Tag: VDR

The National Transportation Safety Board has announced the convening of a voyage data recorder group, to develop a detailed transcript of the sounds and discernible words captured on the El Faro’s bridge audio, following the audition of the ship’s VDR.

NTSB has announced that the voyage data recorder from El Faro, a US flagged cargo ship that sank during Hurricane Joaquin in October 2015, was successfully recovered from the ocean floor on Monday.

NTSB has announced that the investigative team aboard the research vessel Atlantis who located the El Faro’s voyage data recorder has determined it will not be possible to recover the VDR during the current mission.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has located the voyage data recorder belonging to the El Faro, the cargo ship that sank during Hurricane Joaquin. El Faro’s VDR was found early Tuesday morning in 15,000 feet of water, about 41 miles (36 nautical miles) northeast of Acklins and Crooked Islands, Bahamas, by a team of investigators and scientists using remotely operated undersea search equipment.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a press release stating that the research vessel Atlantis will depart Charleston on 18 April to search the area where the cargo vessel El Faro sank on 1 October 2015 with the loss of all 33 persons on board.

Calling for greater onboard awareness of VDR testing requirements The London P&I Club has called for greater familiarisation by ships' officers and crews with the testing requirements relating to Voyage Data Recorders after two recent claims incidents investigated by the club's loss prevention team revealed VDR malfunctions.In both claims, when the VDR data had been retrieved and analysed, it was apparent that certain required sensors were not feeding data to the VDR unit at the material time. This led to delay in the analysis of the incidents, and to loss of important claims handling information.The club notes that masters and operators should already be aware of the requirements for the annual testing of VDR equipment prescribed under SOLAS 5 Regulation 18, which stipulates that VDR systems, including all sensors, should be subjected to an annual performance test. Such tests should be conducted by an approved testing or servicing facility to verify the accuracy, duration and recoverability of recorded data. In addition, tests and inspections should be conducted to determine the serviceability of all protective enclosures and devices fitted to aid location, and a compliance certificate retained on board.Ian Barr, claims director with the club's management team, says, "Analysis of a ...

Danelec Marine announced that Maersk Line is retrofitting 100 vessels with new VDRs

London P&I Club says that operation of VDR on entered ships is generally well understood The Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) is now an established item of bridge equipment. TheLondon P&I Club's Ship Inspection Programme results in this area would confirm that theoperation of these units on entered ships is generally well understood. However, there are instances where the Master of anentered ship has failed to perform the steps required topreserve VDR data in the event of an incident; or failed torecognise circumstances in which VDR data (particularlyvoice traffic on VHF and on the bridge) may be veryvaluable in the defence of a claim.In a first example, a ship heading into port was presentedwith a 'head-on' situation as described in Rule 14 of theInternational Rules for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea.Though a departure from the 'Rules', a deal was struck onthe VHF between the two ships. Due to the location of theentered ship's intended berth, an alteration of course toport was to occur. Both ships subsequently collided,resulting in a considerable claim upon the Club.The Master did not save the VDR data - it is presumedbecause the data could be incriminating and used againsthim. Unfortunately, while the same information was notlikely ...