Chapter 25: Navigation Processes and Passage Planning
A passage plan covers berth to berth and is built in four stages. Its purpose is that the whole bridge team shares one agreed intention that can be monitored.
The four stages
Appraisal gathers all relevant information — charts, publications, weather and ice, draft and squat, ship's manoeuvring data, company and port requirements — and assesses risk. Planning produces the detailed berth-to-berth plan: courses, distances, waypoints, wheel-over points, abort points and contingency anchorages, no-go areas, parallel index lines, safety contours and settings. Execution follows the plan with account taken of actual conditions, including tidal windows and ETA adjustment. Monitoring continuously checks the vessel's position against the plan by independent means.
- Appraisal → Planning → Execution → Monitoring (IMO Resolution A.893(21))
- Mark no-go areas, abort points and points of no return in the plan
- The plan is approved by the master and briefed to the whole team
Bridge team management
Effective BTM means clear allocation of duties, a shared mental model, closed-loop communication, and explicit challenge-and-response so that a junior officer can question the master without ambiguity. Error chains typically begin with a plan deviation that goes unchallenged. Under-keel clearance policy, squat allowance, and pilot-on-board procedures (the pilot advises; the master remains responsible) are all part of the plan, not improvisations.
Key takeaways
- • Appraisal, Planning, Execution, Monitoring — berth to berth, every passage.
- • Abort points and no-go areas are decided in advance, not in the moment.
- • A pilot's presence does not transfer responsibility from the master.
Knowledge check
Immediate feedback with rationales. Answer each question to see the explanation.
Chapter 25 quiz
0 of 3 answered
1.The four stages of passage planning in IMO guidance are:
2.An abort point is:
3.When a pilot is embarked, responsibility for the safety of the vessel rests with: