Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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N vigator
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Inspiring professionalism in marine navigators
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A free publication by The Nautical Institute in association
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David Patraiko FNI
Director of Projects, The Nautical Institute
Maintain position
just two lines of position. Today, it might
mean never relying on GNSS alone. The
modern navigator must be competent
and confident enough to use a number of
As a navigator, it is essential to know Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as positioning tools and techniques, including
where you are in the world. Failure to GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, etc, are but not limited to visual bearings, radar
do so could see the bottom ripped out increasingly susceptible. These satellite information, depth soundings, celestial
of your ship and your whole day ruined! systems all share a common vulnerability observations, dead reckoning, and – most
The modern navigator lives in interesting of relying on a relatively weak signal importantly – visual situational awareness
times when it comes to positioning. that can be disrupted by unintentional for checking plausibility.
Some say that we are rapidly moving jamming, such as from solar activity; or We are in a transitional period where
from an age of ‘navigation as an art from intentional jamming, such as people advancement in technology is charging
form’ to that of ‘navigation as a science’. trying to mask the signal from their GPS ahead and sometimes the Human
However, it’s probably more accurate to tracked company cars. Element has difficulty keeping up. It
recognise that we are moving from an Many other systems on a modern is essential that modern navigators
age where position fixing was a manual vessel also depend on GPS input. Failure understand how to employ a range of
task, to one where positioning is mainly of this signal will have quite a knock-on positioning methods to assure them of
done automatically. effect, so it is prudent to conduct a GPS where they are, particularly in relation to
Regardless of how reliable GPS may loss drill on a routine basis, and perhaps nearby navigational hazards. For example,
seem, manual checks must be made on incorporate this into the SMS. with ECDIS navigators must be confident
a regular basis. Few mariners have ever The age-old adage for mariners has in the ability to plot visual and radar
endured a sustained failure of GPS, and always been ‘never rely on one source information, in order to ensure the integrity
this leads to complacency. But we are for positioning’. In the past, this has of positioning. This is essential as the
continually reminded that GPS, as well included not relying on range and bearing navigator is responsible for many lives, the
as all other forms of Global Navigational from a single object and never relying on ship, the cargo and the environment.
03
ALL@SEA REVIEWING THE
Members of the wider marine community discuss SITUATION
positioning tips and techniques. Sam Pecota reflects on how a lack of
situational awareness at sea can lead
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WATCH OUT to disaster.
04-05
How complacency and over-reliance on electric
positioning data caused a container vessel to ground.
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WHO’S NAVIGATING?
Company Cadet Training Officer, Eldine Chilembo talks
about her role, and her thoughts on mentoring at sea.
POSITIONS, PLEASE!
The Navigator compares the
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WAY POINT
strengths and weaknesses of various
Dr Andy Norris, Vice President of the Royal Institute of
positioning methods.
Navigation, asks why positioning is still such a problem.
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TAKE 10
We round up ten key pointers about the importance
of positioning at sea.
06-07
202 Lambeth Road, London SE1 7LQ, UK Editorial committee: For the Royal Institute of Navigation
Tel:+44 (0)20 7928 1351 Fax:+44 (0)20 7401 2817 Editor Emma Ward Dr Andy Norris FNI, FRIN
navigator@nautinst.org www.nautinst.org Design Phil McAllister
Published by The Nautical Institute.
NSTITU For The Nautical Institute
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Tel: +44 (0)20 7591 3134 Fax: +44 (0)20 7591 3131 Bridget Hogan, Lucy Budd, Printed in the UK by Newnorth Print
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www.rin.org.uk David Patraiko FNI, Steven Gosling MNI Ltd, Kempston, Bedford, UK.
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All sea Emma Ward
If you would like to send us your response, comments or ideas about anything in this issue, or the next, please
contact the editor at navigator@nautinst.org
In the last edition of The Navigator, Any new and reliable technology should be welcomed. However we
we looked at passage planning should learn from the medical profession, where stethoscopes and blood
pressure monitors are still used. Knowledge of the basics is essential to
at sea. Now, the crucial topic
form a foundation for a sound building. Let Rule 5 of the Colregs be the
of positioning falls under the guide: keep a proper look out by sound and hearing, as well as by all
microscope, as we ask the available means.
seafaring community for their Vinode Mohindra
views on how to balance the use of
traditional positioning techniques Have you ever suffered a total bridge black-out? I did, during a
with more modern technology. trans-Atlantic voyage. Our first port of call had no means for repairs,
hence we sailed for a month in the ‘old sailing ships way’. We used a
magnetic compass, sextant, our beloved chronometer, land bearings and
naked eye watch. We suffered no navigation problems or delays. I’ve
never trusted blindly in electronics since.
Juan Manuel Lopes
S
ituational Awareness, or SA, system that you could very nearly stake your looking casually at the scene passing by out
has been succinctly defined life upon it anytime. Nearly so… the windows, a GNSS/GPS failure, even if
as “Knowing where YOU are The trouble is, navigating has become discovered, can prove disastrous because
and knowing where THEY so easy under normal circumstances, the unfortunate mariner may not have time
are.” “THEY” are, of course, that loss of SA in more challenging, or to recover from the loss of SA. The resulting
other vessels. We avoid other vessels exceptionally difficult conditions can grounding may produce anything from mild
through proper application of the Colregs, become terrifyingly common. embarrassment to loss of career to loss of
employing manual or automatic radar life and destruction of the environment.
plotting methods, or even more basically, Staying engaged
simply looking out the window every once The necessity of remaining actively A cautionary tale
in a while. interested in the vessel’s position enough The following example of loss of situational
All this takes experience and some to do more than glance occasionally and awareness is one I know intimately – it
skill. However, when considering the absentmindedly at the ECDIS screen is happened to me. As a young mate in
determination of ownship’s position today, a constant battle for today’s mariners. March 1981, with four months seagoing
the process could hardly be more basic. Because it is so easy, we become experience, I ran a 100-metre hopper
Global Navigational Satellite Systems complacent. When our electronics fail,
(GNSS), such as GPS, and ECDIS (ECS) as they most assuredly will at some time,
have made position fixing so simple, a we must be able to recognise the failure
five-year-old could figure it out. Mariners immediately and react accordingly.
in today’s industry who think they can If one has not been correlating the ECDIS
derive any sort of satisfaction merely from display with radar (ranges, bearings, parallel
determining one’s position at sea are kidding indexing) and visual bearings plotted on
themselves. GNSS/GPS is such a reliable the ECDIS or paper chart, or even simply
Positions, please
The Navigator examines the different positioning methods out there and asks what
benefits each of them have to offer – and what pitfalls need to be avoided
Positioning is essential for navigation: to ensure you have and professional mariners must know when to use each, based
situational awareness; know where you are in relation to on their strengths and weaknesses. Of course, the professional
navigational hazards and, of course, to enable effective navigator will always employ as many means as possible and
commercial operations. At this time, there is no one perfect will never rely on any one alone. Knowing which methods to use
means of fixing your position. A wide range of options exists, when is key to success as a navigator
What interested you in a career at sea? challenges they might be facing as they try home for long periods, being isolated and
My country, Angola, has a booming oil to shape their dreams into reality. It’s also learning to understand different characters.
industry but not much of a maritime very fulfilling, especially when I visit a vessel This can only be made easy by staying
culture. At first, I hoped to break down to check on the progress of a cadet and focused on what they wish to achieve.
the barriers that prevented women from get good reviews from the Captain and
moving forward in a male-dominated crew. It’s nice to see them determined to How has membership of The Nautical
industry. Then I realised just how much I get to the top. Institute helped you in your career?
enjoyed the maritime industry. I get great advice from a lot of the
What are the most important experienced minds out there. I have an
What is the most enjoyable part of points for young cadets/navigators opportunity to interact with people who
your working life? to remember? are just as dedicated to the work they do,
Although my career is shore-based, I Discipline is always at the top of my list. and to solving the problems we face as
spend a lot of time on vessels, monitoring Life at sea has its social, physical and practicing and non-practicing mariners.
the progress of cadets. I love interacting mental challenges and cadets who are I especially enjoy the discussions taking
with the crew. There is so much diversity just starting off have a lot to deal with. place in the NI groups on the various
and so many opportunities to exchange They need to get used to being away from social websites.
experience and techniques.
Have you ever experienced mentoring
What do you enjoy most about working at sea, or been a mentor? How
with cadets? important is this to the future of the
Having been a cadet myself not so long industry and why?
ago, I understand the struggles and I have had the privilege of being mentored
by great and experienced captains, right
from the time I joined the industry. They
Name: Eldine Chilembo AMNI encouraged and advised me. They saw
Current position: Company Cadet Training Officer the potential in me to succeed and helped
Training: S3 and S4 for Mates and Masters, nurture it. Every cadet needs to find a
Cape University of Technology, South Africa person in the industry whom they wish to
emulate, and grow under their guidance.
The introduction of a full GPS service in potential problems have, to date, been Good seamanship
the 1990s seemed to suggest that global rarely seen at sea. eLoran is a proven technical solution
navigation satellite systems (GNSS) were In world politics terms, the lack of any for merchant vessels, but its effective
the final answer to a vessel’s navigational significant incidents has perhaps also implementation over wide areas needs
needs. This standpoint was accentuated meant that the potential issues have failed relatively complex coordination by multiple
when President Clinton announced in 2000 to get any immediate resolution. In the past countries. High power transmitting ground
that the artificial degradation of accuracy 10 years, governments have mainly acted stations with very tall antennas are required,
known as Selective Availability would be to reduce the reliance on the sole use of typically spaced at about 1,000 kilometres.
immediately removed. This improved GPS GPS by setting up alternative satellite- Also, to match the accuracy of GPS,
accuracy for non-defence users from 100 based systems. local differential stations are needed close
to more like 10 metres. to ports and other critical areas. This all
Users had seen full coverage of GPS Unjammable technology requires good inter-government resolve,
steadily emerge, and soon realised that GLONASS has become a good, publicly interaction and funding.
the most probable error that they would available GNSS and other systems are As pointed out throughout this edition
encounter would be a local failure with the planned to become global too, such as of The Navigator, the potential for major
vessel’s GPS receiver. This led to two Galileo and BeiDou. This all contributes problems on the over-reliance on GNSS
or more receivers being fitted to most to improved integrity. Unfortunately, is real and growing. However, because of
vessels, making the total loss of position they all work on similar frequencies with the complexity of getting agreement for
a very rare event. Early GNSS-related
accidents, not least that of the Royal
Majesty, also led to improved alert
OOWs must be experts on the potential
standards for new equipment. problems with GNSS and how such
Radio interference problems can be quickly identified. Not
The availability of differential GPS (DGPS)
in many coastal regions further increased
least, the knowledge and skills of how
positional accuracy and integrity – and to safely navigate without GNSS must be
the reliance on GPS. Underneath, a few
problems were emerging. For instance, maintained and updated
in some areas it had become evident that
local TV stations were causing interference similar signals, which makes them equally secondary systems, it could be many years
to many receivers; electronic failures in susceptible to jamming and interference. before good solutions for vessels are both
other radio equipment could occasionally Unfortunately, the military – traditionally available and globally effective.
cause massive interference; some naval the monetary sponsors of positioning In the meantime, we have to rely on
radars were capable of blanking out GNSS systems – are generally not interested in good seamanship. OOWs must be experts
over a wide area. systems such as eLoran, because all on the potential problems with GNSS
In fact, these problems were not being radio frequency based systems are and how such problems can be quickly
encountered by most users, perhaps jammable; at least by an opposing military identified. Not least, the knowledge and
leading many into undue complacency force. Instead, they have an ever-growing skills of how to safely navigate without
about the continuing availability and interest in inertial-based positioning GNSS must be maintained and updated –
accuracy of GPS. Even the widely systems, which are effectively unjammable. as has effectively been the case since the
publicised fears about jamming and other There is a lot of research taking place into earliest days of navigation.
Contact RIN at: www.rin.org.uk | 1 Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2AT | Tel: +44 (0)20 7591 3134
10 | The Navigator | October 2013
10
take
5
Multiple choice
There are many methods of positioning available for the
navigator, some based on traditional techniques and others
on modern technology. Each has strengths and weakness
and no one system has proven to be good enough to use on
its own.
This issue of The Navigator has looked at positioning at
sea. Here are ten points to take away from this issue to
help ensure this important subject stays top of everyone’s
list of priorities. 6
The Human Element
Although all these positioning methods may be
complementary, they are not always automatically integrated.
1
The professional mariner needs to be the human integrator of
these systems and this skill require training and practice.
7
Aware and alert
Professional navigators need constant situational awareness
to ensure the safety of lives, the vessel, her cargo, the
environment and to ensure commercial effectiveness. Prepare for failure
The loss of GPS is a real risk, and should be identified as
2
such, with clear procedures for identifying failure, contingency
plans and drills for dealing with the loss.
8
Safety in numbers
Never rely on a single means of fixing the ship’s position.
3
Avoiding over-reliance
Over-reliance on GPS, particularly when integrated into
ECDIS, can lead to complacency and poor decisions. The
Check, check and check again use of GPS with ECDIS has revolutionised navigation and
Good situational awareness requires the continual checking all shipping companies and crews should assess how this
of complementary positioning systems and the intelligent impacts on navigational practices.
application of common sense.
4 9
Pole positioning
Judging the jamming risk Training for the use of electronic positioning systems
Although the coordinated use of multiple GNSS, such as should not just address how to use the knobs and
GPS and GLONASS, improves reliability, all GNSS share a buttons (‘knobology’), but most importantly, how to use
common weakness and therefore are equally susceptible to technology to support good decisions with full awareness of
intentional or unintentional jamming. inherent weaknesses.
10
Share your knowledge!
Mentoring is key. Experienced mariners should take time
to help fellow mariners master positioning techniques.
This may be Masters mentoring in the use of the sextant,
or juniors helping the older generation understand the
application of technology.
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