Planning and executing worldwide passages
- Appraise the full passage with charts, publications, weather and routeing information for any ocean region.
- Plan berth to berth with ocean routeing, tidal and traffic considerations, contingency plans and abort points.
- Execute with the bridge team briefed, the ECDIS route checked, and manning appropriate to the waters.
- Monitor continuously, cross-checking position by independent means and reviewing the plan against the actual weather.
At management level the officer uses ECDIS competently as the primary means of navigation, with its safety contour, safety depth and route check correctly set, and cross-checks the electronic position against radar, visual marks and — where appropriate — celestial navigation. The same rigorous, monitored plan is expected whether the yacht is crossing an ocean, transiting a traffic separation scheme, or entering a busy port; the standard does not relax because the passage is routine.
NOTE — One standard, any ocean The examiner expects the same disciplined, monitored passage plan whether the yacht is mid-ocean or closing a strange port. Management level is about setting and holding that standard for the whole bridge team, not just working it yourself.
WARNING — Set ECDIS up, do not just switch it on ECDIS only protects the ship if the safety contour, safety depth and alarms are set for the vessel, and the route is checked against the ENCs. An ECDIS run on default settings has grounded ships that trusted it.