A junior officer's competency is marked by an STCW license-an international honor of standard. Yet, in the raw reality of the sea, we often see OOWs as "qualified amateurs" men licensed to operate Radar, ARPA, andECDIS, but who lack a visceral understanding of the lethal potential within those screens. Companies and schools provide the "what" of danger, but they fail to prepare the "how" of a human's reaction. True knowledge for a Junior Officer isn't found in a manual; it is found in theability to translate instrument data into useful hints for situational awareness. Visual lookout is first and last thing at bridge.
We should look out the bridge window first. What to look at is the lesson you had to learn while you were a cadet on the bridge, before you ever earned that CoC.
The first priority is searching for clues of distance. On the port side, I seek the reflections, the wake current, and the few lights of vessels that are small compared to our containers (Figure 2-1). Four vessels are visible to port. A fifth sits to starboard-two or three miles out-showing only a single light.
How can I know their distance and their aspect? What side is facing us? What do I do about them? Should I reach for the binoculars now?
limitations of the vessels involved and all dangers of navigation and collision: Ownship may go aground due to stability is no good, collision with third vessel in close by, turning circle too big, stopping distance too long, Main Engine broken down very often, generators black out in critical time, steering gear failure in cold weather or close to navigational hazards, shallow waters, other vessel, etc.......In special circumstances if you make a departure from COLREG to avoid immediate danger is acceptable. Ownship's safety is above COLREG. Don't sacrifice ownship's safety.
2-01 Knowledge Base for Junior Officer [1]
2-02 Visual lookout is first and last thing at bridge.
2-02 Bearing changed slow, acceptable or not
2-03 Bow crossing by small boat
2-04 First stage in turning
2-05 Take bearing from where for target vessel
2-06 Bearing line of stern: the line of relief
2-07 Radar, ARPA, ECDIS andAIS lookout
2-08 Short-term memory orWorking memory?
2-09ARPA acquired targets displayed together withspeed vector andtrail
[2-10Speed vector (#the-speed-vector-the-carrier-of-intent)
2-11 Collision stick and collision spot
2-12 3 minutes True motionspeed vector can reflect collision risk more correctly
2-13ECDIS withAIS signal display
2-14ARPA withAIS signal display
2-15 USE OFAIS IN NAVIGATION [20](#use-of-ais-in-navigation)
2-16 VHF: Use of VHF as Collision Avoidance Aid
2-17 Radar echotrail
2-18 Ships fitted withAIS might switch offAIS
COLREGS - International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972
Echotrails are the simulated afterglow of target echoes. They represent movements relative to own ship (Relative Motion) or true movements with respect to true north (True Motion) depending on the Radar settings.
TrueTrails: Present actual target movements based on their Speed and Course Over Ground (SOG and COG).
RelativeTrails: Present movements relative to own ship. If two vessels are on a collision course, the relativetrail will point directly toward own ship, as shown in Figure 2-18.
Thetrail prolongs the echo size on the screen like the tail of a comet, marking exactly where a target is going. Since alltrails are compared within thesame timeframe, the length of thetrail provides a rough, immediate idea of the target's speed and direction.
