1.0 Responsibilities
1.0 Responsibilities
1.0 Responsibilities
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The Master must understand that nothing contained in this chapter is to be construed in any way to
relieve him of his full responsibility for the safe navigation of his ship and the efficient organisation on board.
The Master has overall responsibility for the safe operation of his vessel in accordance with flag state laws
and international regulations.
In circumstances where action is required to protect vessel, its cargo or crew and prevent pollution the
Master has overriding authority . (Refer to SHEQ 5.1 for details)
The Master is fully responsible for: (in addition to the SHEQ 3.6.1.4)
Ensuring that all bridge personnel are fully familiar with the location and operation of all
bridge controls and equipment before they assume responsibility for bridge watch.
Ensuring that all personnel joining the vessel have sufficient time and opportunity to
become familiar with the shipboard equipment, operating procedures, and other
arrangements required for the proper performance of their duties.
Ensuring that the bridge is properly manned for the prevailing conditions.
Ensuring that all bridge navigation officers reporting aboard company vessels are aware of
the requirements of this chapter and of any relevant circular letters, feedback
checklists, etc.
Ensuring that a berth-to-berth passage plan is prepared and that safe distance from the nearest
grounding line are maintained.
All traffic is to be given a wide and safe berth as laid down in the International Regulations for the
Prevention of Collision at Sea. These regulations are amended from time to time and the Master, along with
his navigation officers, must be aware of the latest amendments.
A CPA of at least 2 nm and TCPA 15 min. should be attained in open waters and whenever practical.
CPA’s of less than 1 nm should be avoided whenever possible. If the vessel navigating in pilotage waters,
confined water, canals or straits CPA and TCPA values should be set as safe as possible. However final
decision must be given by master according to actual circumstances.
Masters are to also ensure that all watch officers are aware of the handling characteristics of their vessel
with special emphasis being made to turning circles and stopping distances. The vessel turning circles and
stopping distances are to be prominently displayed on the bridge.
It is important that Master standing orders should be written to reflect the master’s own requirements
and the circumstances particular to the ship, her trade and experience of the bridge team currently
onboard.
The Master is entitled to vary responsibilities and duties onboard to meet any exceptional circumstances.
Standing orders and instructions shall be operated without conflict with the safety management system.
Standing orders shall be read by all officers upon joining the ship and signed and dated accordingly. A copy
of the orders should be available on the bridge for reference.
On each occasion any watch officer joins the vessel he shall sign that has read and understood these
standing orders. (Company and master standing orders) Standing orders must also clearly specify and leave
no doubt on:
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The Master is to prepare daily bridge orders & write them in the Bridge Order Book at every day when at
sea. Such orders shall be read, understood & signed by each OOW when going on watch. Orders shall
include distance to be maintained off the land, adverse weather conditions, navigational hazards, reporting &
notices, expected traffic & such other instructions, security measures as the Master considers necessary.
In the event of an incident or breakdown, the Master's first priority is the preservation of life. Master has the
absolute authority to engage any assistance necessary to protect the vessel, her crew, cargo and the
environment.
For company instructions’ and procedure’s details see the Shipboard Emergency Contingency Manual
and additionally refer to SHEQ chapter 5.1 for master’s overriding authority
Master is responsible to take VDR back up before VDR data lost, after all immediate actions taken
and case taken under control. (Refer to chapter 9.3.2 VDR Back up)
By International Law he is required to give all possible assistance to save life. The Master must not overlook
that his prime responsibility is the safety of his own ship and the lives on board and undue risks are not to
be taken.
The Master is responsible for providing the Chief Engineer with adequate notice before standing by for
manoeuvring. He must also keep the Chief Engineer fully advised of the ship's itinerary to enable him to
arrange the proper maintenance of machinery. It must be understood however that ship's engines always
remain at the disposal of the bridge team .
At all times the ship's speed is to be controlled by the Master in full consultation with the Chief Engineer,
except in circumstances where the OOW is required to alter speed in order to comply with the collision
regulations, contingencies or weather conditions.
Subject always to the overriding considerations of safety and STCW requirements and where geographical
and weather conditions allow, the Master is encouraged at his own discretion to take over some of the purely
watch keeping duties of the Chief Officer. This will allow the Chief Officer to devote more time to the overall
supervision of the crew, particularly during periods of peak activity.
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1.1.9 Charts
The Master must ensure that he has all the charts / Ecdis ENC cells and publications on board for the
intended passage and that all charts are corrected to the latest Notices to Mariners / CD’s available and
Navigational Warnings.
If ENC charts not available in the supplier, no ENC coverage, for the any leg of the next voyage, Master to
be request / vessel to be provided with paper charts instead of missing ENC charts coverage area.
In the case of destination port changed during the voyage, the missing charts, if available, to be requested
by the vessel. If any ENC charts not available in the chart supplier, the company shall check suitable paper
chart supply point, vessel deviate to relevant port to supply paper charts to cover missing ENC area.
Using of Raster charts prohibited, Masters ensure that adequate ENC / paper charts available on board.
When circumstances permit, the Master is to provide opportunities for the Chief Officer and the other deck
officers to gain experience in ship handling. This is to take place during coastal navigation and port
approaches, under the direct supervision of the Master.
The Master must give clear instructions on the navigation aids to be in use and the required margins of
safety on closing land or a navigational danger, which will include clearly marking the information on the
charts in use, during any period he expects to be absent from the bridge. He must also indicate the
frequency with which the position is to be fixed for each section of the passage. The Master must not be
pressurised into making hasty judgements due to commercial pressures from any person. Refer to 3.1.3
Passage Planning.
Based on an assessment of the risks (prevailing circumstances and conditions relating to vessel situation,
equipment condition and weather), the Master must take a decision on whether, for port departure or
entrance, the vessel is in a 'go' or 'no go' situation. The office is to be advised in the event of a 'no go'
situation.
Go situation.
As an example to be in a 'go' situation, the following criteria must be met:
No Go Situation
To be in a 'no go' situation, the following would prevent departure:
• No authorisation.
• Critical Equipment or Machinery not working.
• Vessel un-seaworthy (as structural, vessel is not suitable for navigation)
• Adverse weather conditions where the safety of the crew, vessel or cargo would be at risk.
The OOW is the master’s representative and his primary responsibility at all times is the safe navigation of
the ship. OOW must at all times comply with the applicable regulations for preventing collisions at sea
and officer of watch.
Has unrestricted access to navigation systems,
Has unrestricted access to communication systems,
Has unrestricted access to use of the engines.
OOW should ensure that bridge watch manning levels are always safe for the prevailing circumstances and
conditions.
1.2.2 Familiarisation
All Watch Officers, including Master, must fully familiarise themselves with the location and operation of all
bridge controls and equipment before assuming responsibility for a bridge watch. This is to be completed
wherever possible with the assistance of the outgoing officer.
Below checklist will be guided and completed.
In order to maintain a safe navigational watch, the primary duties of the OOW will involve watchkeeping,
navigation and GMDSS radio watch keeping.
Bridge watch keeping is the most important activity conducted at sea. Upon the watch keeper's diligence
rests the security of the ship, her entire crew, the cargo and the environment. It is a demanding activity,
requires support, encouragement, motivation, self-discipline and a high standard of professionalism
The watch keeping duties of the OOW include maintaining a look-out and general surveillance of the ship,
collision avoidance in compliance with the COLREGS, recording bridge activities, and making periodic
checks on the navigational equipment in use.
The O.O.W. is to give watch keeping personnel all appropriate instructions and information, which will ensure
the keeping of a safe watch including an appropriate lookout.
The O.O.W. is in complete charge of the safe navigation of the ship irrespective of the presence of
the Master and is to remain in charge until the Master specifically states that he has taken charge
and an appropriate log entry made. A log entry is also to be made when the Master hands the safe
navigation of the vessel to the O.O.W.
The O.O.W. must in no circumstances leave bridge until properly relieved. If, at any time, OOW is in any
doubt as to the safety of the ship, the Master is to be informed immediately.
He is not to hand over the watch to the relieving officer if he has reason to believe that the latter is
not capable of carrying out his duties effectively, in which case he is to notify the Master accordingly.
Proper look out is the first step of professional watch. OOW’s situational awareness will be improvement
by both structured management of the team, his own self-discipline and ensuring proper look out. A good
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look out does not just mean that he personally keeps a good visual look out of the ship’s surroundings. ‘’
Vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look out by sight and hearing as by all available means
appropriate in the prevailing conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of
collision’’.
The lookout must be able to give full attention to the keeping of a proper lookout and no
other duties shall be undertaken or assigned which could interfere with that task.
The duties of the lookout and helmsman are separate, and the helmsman is not to be
considered as the lookout whilst steering,
The OOW must ensure that lookouts clearly understand their duties and the system of reporting and that
all reports are passed to the O.O.W and the Master if he has taken charge of the bridge and if a pilot is on
board, to the Pilot.
In certain circumstances of clear daylight conditions, the Master may consider that the OOW may be the
sole look-out. The situation has been carefully assessed and it has been established without doubt that it
is safe to operate with a sole lookout. Full account has been taken of all relevant factors, including but not
limited to the following:
State of weather
State of visibility
Traffic density, including the presence of fishing vessels.
Proximity of dangers to navigation
The attention required when navigating in or near traffic separation schemes.
It must be remembered that conditions can change at very short notice and therefore the OOW must be
able to summon the additional lookout immediately if the situation requires. L ookout must be
immediately available and contactable either by telephone / radio or working within close vicinity of the
bridge.
The OOW needs to maintain a high level of general awareness about the ship and its day-to-day operations.
This may include maintaining a general watch over the ship's decks to monitor, where possible, people
working on deck and any cargo or cargo handling equipment. Special watch keeping arrangements may be
appropriate in waters where there is thought to be a risk of piracy or armed attack.
Whenever work is being carried out on deck in the vicinity of radar antennae, radio aerials or sound
signalling apparatus, the OOW should be particularly observant and should post appropriate warning notices
on the equipment controls.
Danger may arise suddenly and unexpectedly from any quarter at any time. Watch officers are warned
against allowing themselves to be lulled into a false sense of security at any time and especially in pilotage
waters, poor visibility and at night.
OOW shall ensure that the ship exhibits the appropriate lights and shapes and that appropriate sound
signals are made at all times, as required. The OOW must always comply with the COLREGS. Compliance
not only concerns the conduct of vessels under the steering and sailing rules, but also displaying the correct
lights and shapes and making the correct sound and light signals.
For details of usage lights shapes and signals refer to chapter 15- appendix 05- 01&02
In clear weather, the risk of collision can be detected early by taking frequent compass bearings of an
approaching vessel to ascertain whether or not the bearing is steady, and the vessel is on a collision course.
Care however must be taken when approaching very large ships, ships under tow or ships at close range.
An appreciable bearing change may be evident under these circumstances but in fact a risk of collision may
still remain.
In restricted visibility, radar and radar plotting can be used effectively for assessing risk of collision. The
OOW should take the opportunity to carry out radar plotting practice in clear visibility whenever it is possible.
A radar plotting aid to plot electronically the range and bearing of targets to determine collision risk or an
automatic tracking aid to plot automatically the range and bearing of other targets to determine collision risk.
In general, early and positive action should always be taken when avoiding collisions and, once action has
been taken, the OOW should always check to make sure that the action taken is having the desired effect.
VHF radio should not be used for collision avoidance purposes. Valuable time can be wasted
attempting to make contact since positive identification may be difficult and, once contact has been made,
misunderstandings may arise.
Attempts to avoid collision by communicating using AIS equipment should be avoided. Accident
investigations have shown that such attempts waste time, distract the attention of the OOW and often fail to
establish effective communication.
The O.O.W. must not hesitate in taking avoiding action by turning the vessel away from the danger or
by a substantial reduction in speed.
Action must be taken well in time and the action should be such as to be positive and readily
apparent to other vessels
In general, in open sea, if there is sufficient sea room, and if the circumstances permit,
collision avoidance action must be taken at a distance of at least 4-6 miles
As far as possible and practical in the traffic conditions, without endangering the vessel, a minimum
CPA of 2 miles must be maintained. CPA’s of less than 1 nm should be avoided whenever possible.
If the Duty Officer has to pass a ship with less than a CPA of 1 mile, assume this case as a
collision risk.
An alteration significiant (ex: 30 to 40 degrees is considered) to be the minimum for it to be readily
apparent to another vessel observing only by radar. This must be borne in mind, especially in
restricted visibility
It is important that a proper, formal record of navigational activities and incidents, which are of importance to
safety of navigation, is kept in appropriate logbooks.
Paper records from course recorders, echo sounders, NAVTEX receivers etc. should also be retained at
least for the duration of the voyage, suitably date and time marked if practicable.
In order to allow the ship's actual track to be reconstructed at a later stage, sufficient information concerning
position, course and speed should be recorded in the bridge logbook or using approved electronic means. All
positions marked on the navigational charts also need to be retained until the end of the voyage.
All entries in the Deck Logbook, Bell Book, GMDSS Log Book, Radar Log Book, Compass Error Book and all
company required checklists are to be made clearly in ink (ballpoint pen). Errors are to be neatly scored
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through once with a single line (strikeout) and initialled by the writer. The use of erasing materials such as
ink rubbers and typing correction are prohibited.
a- Deck Log Book
The Master is responsible for ensuring that Deck Logbook is completed as per requirements. It is essential
that this book is kept as a clear and accurate record of the activities of the ship.
Where controllable pitch propellers are fitted, the times of significant changes of pitch should be recorded if
this information is not automatically logged.
Information which should be recorded includes that concerning position, course and speed, the times and
positions when passing waypoints, land or sea marks, weather and sea conditions and incidents and events
including pilot embarkation/disembarkation, times of attendance and connection and disconnection of tugs,
times of berthing and un-berthing, hazardous occurrences and accidents. For additional entry subject refer
to Chapter 14 Appendix 04-02
Deck log book is form a main part of the collection of evidence where the ship has been involved in an
incident and will accordingly be scrutinised by inspectors and surveyors.
b- Bell Book
Main engine and bow thruster orders must be recorded in bell book, where orders of responses are not
recorded automatically by data logger. These records shall include cosp / eosp - standby /finished with
engine- pilot on/pilot away - tug in/tug out- single up/all fast, etc…
All vessels should use company own bell book and all required information in the logbook shall be fully
entered for each manoeuvre.
c- GMDSS Logbook
3rd officer is responsible for carry out GMDSS tests and keep the result of tests, trainings, and maintenance
records. All OOWs are responsible for received distress messages and entry distress records during their
own watch. Refer to Chapter 14 Appendix 04- 03 GMDSS Check List and Records
Effectiveness of the radars as measured by the performance monitors should be recorded by the OOW at
each watch whenever the radars are operational to ensure that optimal efficiency is being maintained.
Performance test will be done to check magnetron life by following manufacturer instructions. Radar logbook
is to be kept for both radars on board.
Magnetic and gyro compass errors should be checked and recorded each watch, where possible, using
either azimuth or transit bearings.
When compass errors cannot be taken it is not necessary to state this in the compass error book. Deck
logbook entries are enough.
Refer to chapter 9.5 Compass System for the details of GYRO and Magnetic Compass comparison.
Preparing for sea, complete ‘’ Bridge Check List 4102 Preparation for Sea’’,
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Prior to port entry, complete ‘’ Bridge Check List 4103 Preparation for Arrival in Port.
Prior to sea passage, complete “Bridge Check List 4116 Ecdis Check list
The OOW should undertake daily tests and checks on the bridge equipment, including the following:
manual steering should be tested at least once a watch when the automatic pilot is in use
(Adaptive type auto pilots not required tested manual steering for each watch,
Refer to chapter 9.4.3 Auto Pilot.
gyro and magnetic compass errors should be checked and recorded at least once a watch, where
possible, and after any major course alteration.
Compass repeaters should be synchronised regularly, including repeaters mounted off the bridge,
such as in the engine control room and at the emergency steering position.
‘’Bridge Check List 4119 Daily Check’’ should be completed by 3RD. Officer or Navigation Officer till
noon time every day, while at sea. Results should be recorded to deck logbook.
Checks on electronic equipment should confirm both that the piece of equipment is functioning properly and
that it is successfully communicating to any bridge system to which it is connected.
To ensure adequate performance, information from electronic equipment should always be compared and
verified against information from different independent sources.
OOW should check that orders are being followed correctly. Rudder angle and engine rpm indicators, for
example, provide the OOW with an immediate check on whether helm and engine movement orders are
being followed.
1.2.3.3 Navigation
The navigational duties of the OOW are based upon the need to execute the passage plan safely and
monitor the progress of the ship against that plan.
2nd officer is designated to have primary responsibility for radio communications during distress
incidents. The following basic principles apply by all OOW, during radio watch:
The ITU publication Manual for Use by the Maritime Mobile and Maritime Mobile-Satellite Services contains
relevant extracts from the ITU Radio Regulations, setting out the correct procedures to be followed.
The OOW will need to well know the means and best practices of controlling the speed and direction of the
ship.
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The O.O.W. must be aware of the handling characteristics of his ship, including stopping distances, and
turning circles, and must appreciate that other ships may have different handling characteristics.
The OOW should not hesitate to use helm, engines or sound signalling apparatus at any time.
OOW shall be well familiar to company contingency procedures and reporting system regarding to pollution.
He/she should know the location of all the safety equipment on the bridge and how to operate that
equipment.
There may also be several additional duties for the OOW to undertake while on watch. General
communications, cargo monitoring, the monitoring and control of machinery, and the supervision and control
of ship safety systems, etc…
At all times when the vessel is at sea or at anchor, the Bridge Watch must be under the control of a
responsible, licensed Watch Officer who is signed on as a Watch Officer. The Watch Officer must not
leave the Bridge unless properly relieved.
The OOW and Look out should make the rounds of the public rooms, laundries, drying rooms, and
accommodation after the termination of their Watch 2000, 2400 and 0400 hours at sea and in port. Rounds
result should be reported to bridge and be recorded in the deck log book.
The O.O.W. is to give watch keeping personnel all appropriate instructions and information, which will ensure
the keeping of a safe watch including an appropriate lookout.
OOW will encourage look out to give continuous feedback for the navigational situation and changes. Look
out should be involved to vessel all course alteration including collision avoidance manoeuvring, so OOW
should tell the intentions to look out.
When master has conn and during pilotage, OOW should always give information to the Master directly next
turn, present speed, steering condition, engine position, etc…
Effective look out will increase the OOW/Master situational awareness. This will prevent one man
error and effective look out is very important for built professional bridge team.
Company and Master standing orders shall be well understood and signed by all OOW, when they are newly
sign on and before taking their first bridge watches. Daily Bridge Orders shall be read and signed by OOW
before has conn the watch.
The officer of the watch is to notify the Master immediately in the following circumstances:
On the failure of the main engine, generating plant, steering gear or any essential navigational
equipment;
In heavy weather if in any doubt about the possibility of weather damage;
If the ship meets any hazard to navigation, such as ice or derelicts;
If oil is seen around the vessel from whatever source.
In the case of the O.O.W. feeling fatigued or unwell and unable to continue a safe and efficient watch.
Any other circumstances as stated by the Master's Standing orders.
In any other emergency or situation in which he is in any doubt.
Despite the requirement to notify the Master immediately in the foregoing circumstances, the O.O.W. in
addition must not hesitate to take immediate action for safety of the ship, where circumstances so require.
In addition to keeping a navigational watch at sea and a cargo watch in port, the principal duties of the
assigned navigating officer (third officer) are:
Look out is responsible to keep sharp look out and to give continuous feedback for the navigational
situation and changes. He is the important part of the bridge team and should not hesitate to early notice
regarding to vessel safety and safe navigation.
He shall not leave his duty on the bridge unless being replaced by the competent person for watch
keeping. After watch completion, he shall attend to ships round with reliving OOW.