Navigation Equipment

The present publication is the first volume of the two-book set giving a fully up-to-date perspective and overview of the contemporary navigational techniques and addressing technically sophisticated navigational equipment that is becoming increasingly available to the bridge team including such equipment as the INS, i.e. integrated navigation systems and IBS, which is the integrated bridge systems.

Although the technological advances are nowadays at the increasing rate, maritime training lags behind technology. This, in turn, c eventually lead to the inappropriate, and in some cases even dangerous use of the available equipment; in other cases, this equipment is not utilized to the best level of effectiveness.

The intention of the author of this two-volume series was to help the users get better understanding of the modern navigation where technically complex equipment is used - such understanding will let them use all equipment in a safe and effective manner which will significantly contribute to safe handling and navigation of the ship.

These books should not be treated as textbooks to be used when preparing for the exams - it is rather good to let the professionals and trainees comprehend all benefits and issues of the equipment installed on board their vessels. The second volume of the set is devoted to the ECDIS and Positioning.

This is the seventh edition of the Manual prepared and released by the NIMA, standing for the National Imagery and Mapping Agency. The content of the Manual combines some of the sections contained in the previous edition and also several sections of the Maneuvering Board Manual.

The document was compiled by the MSI Center and the NIMA with the intention to be used mainly as an Instruction Manual in navigation schools as well as by both merchant and naval marine people. The authors of the Manual have combined the content of two above mentioned publications in order to provide a practical and useful reference for the mariners sailing on board ships and instructors providing training ashore.

The Manual covers the basic radar principles and their general characteristics, sheds some light on the radar operation giving some fundamental information necessary to understand the rest of the material, provides instructions on collision avoidance and radar navigation, and also addresses ARPA, i.e. auto radar plotting aids.

The last chapter of the volume contains the maneuvering board manual. There are several appendices concluding the book and providing some additional information including extracts from the relevant regulations, compact yet informative glossary of terms, describing the relative motion problems etc.

Have a look into this compact yet useful booklet released to provide general introductory information about the electronic nautical charts. The content of this paper has been arranged in seven sections. The first section giver very basic information on the system and its implementation. The publication has been prepared by the specialists of the world known and respected TRANSAS company.

It lists and describes all advantages of the system including efficient routing and better voyage planning, digital publications, chart management, display of the relevant information, savings etc. The second section addresses the IMO Resolution No. A.817(19) and other documents listing the requirements to the carriage of ECDIS as well as relevant regulations and rules.

The integration of the system has been dealt with in a separate section of the booklet. The rest of the document is devoted to the training, service and maintenance related matters that shall be paid due attention. The paper contains numerous practical tips that will be appreciated by the bridge team of the vessels with the ECDIS installed, and we recommend them all to get familiarized with this concise paper to get better idea of the system.

Here is the original edition of one of the most popular and world respected guides for marine communication. The content of the publication was prepared mainly for the deck officer who normally keep bridge watches during sea voyage and will also be of great practical use for other people having to manage and use the shipboard radio and satellite communication installations.

The volume is covering both GMDSS and non-GMDSS equipment and associated operating procedures. The author of the book has provided detailed descriptions of the range and technical capabilities of the equipment involved and instructions on the correct usage of the equipment. The mariners will know how to use the particular equipment so that the all applicable requirements are met.

They will also get to know which publications they shall look into when searching for the best station and frequency for the different functions. The volume has been designed specifically to be used as a tool for the management of the shipboard radio/satellite communications.

It will also be very useful for the people preparing for their GMDSS training courses and exams. The material of the volume is arranged in three parts. While the first part provides general overview of the system, the second and third part are dealing with the operating procedures and configuration of the equipment.

Another classic publication for the enthusiasts of marine navigation. The pages of the present volume are mainly addressed to the people who might get inclined to provide assistance in introduction of the improved systems of practice with the sextant. The necessity for the subject instrument is known to all people having the habit to employ the tool for nice purposes at sea and on land.

Such people shall duly understand the imperfections that may take place. They shall also know the appropriate measures of adjusting and control of the instrument. This is how the book starts and this preface was there more than a century ago, at the time of the original release in 1858. The first part of the book provides general information while the second one has been devoted solely to the application of this tool.

In short, the book is recommended to the people having deep interest in the marine navigation and historical development of the tools that used to be employed by the navigators as well as travelers for determining their position. In fact the sextant may be referred to as one of the most important navigational tools in the maritime history - this book will be an excellent one for the bookshelf.

Radars used on board marine vessels are commonly quite tricky to operate and they are also not that simple to read correctly for avoidance of the ship collisions. However, when they are used by the informed operators they become an invaluably useful navigation tool, and that is particularly applicable to the poor visibility situations.

Of course, GPS devices can tell your position, but none of them will inform you about the other vessels in the vicinity. The author of the present book has applied practical approach so there is no too much of theory. That is why the publication will serve as an excellent complement to the standard owner's manual for the radar.

The operators will find all information they do require to possess when they are faced with the real situations at sea. The content of the book is packed with numerous illustrative and informative images, charts and screen shots - they provide the guidance from a real life perspective, enabling readers to solve all possible problems effectively and immediately.

The diagrams contained in the book are quite clear. The volume is great to read while operating the radar, giving reader step by step instructions and guidance from the very beginning, i.e. setup, to actual navigation. An excellent tool to be used for solving problems and a perfect one for learning.

This classic publication dating back to early twentieth century contains all necessary and sufficient materials to be used for easy determining both centring and total errors of the sextants at sea. The book will provide readers with the angular distances between the starts of the second magnitude and they are considered suitable for the observations by means of sextant.

The method was used for correction of the sextant errors through observing the star distances used to be treated as fairly impracticable due to the complicated nature resulting from the aberration and refraction. The aberration is a source of error which was neglected and not dealt with in the past.

There are three methods used to avoid these problems, namely choosing the time what the starts are located on one vertical great circle, ascertaining this time, and restricting the couples of stars to the season when the respective distances would be unaffected.

In short, this publication will be useful to the people with the interest in celestial navigation. They will find lots of information here and this will be something quite difficult to be found in any other publications. Just have a look and save this one for reference.

It goes without saying that the distress messages are considered the critically important function of any marine VHF; however, it shall be noted that they distress messaging is not the sole purpose of having the VHF on board ship. The VHFs are widely used for preventing distress situations - this is achieved by allowing ships to warn each other about various potential dangers.

Another function is receiving the safety info, including but not limited to the weather forecasts and navigation related warnings. Most of the radio messages are quite mundane and are send/received to cover different aspects of day-to-day operation, these would typically include planning, searching for fuel and berth etc. The present publication was prepared by RYA specialists. The list of topics covered in its pages opens with the description of types of messages, users and equipment.

The next chapter provides readers with the explanation of the working principle of any radio while the third chapter is dealing with the applicable regulations and rules including licensing and type approval. There are useful instruction on proper operation of the marine VHF radios, VHF channels and voice procedures as well as GMDSS and DSC. Of course, this is not a full list of what has been addressed in this book…