BRIDGE PROCEDURES — BRIDGE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT — NAVIGATIONAL CHARTS & ASSOCIATED PUBLICATIONS

One of the parts of Bridge Procedures series discussed voyage/passage planning and demonstrates the use of charts. This video, in turn, deals with the navigation charts and associated nautical publications. Charts are vital, both for passage or voyage planning as well as for navigation. A chart is the prime aid and even the most efficient bridge team cannot function effectively without up-to-date actual chart.

But the chart starts getting outdated the very moment it is printed, because the environment is constantly changing. The commonest changes are man-made, such as the buoys, lights, and new obstructions, they all may present a danger to the ship, together with the additional work and stress for the people on the bridge. The nautical press regularly releases the reports on the vessels which have faced problems related to charts - no charts, wrong charts, unofficial charts, or charts not kept up-to-date.

To take one example - while waiting for the berth at quay side, the master of the motor tanker Marion decided to anchor. The charts have not been corrected, and the ship put the anchor down on a new pipeline, severely damaging it. The ship owners had to pay about twenty-five million dollars to the owners of the pipeline, as a result... And this is just one example demonstrating the importance of maintaining the charts up-to-date, correct and official...