On The Bridge with Master Mariner Captain George Mills

"Most of the time you’ll get away without a proper plan… until you don’t."

Returning to the DSNM sofa for this episode of On The Bridge is Captain George Mills, DSNM's in-house Master Mariner.

George breaks down some of the most misunderstood areas of bridge management and navigation. From SOLAS regulations and maritime governance to the daily realities of passage planning, George brings practical advice to topics that are too often treated as "tick-box" exercises rather than safety-critical processes.

Exploring the fine line between luxury service and professional responsibility, George shares his perspective on building safer habits in an increasingly automated environment.

We explore - 

• Breaking down SOLAS and the true purpose of maritime governance.
• Navigating guest expectations, time constraints, and the pressure on the Captain.
• The real risks of treating navigation as a tick-box exercise
• Common mistakes crew can make when planning passages
• Overreliance on ECDIS and GPS systems
• Bridge team communication and leadership dynamics
• Strategies for managing alarm fatigue and preparing for emergency GPS failure.

Whether you're new to yachting or experienced on the bridge, this is a can not miss episode for operating safely at sea.

Chapters -
00:00 – What are the key layers of governance at sea?
01:20 – What is SOLAS and why is it so important?
02:20 – What is the bare minimum for passage planning on a yacht?
04:20 – What are the most common mistakes crews make when planning passages?
06:10 – Why is passage planning treated as a tick-box exercise?
08:30 – How should crews prepare for risks and contingency scenarios?
11:00 – How should captains handle pressure from owners or guests?
16:10 – What are the risks of overreliance on ECDIS and GPS?
22:00 – How can crews avoid alarm fatigue and common ECDIS mistakes?
28:00 – What defines strong bridge team management and communication?
32:00 – How should crews balance automation with real-world awareness?
36:30 – What should crews do when navigation data is missing or unreliable?

If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe, share, and leave a review to help more people find the conversation.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

On this episode of On the Bridge, I'm joined by our in-house master mourner, Captain George Mills. We dive into some of the most frequently asked questions around bridge management and navigation on board, as well as debunking a few of the common myths that still circulate within the industry. From practical insights on day-to-day bridge operations to the realities of managing navigation safely and efficiently at sea, Captain Mills brings a wealth of experience and clarity to topics that are often misunderstood. Hi, George, thank you for joining us. Welcome. Right, I'm gonna crack on with the questions. We've got quite a few. So this is a combination of frequently asked questions that we hear within the office and also questions that we've had from crew. So there's a real variety. So first up is can you explain the organizational layers of governance at sea?

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Well, it all cascades down from IMO, the International Maritime Organization. And I think what we're particularly interested in is SOLAS, the Safety of Life at Sea, which is administered by a vessel's flag state, and in the UK's case, that's the MCA that do that on behalf of UK flag.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

Perfect. What is SOLAS and why is it so important?

SPEAKER_01 1:22

SOLAS is the uh safety of life at sea convention, and it dates back to the Titanic disaster where they built um a fine ship, but they didn't include enough lifeboats for all the people on board. Um that that that's that's the origins of it. Um and and it underpins all all the uh safe legislation, it provides all the safety legislation which is administered by the flag states.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Why is it so important to every vessel?

SPEAKER_01 1:53

Uh well the the clue's in the name, really, isn't it? Safety of life at sea. If if we if we don't do it, then people are unsafe, but uh injured and die.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

How does SOLAS apply to yachts specifically, and how does it differ between commercial yachts and private yachts?

SPEAKER_01 2:08

Private yachts are exempt from some parts of of the Solas Convention, but this the uh chapter five safety navigation that applies across the board, private or commercial.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

Right. All vessels, all super yachts over a certain size?

SPEAKER_01 2:21

Over 24 metres in length, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

We're now going to move on to passage planning, which is obviously very relevant to what we do here at DSNM. This is a question that comes up a lot. What is the bare minimum requirement for passage planning on a yacht over 24 metres?

SPEAKER_01 2:38

Well, it depends on how far they're going, what um the the complexity of the voice, that the the more complex the the the passage, then that the more planning it's going to uh going to require. You you should plan every passage from birth to birth. So effectively that means moving across the harbour. But how much of a plan you make for moving moving from one one part of the marina to another part of the marina, um yeah, that's going to be quite a sh a short plan.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

So we we had a question before about um doing just waypoints.

SPEAKER_01 3:13

No, it's not going to cut it.

SPEAKER_00 3:15

Okay. So that's not a bare minimum.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

No. No, that's that's not a plan. It's even less useful than what you've got on the chart. Okay. A little list a list of latitude and longitudes is of no practical value at all. If you if you want to convert your waypoint list in into something useful, then you would have the course of steer, the um maximum safe speed, minimum under keel clearance uh on that leg, any any uh VHF reporting requirements, uh any notes about crossing traffic or other hazards that you might encounter during that particular leg? You you can convert, you can use your waypoint list as the start point of of you could build your passage plan from that, but just the waypoints by themselves are of no use at all.

SPEAKER_00 4:03

Right. Perfect. Does the passage plan requirement differ if you're privately registered?

SPEAKER_01 4:10

No, it comes it comes under um SALAS chapter five.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

Which is relevant, whether you're private or commercial. What would you say the key stages of a proper passage plan?

SPEAKER_01 4:21

In in the producing of it. Well, there's there's there's the APEN, which uh most people will be familiar with uh appraisal, planning, execution, and monitoring stages of of the passage planning. So um, yeah, that they they've all studied that at college, I hope.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

And in your experience, what are the most common mistakes crew can make when creating a passage plan?

SPEAKER_01 4:45

Failure to gather all the information. Uh a lot of passage planning is done purely on the chart, and any number of uh accident reports will include a reference to failure to look in the pilot books. Right. For example.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

Yeah. So do you think that comes from maybe just rushing, or is that sort of a bad habit or it it's it's a bad habit.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

Um and probably 99 times out of a hundred you'll get away with it just by drawing lines on the chart. You'll you you will get from A to B. Sure. Uh without having any any significant issues. But um Yeah, it's that hundredth time where if you had looked in in the pilot books and and the various other sources of information, then you you may well have incorporated uh other elements into your plan that would help you avoid whatever hazard it is that caused the accident.

SPEAKER_00 5:39

Sure. So using those pilot books would encourage you to incorporate more information. So by not using them, you end up with a much more basic process.

SPEAKER_01 5:48

Yeah, it's a lot quicker.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

Yeah, sure. With half the information missing.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Yeah, but um yeah, it's fail to plan, plan to fail. It's it it it really applies.

SPEAKER_00 6:01

Yeah. Why do you think passage planning is sometimes treated as a tick box exercise rather than a safety critical process?

SPEAKER_01 6:09

Um, because most of the time you will get away without doing a uh a proper plan. If you put the lines on the chart, you will probably get where you want to be.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

Yeah, A to B with no problems.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Yeah. But because you can get away with it, then then doesn't mean you should. It doesn't mean you should. Um and pe people are busy. Yeah, they have time. Yeah, I would have time pressures.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

That that definitely is uh something that we see and we hear a lot, is obviously time pressures, especially with modern schedules and itineraries now. Um that would definitely be something we hear regularly. Could there be a risk in the over-reliance on ECTIS or plotters without proper cross-checking?

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Oh, definitely. Yeah, particularly now with uh GNSS uh degradation, you know, the the Russians are jamming and spoofing in the in the Baltic. There's a lot going on in the eastern Mediterranean. So where people are relying on on the ECDIS where you've got an automatic uh position, if you look it's it's very convincing, is it's a multicolor, it looks fantastic, and it's difficult to doubt it. Yeah. Um so it's at the moment I'd say it's even more important than than ever to be uh cross-checking simple things like checking the uh echo sound. It's a very basic piece of kit, but you walk past, see what depth it says, and is that about the same as what it says on the chart?

SPEAKER_00 7:33

And if it is, then you know the information is correct. Yeah, no, sure. That makes perfect sense. What hazards are most commonly overlooked in passage plan?

SPEAKER_01 7:43

Cross-track error is sometimes set too too narrowly, and uh so it leaves the officer of the watch a limited area to go if he's going to stay within what's been checked by the uh auto auto route uh function, auto route check function. Um really you want to set it as wide as you can so that the uh the watchkeeper's got space to to go around fishing boats and other traffic and so on. Sure. Um but and under keel clearance that should be flagged up during the route check function. So I I don't think that that shouldn't be an issue if we're talking about ectris uh passage planning.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Any other hazards?

SPEAKER_01 8:26

Tidal streams are obviously it's it's relevant information, but it all depends on your what time you go and what time you arrive. Um so to plan for that ahead of time is is not always so straightforward. You could perhaps look up the the strongest uh tidal streams that you're going to encounter in this in a certain area so that you're aware what it could be, but uh you needn you need to um factor in the time on passage. It does get quite involved if if you're going to make a comprehensive plan taking ex exactly into account what you're going to get when you get there. That that's quite an undertaking. And as we said before, quite a quite a lot of the time they're they're not gonna have um not gonna have the time to to do that.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

Sure. Any other hazards which are commonly overlooked in passage planning that maybe you see traffic.

SPEAKER_01 9:19

People don't um make make a note or we're we're gonna expecting heavy, heavy traffic in this area or or a high high concentration of fishing vessels, um, which is the sort of information you might pick out of the pilot books. It this is the sort of thing that ought to be in the remarks column in the passage plan. Right. Which which which you build from your waypoint list.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

How should crew incorporate contingency planning into a passage plan?

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Well, you'd you'd have uh contingency anchorages, you'd identify them in advance. So if you do need to go to anchor for whatever reason, then uh you you've got somewhere ready identified.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

What's a good example of a what if scenario crew should always prepare for?

SPEAKER_01 10:05

I would say in general, the I I would be thinking about engine failure or steering gear failure. It all the all the times when we were hoisting not under command signals, that that was the cause.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

So have that to have that at the back of your mind is is is not a bad thing.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

And what about passage planning? What could be a what if situation? Is there something that you commonly see that crew maybe don't often have a contingency plan for?

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Well, I think I think failure to monitor the weather forecast is is not uncommon. Uh a lot of the time in VHF range, I'll hear a coast radio station saying I won't switch to channel whatever, so we're going we've got a weather forecast and some um set safety um safety messages. And it's just ignored. The what the watchkeeper won't uh this is in commercial ships, not not not yours. Yeah, they they they won't switch over and listen to it. Which I I find utterly bizarre.

SPEAKER_00 11:12

Sure, especially if the information is being given out for a reason, as we say, to keep everybody safe. Yeah. Yeah gosh. Okay, how should crew manage pressure from owners or guests when it conflicts with safe passage planning?

SPEAKER_01 11:25

As best they can. Because at the end of the day, um, well, if you won't do it, I'll find someone who will, is it that's the the um at the back of the mind.

SPEAKER_00 11:38

Um what would you if a if a member of crew came to you for advice on that situation, what would be your advice to a maybe a younger member of crew that was in a position where he he or she was being put under pressure by guests? What would be your advice?

SPEAKER_01 11:57

I I would say if if they're ever feeling uncomfortable and they can't uh and unable to uh to give the guests the answer they want, then I can come and talk to them. Come get me.

SPEAKER_00 12:10

Cool, George, on the batphone.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

Well, yeah, well, not not me personally, but call call call the captain. Yeah, if if uh that that's why you've got a captain.

SPEAKER_00 12:18

What if you are the captain?

SPEAKER_01 12:20

Uh then you've got to weigh up your uh professional responsibility with your commercial responsibility. And um I would I would say the the safety aspect comes first, and you've got to do your best to persuade the guests that that's what you're that's why you have to do it, and then do it anyway.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

Yeah. Because often I think it's a case of going against your personal integrity being put in a situation like that, isn't it? And like you say, the responsibility of that vessel and every single person on it lays with the captain. So it's a difficult situation, but like you say, you've got to balance it up what's right and what keeps people happy.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

You you've got to play the the guests' expectations, haven't you? You've got you've got to manage manage them in in effect, um, and m make make sure they understand why why you're being awkward, why you won't go into that particular bay or or whatever it is that you're saying you can't do. Yes. Um and yeah, we're very, very sorry we we we can't do that. And this is this is this is why we can't do it. And I think I think if in my experience, uh the more open you can be and it expanded for you and get them to understand what the what the issues are, then um then the more chance you've got of of them um of them well perhaps not being happy with it, but but understanding. Understanding.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

Yeah. If you could give crew a simple checklist for passage planning, what would it be?

SPEAKER_01 13:50

I would go go back to APEM and and and run through that, and I'd have a list of all the um publications that I'm gonna have a look at, and then in the planning stage, I'm going to put the lines on the chart, consult the charts, draw draw what I think are sensible lines. Um then then run through the timing of it, identify the the pressure points where I might want um more people on the bridge, for example, because it's gonna be a busy period. Um and then the monitoring stage make making sure that it's actually going according to plan. So that that could be all um all written out in some detail to make it easy, easy to follow.

SPEAKER_00 14:33

So APEM's sort of the the best thing to follow, really, because if you follow that you can't really miss anything.

SPEAKER_01 14:40

Um yeah, you you need some detail in in in it.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

But as a basic structure.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

As a basic it's a great structure to start from, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Okay, perfect. What are the biggest myths about passage planning in yachting?

SPEAKER_01 14:55

I th I think there's some some private private yachts which will say they they don't need to do one because they're private, which actually isn't the case. They've still got to comply with chapter five as as we were saying before. Of so last, yeah. Um and we've been there before. Well, yeah, you might well have been there before. I've been loads of places before, but I would still want a passage plan um because things changed, the regulations changed. Did you did you check the harbour regs since you were last here? You know, is there is the now a speed limit of four knots which is going to cost you a five thousand dollar fine because you broke it because you hadn't checked it beforehand?

SPEAKER_00 15:33

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

So that that's the sort of detail which a proper passage plan will dig out.

SPEAKER_00 15:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

And so it does protect you not necessarily against um you know accidents, but also also against uh coming up against um coming up against the harbour master, you know, or new sort of areas of conservation and all that all that.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

Thank you for listening to this episode so far. We have some really great guests coming up on this series, and we wouldn't want you to miss any of those future episodes. So please don't forget to click the subscribe button and enjoy the rest of this episode. We're gonna move on to ECDIS and bridge management. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using electronic chart display information systems, ECDIS, over traditional paper charting?

SPEAKER_01 16:22

Uh well, and any second officer will tell you that the advantage is that you don't have to do chart corrections anymore, um, which is that's fair comment.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

Yes, it's definitely time consuming.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

And and you have r real-time live positioning on on the screen and it's automatically updating. They are huge advantages. Um the disadvantage, the main disadvantage to my mind is that it it is such a convincing display. And if you do come up against uh GPS issues, it's after time it can become difficult to doubt what your ECIS is telling you. Which is which is why cross-checking is so important.

SPEAKER_00 17:03

Yeah, and I guess the longer that you use ECTIS and you become more familiar with it, more comfortable with it, I guess that's something that you have to be quite conscious of yourself if you're the user of it, that you are still checking in to make sure, like we were saying earlier, using other ways to just ensure the data is correct.

SPEAKER_01 17:23

Yeah, absolutely. We've um just put the the latest safety bulletin up on uh on campus. We've the International Chamber of Shipping have uh brought out a poster highlighting the the dangers of uh GPS failure and jamming and spoofing and so on, and what what to watch for and what to do if you think you got it. And it is absolutely key because it's it's only a tool. Yeah, you know, rubbish in, rubbish out. All the cliches apply. Um, but to it's it's it is very easy to get sucked into the into the ECIS screen and think, yeah, this is where we are, this is where we're going, everything's everything's fine because it's yeah, it's saying what I'm expecting it to say and what I'm wanting it to say. Yeah, I I think the the pe thing which people don't do as much as they used to because they've got ECGIS is um radar parallel indexing, um, which is a it's an independent check of your distance off a headland or or a lighthouse or or whatever, um, and it verifies your um your cross-track error.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

Right.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Yeah, completely independent of the GPS, which is absolutely key. And you you can do things like look at the AIS overlay on your radar screen, and if the IAS target isn't sitting on top of the radar target, yeah, sometimes there's a there's a small error, but if they're significantly different, then you think, well, there is a potential GPS. It might be a jar error, but it's yeah, it depends on how it's misaligned.

SPEAKER_00 18:58

But good good ch ways to check to be routinely used.

SPEAKER_01 19:02

Yeah, if if a glance at the radar with the AIS overlay will will tell you straight away if the GPS and the radar are telling you the same story. And if they are, then you're you're probably okay.

SPEAKER_00 19:13

But if it's like reading something on the Daily Mail website and then maybe going to check it on another website, because just because it's on the w the website doesn't mean it's true. So it's cross-checking the information in variety of areas to make sure that it is correct.

SPEAKER_01 19:30

Well, yeah, but you you'd be surprised to to know that I'm not a reader of the Daily Mail website.

SPEAKER_00 19:35

Me neither.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

So yeah, I wouldn't I wouldn't know so much about that.

SPEAKER_00 19:41

Okay, what are the essential training requirements for mariners to become proficient in using ECDIS and the best ways to ensure its compliance?

SPEAKER_01 19:50

Well, they need to do a generic ECDIS training course. So everyone's got to do that. You don't have to do a type-specific training course anymore, although Flagstate might require it, some Flag States do, and the SOS safety management system might require it as well. So that's that's interesting. It's it's it's it's not a um it's not an IMO requirement. Um, but what is an IMO requirement is familiarisation, which should be conducted on board.

SPEAKER_00 20:17

And how would that be conducted on board?

SPEAKER_01 20:18

Um you you would have a checklist. There's a uh in NP133c, there there is a familiarisation checklist. I think nautical institute have got an excess familiarisation checklist, and so you would you would run through it kicks off with a find the on-off button. Yeah, it's it it does take you through just about everything. Yeah. Um and would you do that yearly or I I would say yes, you'd want you'd want to revisit that on an annual basis, um as evidence of familiarisation, but really it's using the kit day in, day out, and exploring it. Um finding out what other functionality is, you know, stand next to someone who's better at it than you and before you leave. Well, yeah, familiarisation has to be done before you keep a watch. Yeah. But just go going through the list is okay, you are you are familiar with it, but it's it's not quite the same as using it in practice when you're in the middle of the Dover Straits and this fog and there's ferries coming at you left and right, and there's uh bulkers overtaking you. Yeah. And it it's all getting a bit frantic. Um, you know, the the the familiarisation checklist will well, it's it's it's gonna be a help, certainly, but it's it's it's really practical familiar familiarity with the with the kit that counts.

SPEAKER_00 21:38

So the generic course, then familiarization, and then using the flavor that with someone hopefully who is Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

Yeah, or or just t time off watching alongside, yeah, maybe maybe have informal sessions in the evening if you uh the the sec the second mate who's doing or whoever it is who who does the uh the updates. You'd expect to be pretty okay with with all aspects of it, or a a lot more perhaps than some of the other watchkeepers. So spent spend some time, get asked them to spend some time with it.

SPEAKER_00 22:11

How can bridge crew effectively manage alarms and alerts on ECDIS to prevent alarm fatigue?

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Well, the the thing to remember is that alarms are there for a reason, so um n no one is going to be suggesting turning them off. Um it's more to do with adjusting the safety settings so you get appropriate alarms. Uh in in a narrow channel, you'd want to shorten in your guard zone, for example, so that it's not triggering out every 30 seconds.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

Um but occasionally it will be busy. Yeah, the situation on the bridge will be busy, and then I'd say you'd ask me you'd call the captain. I mean, he's there for a reason. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:54

What are some of the common pitfalls crew should try to avoid when using ECDIS? So any sort of common errors that you see when you're going on board.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

Uh I would think probably over-reliance is is the is the big one here. Um people don't they they should my my my recommendation would be to plot a manual position every watch just to maintain familiarity with that. Um but yeah. Over reliance, yeah, definitely. It's it's a it's a great tool, and that that's that's the problem. It's it is so good that you it's very difficult not to become over reliant on it.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Yeah, sure. What bridge equipment or technology do you often see being underutilized by crew? So you've mentioned a couple earlier that I thought were really interesting.

SPEAKER_01 23:47

Echo sounder, always. Um, it's it's your silent friend, it just sits there doing its job. Um so you would, as as I mentioned before, I think check the uh echo sounder against the charted depth occasionally, not not every 10 minutes or every 15 minutes, but wait when you're passing, just have a quick glance and does does that make sense? Um and use the depth alarm. That's a really useful tool. And I I would set the depth alarm to 50 or 100 metres when I was on a deep sea passage because it's like a sort of wake-up time. Yeah, you're coming coming towards shallow water. Um, but it it needs to be adjusted depending on uh on where you are for for sure. And and the uh the other one I'd say is the navtex.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 24:38

Um it people very rarely look at that. They they make sure they've got the right stations dialed in, but um quite often I I see it doesn't get looked at.

SPEAKER_00 24:49

What are the best practices for ensuring reliability and safety in bridge management?

SPEAKER_01 24:56

I I think regular team meetings, bridge team meetings go a long way. Just taking half an hour with with with coffee in a in a in a quiet spell, just to sit down and um run through any issues. You you could do a bit of training at the same time, yeah. Have a look at the ECDIS, as we were just talking about. Yeah. Um familiarisation with with some of the kit which people don't use as much. The autopilot quite often, but isn't understood as well as it could be. So perhaps getting the manual out and diving into all the functionalities that that are in there and and how you would use them.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

Yeah, making sure that everyone's on on board on pulling in the same direction with what they're doing.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

Yeah, well, just yeah, they they know how to use the kit. It's a fundamental, but people I I find often they'll know what they need, what they think they need to know and nothing else, and they they won't, they're not inquisitive like they used to be. They don't go looking for looking for stuff.

SPEAKER_00 25:58

But I wonder also if if part of that is due to the pressure faced on board now that there does feel, and I could be wrong, obviously I'm not crew, but it does feel as if there's a a sort of real increase on the time constraint that a lot of people and crew are moving a lot. And then when you get on board a new boat, maybe you're you know going straight out to charter. So maybe the time allowed for learning and handing over, maybe you didn't even get a handover if the uh crew member maybe left under short notice. So, like you say, the the simplicity of just having regular meetings and checking in and making sure that everyone is a fay with the equipment that's on board, and if not, who needs a bit of extra help is probably underestimated.

SPEAKER_01 26:45

Well in in commercial in commercial shipping, though they would a lot of SMSs will say you you you you have a pre-departure meeting with all the bridge team and you have a pre-arrival meeting and you discuss what the what you anticipate the birthing manoeuvre is going to be.

SPEAKER_00 26:59

Uh okay, so you're going to quite a lot of detail then.

SPEAKER_01 27:02

Yeah, um, and the the navigation officer will take the team through the plan for the for the entire passage. Um which is great if you've got time.

SPEAKER_00 27:11

Yes, if you've got time.

SPEAKER_01 27:12

That's the thing. And yeah, t time pressure is is nasty. Yeah. It forces you to take to cut corners.

SPEAKER_00 27:19

Yeah, sure. What information do you find can be commonly missed on bridge watch handovers?

SPEAKER_01 27:27

Uh I would say navigation warnings.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 27:30

New new new navigation warnings that have come in. Um traffic position, course speed, and so on. That that is all covered as a matter of routine. I I don't see any any issues with that. But um yeah, I'd say it's it's navigation warnings where where people slip up sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 27:52

Can you give me the key emergency procedures involving bridge equipment that crews should be familiar with?

SPEAKER_01 27:59

Um yeah, the the big one is GPS failure. We talk about uh running a GPS failure drill. Well, that's what I do on the on a navigation audit. If if we've got C C room, uh we'll turn the GPS off and see how the bridge behaves because each each bridge is configured differently. Yes. And so the the the gyro may or not or may not go into alarm. It might stop working if it doesn't if it doesn't have its latitude and speed input. Um the ECDIS will should go into dead reckoning mode automatically. Right. Uh all the GMDSS kit may or may not go into alarm because it hasn't got its GPS position anymore. And so getting people familiar with how their bridge will behave in the event of GPS failure makes it a lot easier to deal with in the middle of the night when suddenly seven or eight different alarms have all started shouting at you.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

Um I guess you would never know how everything on the bridge would behave without doing that.

SPEAKER_01 28:58

Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 28:59

So actually, then if it does happen, then you feel comfortable with or as comfortable as you can, obviously.

SPEAKER_01 29:04

Yeah, I'm not sure comfortable sort of words. You might panic slightly less if you've been through it and yeah, if you've been through it in slow time, people make notes when when we do is yeah, this happened and then this this went into line. But interestingly, when we turned off that GPS and then that one, this didn't happen. Right. Um yeah, it's it's it's familiarity with how it's going to behave if it happens. Yeah. And it's particularly important, I think, with retrofit equipment. So if you if you if you've got a a bridge which was built uh without ECTIS, then ECTIS was added on, then seeing how that interacts with everything else, it's really, really useful.

SPEAKER_00 29:44

Yeah, and that's so common now. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. What specific roles and responsibilities should each member of the bridge team take to ensure safe navigation?

SPEAKER_01 29:57

Each member of the bridge team, well, the the the captain has the over the oversight. He's got the overview. It's one of the um I've almost been waiting for an excuse to say this. It's one one of the uh common themes of grounding reports is that the captain didn't check the passage plan. Right, okay, that's interesting. Put together by a junior officer, and yeah, that the captain was too busy or wasn't in the habit of checking it. Right. Um so that is a common I I I sailed on a bulk of going through the Baltic and I watched the captain spending about 20, 30 minutes inching through the passage plan. Just it's a deep draft vessel for the for the southern Baltic and yeah, just going through it meticulously. Right. And yeah, that that's the degree of care that is is is is sometimes necessary. Yeah, depending on the circumstances, you wouldn't do that in the middle of the Atlantic. Of course, yeah. Um so yeah, the the captain's got got the the uh the oversight, he's he's got to make sure that every everyone's uh um yeah, comfortable with the kit, um and and so on, as as we said before. And the navigation officer is um yeah, he's he's maintaining the publications and the the neck is up up to date. That's a that's a key function. Again, the cat that comes under the captain's oversight as well. The updating and making sure everything is as ready to go as possible is Yeah, well it is it's it's it's much easier if you keep it up to date rather than try and play catch up later on.

SPEAKER_00 31:27

How can bridge teams balance the use of automated systems and active human-based decision making?

SPEAKER_01 31:36

Well, the the fundamental which is often forgotten these days, is to look out of the window. And it's another thing which crops up in uh grounding reports. Uh that they've had a lighthouse on or a boy on on the wrong side, should have been on the starboard side, but there it was on the port side flashing away, and people get sucked into the screens, four, five, six screens that they've got with all this marvellous information in front of them, um, which which does it does suck suck you in, and isn't yeah. And you do forget to look out of the window. The the the Ectis is is telling you where you're where you are and where where it's planned to go, um, but you'd be cross-referencing that with your traffic situation, so you'd perhaps have an AIS overlay on on your Ectis, which would give you an overview, but uh you'd be monitoring the the radar as well, obviously. Um something which people don't seem to do these days nearly as much is uh set the ARPA targets, acquire acquire ARPA targets, automatic radar plotting seems to be neglected. Um people are deriving what they consider to be enough information from the AIS, um, which which is risky because the AIS is dependent on the data transmitted by the other vessel in terms of CPA and C T CPA. Um, and you you don't know how good or otherwise his kit is.

SPEAKER_00 33:02

Yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_01 33:03

So it can't it can give you poor information if you're basing your traffic avoidance manoeuvres on that, it it you can can get seriously unstuck.

SPEAKER_00 33:12

Okay. Can you share some examples of effective bridge team management?

SPEAKER_01 33:18

Um well in in general terms, it's to my mind it's it's all about communication and a two-way flow of information. So whoever has the con, usually the usually the captain where where this is becoming more critical, or perhaps a pilot, and he's being he or she is being fed information by the navigation officer by the captain, and linked to that is the ability to um challenge, yeah. And sometimes, you know, excuse me, Captain, did you see the big rock over there? Um, and a good captain will will say, uh, yes, thanks, I did see the big rock, but we'll I'm just gonna wait till we're past this fishing boat and then we're going to walk a course around the big rot. Whereas other captains will say, Of course I saw the big rock. Do you think I'm an idiot? And yeah, and then what happens is the whoever it was who was you know pointing it out is well, I'm not gonna bother saying that again.

SPEAKER_00 34:13

Yeah, sure. Sort of closed off to that and communication.

SPEAKER_01 34:16

But yeah, I've I've done um training trips in uh out of Parma, and it's on the what the one I'm thinking of in particular, the the communication was so good, really sharp, crisp, concise, and acknowledged as well. So you know it's a closed loop communication system.

SPEAKER_00 34:38

So you would say then good examples that you've seen are teams where they feel comfortable communicating up the the ladder to a captain or maybe a senior officer where their opinion and their feedback is welcomed, even if that person's already aware of what they're yeah, well you or you might say something's wrong. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:58

But yeah, a good captain feel stupid to see. Yeah, they're not me, they're not made to feel stupid about it.

SPEAKER_00 35:03

And I think that's really interesting because then in a in a good situation, that's brilliant. But when things go wrong, you actually do want your crew to feel comfortable to be able, they're gonna kind of come to you and say this is going wrong or this could go wrong, rather than thinking I'm just gonna keep that to myself. Yeah, okay, that's that's interesting because that's sort of the same in a business environment as as well.

SPEAKER_01 35:27

Yeah, it's it's universal, isn't it? It the the ability to communicate two ways is is key. And yeah, so many um more sort of office-y politic-y type issues are I have have arisen that I that I've seen where you know no one's done anything fundamentally wrong. It's just they haven't talked to each other properly.

SPEAKER_00 35:48

Sure, yeah, and then things get missed.

SPEAKER_01 35:50

Yeah, no, that's really encouraging the the the newbie to to speak up as well is is important. So um I I see sometimes a a cadet or somebody's just standing there a bit nervous in the corner, and you say, Why why don't you Captain, why don't you ask him to report when he can see that ship's green sidelight? Yeah, something which is pretty irrelevant. Yeah. Well, not irrelevant necessarily, but it it's it's not of significant importance. Yeah. Um, but it just gets him or her used to speaking on the bridge. Yeah, that's just give g give them a minor thing to report on. Yeah, tell tell me when we're five miles from the breakwater, please.

SPEAKER_00 36:30

Build a bit of confidence. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. No, sure. That's really interesting. Okay, we're gonna move on um for the last few questions now. ITU, what information does it give a mariner? Why is it important to carry the prerequisite volumes?

SPEAKER_01 36:48

Uh well, it's it's a legal requirement if you're sailing outside the VHF areas. If you're in A2, A3, or A4, then it's a requirement that you carry them. And it um Yeah, it's it's frustrating because they're expensive and that they're I think to a lot of people they're of limited value. But they're there for a reason. They're there they're there for a reason, yeah. And yeah, it's it's the law.

SPEAKER_00 37:15

This is a question from from uh from a member of crew, actually. We come across a lack of ENC data sometimes or no data for particular areas. We then rely on unofficial chart data like time zero. Is this compliant?

SPEAKER_01 37:32

Um strictly speaking, no, but it's we we could dig down a bit and uh think think about how how you deal with that sort of situation. I would say the first thing to do is to consider do I do we actually need to go there? Um if if we haven't got if we haven't got the data. Um if we do have to go there, then when we don't have ENC data, then we've we're going back to passage planning and put pulling out all the available information. So we're looking to see if there are locally produced paper charts for it, for example, and you'll find a lot of information in in the pilot books again. Um but if if it's if it's being done properly, your passage plan's being done properly, then that's all done in advance. So you've got time to to work all this out before you get there. You don't you're not just turning up and suddenly finding that there's not nothing to navigate with.

SPEAKER_00 38:33

Yeah, so it all goes back to the very start of the conversation about being prepared, and that's why passage plan is there. So you're aware of anything like this that you're going to encounter during during the passage. Thanks, George. That was really interesting. And I I'm excited to share your insights with our customers and crew members that we work with. Thanks for your time.

SPEAKER_01 38:56

Yeah, thanks for having me.