monitoring by Nomadic Milde crew as the ship was dragging anchor and had moved from its original position during high-water conditions in proximity to other vessels.​

In view of the summer fishing ban lifting on 16 August, the Bahamas Maritime Authority shared recent guidelines to be issued by the China Maritime Safety Administration on the prevention of collisions between merchant ships and fishing vessels in Chinese coastal waters, including Taiwan Strait, East China Sea or Yellow Sea.

Human error has been a key area of concern for shipping as the major cause of navigation-related accidents, with 71 such occurrences recorded between 2015-2020, each incurring insurance claims of more than $10 million. Is human error in shipping navigation preventable?

Years ago, above the entrance to the navigation bridge was a brass plaque which stated “for use in navigating the ship”. This use has become corrupted over the years and many non navigational tasks were undertaken. Captain Mark Bull FNI, Principal, Trafalgar Navigation Limited explains how this situation arose.

The Panama Canal Authority published an advisory regarding the unsafe practice of certain vessels calling at Panama Canal waters.

JTSB issued an investigation report on the collision of the container ship APL PUSAN and cargo ship SHOUTOKUMARU off Keihin Port in October 2019. 

Amid the continuing security threat for ships in the Gulf of Guinea, the Oil Companies International Marine Forum (OCIMF) Maritime Security Committee have produced a set of quick reference bridge cards for use onboard vessels transiting this area​.