A SEAMAN'S GUIDE TO BASIC CHARTWORK

The main duty of any navigator once he has ensured that the ship under his command is on correct course, is to satisfy himself that the ship is being navigated with absolute possible and all avoids are avoided. The hazards in question can be human-made or natural, they can be of static or moving type. This requires very professional seamanship which in turn involves the ability of the navigators to be able to perform reliable and consistent assessment of the position of the ship at any given time and also know where she will be after a given interval of time.

The result obtained shall be arrived at high speed and highest accuracy. This publication will provide valuable instruction on the fundamental navigation principles and on the techniques used to put subject principles in practice. It has been designed specifically for teaching mariners the basic chartwork techniques.

Note that it mainly covers the plotting and would better be used as a supplementary training tool or as a part of training course conducted by the instructors having real seagoing experience. It covers such important aspects as the functions of the navigating officer, methods and equipment normally used for fixing the vessel together with their reliability and accuracy, fixing procedure, forecasting of the tidal stream and its assessment, meaning of the various symbols used on charts etc.