Marine Operations Manual - Appendix BSM

Navigation
Responsibility for standards of navigation
Marine Superintendents are tasked with maintaining standards of navigation on board all BSM managed ships. This is
reflected in their Accountability Profile. Each Marine Superintendent has the authority to act to ensure standards of
navigation meet BSM requirements and to propose changes to navigation procedures to meet changes identified during
operation and after incidents. Marine Superintendents are required to be involved with the implementation of new
procedures and practices required to meet the introduction of new regulations.
Primary means of navigation
ECDIS must be the primary means of navigation on ships with single ECDIS and back-up paper charts (Ref. Safety
Equipment Certificate - Form E)
Navigation equipment reliability
Each quarter the SMC will analyse navigation equipment failures and determine if any pattern or trend is evident. Where
a pattern or trend of navigation equipment failure is seen, action must be taken to address the issue and the matter
followed up until the trend is reversed. Quarterly reporting to the Management Review is required to keep the SMC
management team fully aware of trending navigation equipment issues.
Report navigation equipment defects to the port authority before arrival. Ensure confirmation of receipt is obtained from
port authority.
Distractions
Forbid the use of:

• Mobile telephones
• Televisions
• Electronic entertainment equipment
• Newspapers and magazines
• Any other item determined by the Master to cause distraction including non-navigation related discussions
during critical sections of the passage and pilotage
• Display a sign “The Use of Mobile Phones is NOT Permitted on the Bridge while underway and at anchor"

Caution: To prevent distractions, do not allow bridge access during critical sections of the
passage to personnel with no operational bridge responsibilities.

Note: Restrict use of mobile phone only for official purposes to Master and Pilot. Keep
usage to minimum without compromising safety of navigation.
Internet access and email on the bridge must be restricted to:
• Updates for nautical charts and publications, licences and permits
• Weather information
• Navigation warnings
• Information relevant to the ship's operations and passage plan
Compliance with collision regulations
All actions taken by the Master or Navigating Officers must be in compliance with the International Regulations for
Preventing Collisions at Sea. (ColRegs)

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Use of VHF for collision avoidance purposes is not recommended.

Collision avoidance
Ensure speed input to ARPA is water track for all navigation situations.
In cases when the speed log does not work:

• Obtain flag dispensation

• Brief bridge team of the hazards of collision avoidance using ground track speed input
• Add note to Master Pilot Information Exchange Form MOM 057 about speed input being ground track
• Ensure new bridge team members are made fully aware if joining the ship while the speed log is not working

Note: Monitor doppler logs to ensure track does not automatically switch to ground track
where water track is required.
Chart scale

Note: Definition as per Admiralty Chart Catalogue

• Large scale shows most detail (1:6000)
• Small scale shows least detail (1:100,000)
Self-pilotage
• Assess situation requiring self-pilotage
• Conduct risk assessment
• Consult with Marine Superintendent
• Carry out self-pilotage when agreed with Marine Superintendent
Pilotage Exemption Certificates
In most places legislation provides the possibility of some form of exemption from compulsory pilotage, usually by issuing
Pilotage Exemption Certificates (PEC). A Master holding a Pilot exemption certificate, must ensure following before
carrying out the pilotage without pilot on board:

• The certificate is issued for the vessel, not expired and valid for the intended route
• Authorities are informed before the pilotage
• Marine Superintendent in charge is notified
• ‘MOM 057- Master Pilot Information Exchange’ and ‘MOM 058- Pilotage Information’ forms completed
(Obtained all required information from Pilot office)
• A risk assessment completed. The assessment, as a minimum, includes the following:
- Weather condition
- Structure, machinery or equipment defects which could interfere the safe pilotage
- Traffic condition
- Navigational hazards
- Bridge team’s experience and level of confidence in the pilotage
- Bridge manning level for the whole passage

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Customary / Non-mandatory pilotage in specific transit areas
Specific transit areas are characterized by high traffic and shallow or restricted waters such Torres Strait, Danish Strait,
Strait of Singapore.
The Master may discuss requests for customary / non-mandatory pilotage with the MSI, if:

• Not familiar with a specific transit area

• Forecast of restricted visibility relevant to the transit time
• Vessel dimensions relevant to the transit area may be hazardous;
• Other circumstances and conditions which may compromise safety of navigation.
Reporting schemes
AMVER and other reporting systems
It is company policy that vessels will participate in local reporting schemes applicable to their geographical location.
All ships (engaged in voyages lasting 72 hours or more) must participate in the Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel
Rescue System (AMVER) operated by the United States Coast Guard. Active participation in this scheme is required from
other vessels. Request the AMVER manual from the office if it is not available on board.
All ships must also participate in the other position reporting systems, whether voluntary or mandatory, e.g. AUSREP,
JASREP etc:

• Details of such schemes are contained in the sailing directions, radio signals and the annual summary of
Admiralty Notices to Mariners
• Masters must ensure that they are aware of any reporting schemes, which may be applicable to their vessel
during the forthcoming voyages
• The Master is to delegate an officer to prepare the various messages required for transmission, in accordance
with various guidelines available on board
Helicopter operations
Industry guidelines:

• A Guide to Helicopter – Ship Operations

Helicopter operations are used occasionally for landing or retrieving pilots or to take stores.
Look out during the watch
Maintain an effective lookout during the watch using all available means as appropriate in the prevailing circumstances.
The officer in charge of the navigational watch may be the sole lookout in daylight provided that, on each such occasion:

• The situation has been carefully assessed and it has been established without doubt that it is safe to do so
• Full account has been taken of all relevant factors, including, but not limited to:
- State of weather
- Visibility
- Traffic density
- Proximity of dangers to navigation
- The attention necessary when navigating in or near traffic separation schemes

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- Assistance is immediately available to be summoned to the bridge when any change in the situation
so requires
Ensure the handover of watch of the bridge ratings is carried out be in the wheelhouse during daylight.
Set BNWAS time limit at 10 to 12 minutes for all navigation conditions.
The Officer leaving the bridge / watch handover

Warning!

Ensure the relieving officer is fit for duty in all respects and familiar with all requirements
to maintain a safe watch.

The navigating officer on bridge watch must not leave the bridge when the vessel is underway or at anchor. The officer
must be properly relieved by another certified navigating officer or the Master. At the end of his watch, the officer being
relieved shall:

• Retain the watch until properly handed over

• Complete logbook entries for this watch
• Assist the relieving officer if required in any manner
• Inform the Master if the relieving officer cannot take over the watch
Changing course and speed
When at sea speed avoid large helm orders (over 10 degrees), without first informing the duty engineer, unless
circumstances and traffic conditions do not permit. Inform the Master of all speed changes. In the following conditions
inform the Master afterwards:

• To comply with collision regulations

• In an emergency
Consider changing course and speed as a mitigation action to reduce the effect of shipping heavy seas on weather deck.
Inform office, charterers and owners before, or, as soon as possible after making alterations of course, and / or speed to
avoid heavy weather.
Obtain permission from nearest coastal state authorities where applicable, especially if sheltering in territorial waters.
Change over steering motors and pumps regularly by a designated officer. Set frequency of change over based on maker’s
manual.
Wheel over position
• Select the turn radius. (eg. 1 nm)
• Locate the centre of the turn (eg. draw two lines as show in the below image, 1 nm from the course lines)
• Draw a line from the centre of turn 90° to the initial course track to mark the actual start of turn.
• The position of the wheel over is generally, for larger ships, 1-2 cables before the actual start of turn. The wheel over
line must be drawn parallel to final planned course track.

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Position fixing
Monitor the ship’s position at all times. Confirm the accuracy of position fixing regularly. If there is any doubt about the
ship’s position, the Master must be informed immediately.
Position fixing intervals must not exceed a period more than half the time it will take the ship to run into the nearest
danger.
As an example - when proceeding at 20 knots it would take 6 minutes to run into a danger that is 2 miles away from the
ship – therefore the plotting interval should be 3 minutes.
Follow this practice during navigation in restricted waters. Reduce speed to allow for sufficient safety margin. Plotting at
intervals less than 3 minutes is difficult to achieve using visual bearings and radar ranges. Use parallel index techniques to
provide situation awareness with position fixes plotted at intervals no less than 3 minutes to cross check.

Warning!

Do not carry out position fixing using floating objects.

Caution: Do not carry out parallel indexing using floating objects unless they have been
first checked for position.

When preparing the passage plan the responsible officer must establish position fixing intervals as per the below table.
For ease of reference annotate charts in locations where a reduced fixing frequency may be required. The Officer on
Watch must fix the position of the ship at the intervals specified in the passage plan. He must use all appropriate
navigational aids, observe the set and drift, and adjust the course to keep the vessel on the intended track. The Officer on
Watch has full authority to deviate from the charted track to avoid close quarters situations developing.

Caution: Do not compromise the safety of the vessel by trying to keep the vessel on the
charted track.

Use visual bearings and radar distances to verify the position obtained from electronic navigational aids. Masters and
officers on watch are reminded that electronic navigational aids are only aids to navigation and are not always reliable.
Fix position using celestial observation whenever possible and record.

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Position fixing table for ships using paper charts
Apply the guidance given in the table below for position fixing / monitoring vessel position:

Where How Often Method

At sea (more than 24 miles off shore Every one hour or less • GPS / DGPS
/ away from nearest danger) Whenever possible • Celestial Observation
• Or dead reckoning

Coastal Waters (12 to 24 miles off Every 30 minutes or less • GPS / DGP
shore / away from nearest danger) • Radar bearings
• Visual bearings
• Parallel indexing

Restricted waters (less than 12 miles Every 10 minutes or less • GPS / DGPS
off shore / away from nearest • Radar bearings
danger)
• Visual bearings
• Parallel indexing
• Transit bearings

Manoeuvring in port (when entering Every 5 minutes or after changes in • GPS / DGPS
harbour limits / passing sea buoy) course of more than 10° • Radar bearings
• Visual bearings
• Parallel indexing
• Transit bearings

Using small scale charts hourly position plotting will become difficult due to the scale of chart in use. Position plotting
frequency during ocean passages can be reduced at the Master’s discretion. Hourly position checks must however be
done and recorded in the deck log book.
Compare positions obtained from different navigational aids where available. Avoid as far as possible full reliance on one
means of position fixing.
Position fixing on ECDIS ships
Apply the guidance given in the table below for position fixing/monitoring vessel position on ships equipped with ECDIS as
primary means of navigation and both ECDIS operational.
ECDIS receives continuous position information from position sensors (normally two DGPS/GPS receivers) and displays on
ENC in real time.

• Verify / cross check the position fixes automatically plotted on ENC to ensure accuracy of position sensors
• Carry out crosschecks as per the table below and plot on ENC or record in ECDIS using available functions:
- Line of Position (LOP)
- Event with associated electronic logbook record
- Saving ECDIS screenshots
• The Master shall use his discretion in setting past position and past track intervals

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Sailing Condition Crosscheck frequency Crosscheck method

Deep Sea Navigation/ Ocean At least once per watch Dead reckoning
Passage
Astronomical observations

Coastal Navigation (including STS At least once per hour Visual Observations
Operation underway) and for ship
Radar Observations
at anchor

Inland navigation (including At least once per 30 minutes Visual Observations

navigation in confined, restricted
Radar Observations
and pilotage waters: during
berthing/ unberthing, shifting berth
and anchoring)

Crosscheck frequency

• If there are any doubts on GPS position accuracy, carry out more frequent crosschecks
Crosscheck methods

• Use:
- Radar overlay
- Parallel indexing
- Clearing bearing
- Echo sounder
• Compare track / fix obtained from the main and secondary position sensor where possible to crosscheck ECDIS
position fixing system and monitor ship’s progress.

Note: If GPS maker’s manual provides sufficient information on Dilution of Precision

(DOP) checks and / or Signal or Carrier to Noise Ratio (SNR or CNR) checks, use this
to verify position accuracy and performance of a GPS receiver.
The ECDIS can only display the last 24 hours track. Take ECDIS screenshots at regular intervals (e.g. every 15 minutes in
Inland Navigation) to save supporting evidence for use in case of incident or during inspections and audits. Use
screenshots to depict vessel’s track, plotted route and LOP's, user maps, Radar Overlay, etc. Retain these screenshots
onboard for at least the last 3 voyages.

Position fixing by radar

Consider the following when using radar for position fixing:

• Overall performance of radar – radar performance must be checked during each watch and results recorded in
radar log book
• Identification of fixed objects
• Compass (gyro) error and accuracy of heading marker
• Accuracy of variable range marker, bearing cursor and fixed range rings
Symbols for position fixing
Use the following standardised notation for plotting the vessel’s position on a chart

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• Indicate an observed position on a chart by a circle drawn around the intersection of the position lines at the
centre of which a dot is to be placed marking the position of the vessel
• Indicate a position from electronic means like GPS on a chart by a triangle around the intersection of position
lines
• Indicate a position obtained from celestial sights .i.e; from sun sights, star sights on a chart by a diamond around
the intersection of position lines
• Indicate a dead reckoning position or an estimated position by a small cross on a chart and the symbol DR or EP
as appropriate
• Note the time next to every position
• Note all other relevant information next to the position fix
• Use the correct symbols to show the method used to obtain the position
Calling the Master
The officer on watch must call the Master immediately if he requires any assistance or is in doubt. Remember the Master
may require some time to assess the situation once on the bridge.
Call the Master under the following conditions:

• If visibility reduces or is expected to reduce to less than 4 miles

• If the configuration of radar plots is causing concern
• Break down of engines, navigational equipment, steering gear
• Any doubt about the accuracy of the ship’s position
• Unexpected shallow soundings, sighting of navigational marks, land or debris
• Upon receipt of a distress message or weather report where the ship is likely to run into heavy weather
• Expected sighting of a navigational mark or land is delayed
• In case of difficulty in maintaining course and speed
• If traffic density in a TSS is causing ship’s, including own ship to overtake in close proximity
• If the relieving officer is not fit to take over a navigational watch
• Any doubt of own ship drifting or any other nearby ship drifting on to own ship at anchorage
• At any other time when in doubt
Calling the Master does not relieve the duty officer from ensuring that every possible action is taken to ensure safety of
personnel, ship and cargo before the Master’s arrival on the bridge.
The Master must clearly state to the officer on watch that he takes or hands over the conn.
Ensure logbook entries are made when the conn is handed over.
Traffic Separation Schemes
All vessels must follow Traffic Separation Schemes recommended by IMO, local or harbour authority. Please refer to the
IMO publication “Ship’s Routeing”.

• IMO adopted traffic separation schemes must be followed in accordance with Regulation 10 of the International
Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea

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• British Admiralty charts show IMO adopted traffic separation schemes and routes established by local coastal
states
• These local schemes are not shown differently on the charts from IMO schemes
• The Annual Summary of Notices to Mariners lists separation schemes that are adopted by the IMO

Caution: Coastal states having established separation schemes may impose heavy fines on
vessels found in contravention of Regulation 10.

When navigating within a traffic separation scheme the Master may require manning of the engine control room. Adjust
the ship’s speed as required by the Master.

Over the Tide Operations

Over the tide operations are likely to be conducted at terminals with draft limitations and significant tidal variations.

Caution: The Company discourages over the tide operations. Plan the operation closely
with the terminal, MSI and conduct a risk assessment if there is no alternative.

Discharging over the tide

• Provide a detailed discharge plan to address the necessary draft reduction

• Confirm adequacy of vessel’s pumping capacity and the terminal’s reception capability to achieve the required
under-keel clearance
• Plan vessel’s arrival at the berth as soon as possible after low water as the under-keel clearance requirements
allow
To minimize any delays to the transfer operation:

• Confirm with the terminal that all preparations for the transfer are completed;
• Inform authorities to minimize any delays to the transfer;
• Arrange ullages and temperatures and other custodial measurements before berthing if possible;
• Prepare discharging equipment and line-settings for immediate use
Loading Over-the-Tide

• Prepare a detailed loading plan

• Stop loading at the draft at which the ship stays safely afloat
• Recommence loading as the tide starts rising
• Do not recommence loading unless equipment and resources critical for the departure are confirmed available
• Arrange loading rate to complete loading and all pre-departure formalities in due time.
Open and confined waters:
When using the terms “open” and “confined” waters in the passage plan, the terms have the following meaning.
Confined waters are defined as those where:

• The depths are less than twice the ships static draft or
• The width of the water body is less than the ranges given below as per vessel type:

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- About 8.25b for full bodied vessels like Supertankers, Tankers, Bulk carriers
- About 9.50b for General Cargo ships
- About 11.75b for Container and LNG ships
(where b= the maximum breadth of the vessel).
Waters with depths more than twice the ships static draft and widths greater than above ranges, for the particular vessel
type, may be termed as Open waters.
The presence of another ship in a narrow river will also affect squat, so much so, that squats can double in value as they
pass or cross the other vessel.
Go, No Go situation
Where the residual risks are so extreme that port entry or departure will be unsafe the operation must not continue. The
Master must assess these risks and make his decision before committing the ship to enter or leave port.
Consider the following when assessing the risk:

• State of weather and forecast for next 48 hours

• State of sea and tide with expected effect of weather on swell waves
• Port congestion
• Availability of tugs
• Port characteristics in relation to the ship's dimensions
• Navigation hazards
• Pilot boarding arrangements
• Abort points
• Specialized local information
• Ship’s manoeuvring characteristics
If the ship sails in an area where the zone of confidence is D or U, the master must also consider the following:

• Sailing directions recommended route for the particular voyage

• Regular shipping lanes for the particular voyage
• Previously used route by the vessel
• Contact local authorities seeking details about draft restrictions
• Course is plotted in areas with dense spot depth soundings
The information that masters can collect from agent / port authority includes:

• Date of the most recent dredging and latest bathymetric survey data and chart
• Maximum allowed arrival and departure draft
• Amount of siltation
• Most recent deepest arrival / departure draft (arrival and safe berthing of vessels of similar size and draft
establishes a degree of safety for the transit under prevailing environmental conditions)
It is recognised that charterers and port officials might put the Master under commercial pressure. BSM will support
reasonable and informed decisions by the Master.
Advise charterers, owners and BSM of any decision made and record in the deck logbook.

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