Voyagepl

anni
ng
Shi
ppingcar
gofrom oneportt
oanotherinvol
vescoordinat
edworkingof
sev
eraloper
ati
onsofbothlandandshipstaff
.Oneoft hemostint
egral
par
tsofashippi
ngoperat
ionsisthecargoorvoyageplanni
ng,whichis
mainl
yundert
akenbyanav i
gati
onaloff
icerofaship.

Apassagepl anisacompr ehensiv

e, berthtobert
hguide,devel
opedand
usedbyav essel
’sbri
dget eam todet erminethemostfavorabl
eroute,t
o
i
dentif
ypot enti
alprobl
emsorhazar dsal ongtherout
e,andtoadoptBr i
dge
ManagementPr acti
cestoensur ethev essel’
ssafepassage.SOLAS
Chapter5,Annexes24&25t i
tl
ed“ Voy agePlanni
ng”and“ Gui
deli
nesfor
voyageplanning”respecti
vely,
givespeci fi
cregul
ator
yinformati
onwi t
h
regar
dt othepassagepl an.

Passageplanni
ngincl
udesacompletedescr
ipt
ionoftheship’
spassage
whichisprepar
edbyanexperi
enceddeckoffi
ceroft
heship.Thisi
sdone
toensurethatt
heshipst
ickst
otherequir
edroutesf
orreachingt
heportof
desti
nati
on.
Whil
emaki ngapassagepl an,
theoff
icermustkeepinmindt
hattheshi
p
mustreachthedestinat
ionsafebyabidi
ngtobothlocal
andi
nter
nati
onal
r
ulesandregulat
ions.

I
nt hi
sart
icle,
wewill
discusst
hebasi
candessent
ial
stagesofshi
p’
s
passageplanni
ng.

Shi
pPassagePl
anni
ng–Essent
ialSt
eps
Aship’
spassagepl
anni
ngi
nvol
ves4maj
orst
eps/
stages.Theyar
eas
f
oll
ows:

1.Appr
aisal

2.Pl
anni
ng

3.Execut
ion

4.Moni
tor
ing
Eachstageint
hepassagepl
anni
nghasitsownimport
anceandi
tis
extr
emelyimpor
tantt
ocarr
youteachoneofthem wi
thut
mostcareandup
-t
o-dat
eseamanshipt
oensureasafesai
l
.

Inthestart
, aroughesti
mat eismadeoft hewhol esai
li
ngpr ocess.Once
theroughpl anisready,i
tisfur
thertweakedandmodi fi
ed/refi
ned
consideri
ngv ari
ousdetail
sobtainedfrom chart
s,pi
lotbook,weat her
routi
ngetc.Thesepr ocessesarecarri
edoutt hr
oughouttheappr aisal
and
planningstages.

I
nt henexttwostagesi.
e.,ex
ecuti
onandmoni t
ori
ng,t
heplanisusedasa
guidel
ine,
andthesail
ingisexecutedtaki
ngi
ntoconsi
der
ationvar
ious
factor
s,bothobser
vedandpr edi
cted.

Eachaspectofpassagepl
anni
nghasbeenexpl
ainedi
ndet
ail
bel
ow:

Appr
aisal

Inthi
sst age,themast eroftheshi
pdi scusseswi t
ht hechiefnav igat i
ng
offi
cer(usuallytheSecondMat e),astohowhei ntendst osailtot he
desti
nationpor t
.(Insomecasesi tmayber equir
edf orthemast ert oplan
thepassage) .Thisistheprocessofgat her
ingalli
nformat i
onr elev antto
theproposedpassage, i
ncludi
ngascer t
aini
ngr i
sksandassessi ngi ts
cri
ti
calar eas.Thisinv
olvesinf
ormationextractedfrom publicati
onsaswel l
asthosewi t
hinthechart.Theappraisalwil
lincl
udedet ail
sfrom:

 ChartCatal
ogue
 Charts
 OceanPassagesoft heWorld
 RouteingCharts
 Admiralt
ySaili
ngDirecti
ons
 Admiralt
yListofLightsandFogSi
gnal
s
 Admiralt
yListofRadi oSi
gnal
s
 Ti
deTabl es
 Ti
dal Str
eam Atlas
 Noti
cest oMariners
  Admi r
alt
yDistanceTables
 ShipsRouteing
 Nav i
gati
onalWarnings
 Mar i
ner’
sHandbook
 LoadLineChar t
 DraftofShip
 Owner sandothersources
 PersonalExperi
ence

Takingintoconsi
derat
ionmaster’
sgui
del
i
nes,company’
sguidel
ines,
ship’
s
cargo,marineenvi
ronment,andal
lot
herf
act
orsthatmayaff
ecttheship,
thenavigati
ngoff
icerdrawsuponagener
alt
rack,whi
chtheshipshal
l
fol
low.

Fortheeaseofplanni
ng,t
hisplani
sf i
rstl
aidoutonasmall
scal
echar
t,
whichisl
atert
ransfer
redt
ol ar
gerscalechart
s,andt
henminor
modifi
cati
onsaremadeasandwhendeemednecessar y.

Pl
anni
ng

Hav i
ngmadeaf ul
l appr
aisalusingallinfor
mat i
onathandper tai
ningtothe
passage,theOOW, undertheaut hori
tyoftheMast eri
stoprepar ea
detai
ledplanforthepassage.I nt hi
sstage,theint
endedcour sesofthe
shipsareactual
lylaidoutont hechar tsofsuit
ablescal
eandal l
additi
onal
i
nformationismar ked.Theplani slaidoutfrom pi
ertopier
,includingthe
pil
otagewaters.

Iti
sagoodpr acti
cetomarkdangerousar
eassuchasnearbywrecks,
shall
owwater,reef
s,small
isl
ands,
emergencyanchor
ageposi
ti
ons, and
anyotheri
nformati
onthatmightai
dsafenavi
gati
on.
I
naddit
iontot
heabove-
mentionedt
hings,i
sitadvi
sabl
etolay
outtherat
e
oft
urnforway
poi
ntsandlay
ingoutofPIrangesforsui
tabl
eobject
s,i
fany.

Repor
ti
ngareasshoul
dalsobecl
ear
lymar
kedont
hechar
ts.El
ement
sof
thePl
anni
ngphaseincl
ude:

 No-Goareas
 Marginsofsafety
 ChartedTracks
 Coursealt
erationsandwheel
overpoi
nts
 Paral
lelI
ndexing
 AbortsandCont ingenci
es
 Cl
earingli
neandbear i
ngs
  Leadingli
nes
 Tidesandcur r
ent
 Changei nenginest
atus
 Minimum UKC
 UseofEchoSounder
 HeadMar k
 NaturalTransi
t

Aborts: Whenappr oachingconstr

ainedwaters,thevesselmightbeina
positi
onbey ondwhi chthereisnopossibleacti
onbutt oproceed.For
exampl e,t
hev esselentersanareasonar r
owt hatthereisnoroom to
ret
urn.Itisforthi
spur posethatapositi
onisdrawnont hechartshowing
thelastpointwher ei
nthepassagecanbeabor ted.

Contingencies:Thebr idgeteam mustal way sbeawar ethattheev ents

mightnotgoaspl annedandt hatemer gencyact i
onmi ghtber equi r
ed.
Contingencypl ansaccountf orsuchsituations,clearl
yshownont hechart
sothatt heOOW cant akeswi f
tacti
oni nsuchaj am.Cont i
ngencypl anni
ng
wil
lincludealternati
ver out
es,safeanchorages,wait
ingar
eas,emergencybert
hs.

Execut
ion

Inthisstage, t
henav i
gatingoffi
cersexecut etheplanthathasbeen
prepared.Af t
erdepar ture,thespeedi sadjustedbasedont heETAandt he
expect edweat herandoceanogr aphicconditi
ons.Thespeedshoul dbe
adjustedsucht hattheshi pisnoteithertooearlyorlateatitsportof
destinati
on.TheMast ershouldfindouthowl onghisintendedv oyagei
s,
account i
ngf orwat erandf uelavail
able.Alsotobet akenintoaccountare
anyexpect edweat herchangesal ongt heway .I
ncaseandECDI Sisbei
ng
used, appropri
at eli
mitsmustbesetwi thregardtothesaf etysett
ings.

Moni
tor
ing

Moni
tor
ingi
sthataspectwhi
cht
akesi
ntoaccountchecki
ngoft
heposi
ti
on
ofthev essel,sucht hatitremainswithi
nthesaf edi st
ancefrom anydanger
areas.Par all
elIndexingcanbeusedt omai nt
ainsaf edist
ancealongside
anyhazar dst onav i
gat i
on.Asaf eandsuccessfulv oyagecanonlybe
achievedbycl oseandcont i
nuousmonitori
ngoft heshi p’
sprogressalong
thepre-plannedt racks.Situati
onsmayar i
sewher eint henavi
gati
ngof fi
cer
mightf eelitprudentt odev i
atefr
om theplan.Insuchcase, heshal l
inf
orm
themast erandt akeanyact ionthathemaydeem necessar yforthesafety
oftheshi pandi t
screw.Thi sstageisaveryimpor tantstagewher ei
nallthe
deckof fi
cer scontri
but etheirpar
ttoexecutethepl an.Thiscal
lsfor
personal j
udgement ,goodseamanshi pandexper ience.