BRIDGE MANUAL SHIP PROCEDURE

Card No Bridge-120 Version 2 2013-04-19 Page 1 of 6

Coastal And Restricted Waters Navigation



I. Purpose of the document

This procedure aims to define guidelines for the master, the navigation officer, the officer on watch (OOW) and
the bridge team when preparing the passage plan (according to Bridge-070 passage planning procedure) and
precautions to take while navigating in restricted waters.

II. Scope

This procedure is completed by the card Bridge-125 Coastal and restricted waters check-list.

III. Definitions and abbreviations

- Grounding Line: The contour of water depths on passage equal to 1.2 x Draft.
- Coastal Waters: waters between 5 and 20 miles from any grounding line.

- Restricted Waters: waters within 5 miles from any grounding line.

- Safety distance: The distance off the grounding line which under average environmental condition will
allow vessel to carry out repairs and / or call for assistance.

- OOW : Officer On Watch

o Why a safety distance:

To ensure a safe distance off grounding line at all times
Allow drift room in the event of engine /machinery failure leading to a total loss of power.

o Minimum safety distance:

The passage plan should allow 20 miles as the minimum safety distance. This will provide a
drift time of approximately 6 hours under normal environmental conditions, and is consistent with
the limit between open sea and coastal waters.
While the vessel is at less than 20 miles of any grounding line, coastal and restricted waters
procedure must be applied.

o Factors to consider to increase the safety distance:

Malfunction or unreliability of equipment
Voluntary stops and performing repairs during passage
Severe adverse meteorological conditions
Reported navigational hazards








BRIDGE MANUAL SHIP PROCEDURE
Card No Bridge-120 Version 2 2013-04-19 Page 2 of 6
Coastal And Restricted Waters Navigation



IV. Coastal and restricted waters procedure


1. LESS THAN 24 HOURS PRIOR ENTERING COASTAL OR RESTRICTED WATERS, A PASSAGE
BRIEFING MUST BE CARRIED OUT:

If the vessel is already in the restricted waters this briefing to be included in the passage plan briefing
prior departure.

- The Master:

o Calls for a passage briefing not earlier than the day before and not later than one hour prior to the
watch concerned by the passage. The following personnel attends the meeting:

Bridge personnel involved: OOW, OOW assistant, helmsman and lookout.
Chief engineer;
Boatswain.

o Briefs involved personnel on the coastal and restricted waters passage based on the passage
plan and updated available information.

o OOW fills up the bridge checklist Coastal and restricted waters checklist (Bridge-125).

o During this briefing takes the opportunity to exercise team bridge management: he shares his
experience and he highlights dangers and difficulties of the passage. Whenever going alongside on
completion of the passage, he briefs all participants on his idea of manoeuvre, tells what is expected
from each bridge team member.

- All participants have the opportunity to clarify any doubt, to get more involved, to establish confidence and
gain experience from the Master, for easier delegation in the future.



2. FIFTEEN (15) MINUTES BEFORE ARRANGEMENTS TO IMPLEMENT PRIOR ENTERING COASTAL
OR RESTRICTED WATERS :

- The Master based on his risk assessment can reduce or reinforce the bridge team (especially to
request an OOW assistant), the engine team and arrangements. He may decide:

o To take the control on the bridge, in this case he announces loudly and clearly I take the con
so the entire bridge team knows. This action is recorded in the log book.

o To discharge the OOW Assistant, in case he takes the con. Then the OOW, in addition to his
other OOW duties, takes over the position-fixing duties.

o To reduce or discharge the mooring party in case of a long passage in restricted waters and in
order to abide by STCW regulations.


- The OOW takes actions in order to make sure that the arrangements described on Bridge-125 checklist are
in place 15 min prior to entering coastal and restricted waters.








BRIDGE MANUAL SHIP PROCEDURE
Card No Bridge-120 Version 2 2013-04-19 Page 3 of 6
Coastal And Restricted Waters Navigation




3. DURING NAVIGATION IN COASTAL OR RESTRICTED WATERS :

- The OOW :

o Informs the Master of the current situation (traffic, position, course, speed, restricted waters
arrangements completed)

o Continues to be responsible for the watch despite the presence of the master on the bridge.

o The OOW challenges OOW Assistant information with his own navigation information.

- The OOW assistant: If no OOW Assistant, the OOW, in addition to his other OOW duties, takes over the
position-fixing duties:

o General:

Position fixing will be determined by various relevant methods (bearing, distance, electrical
radio aid, etc.). The Master/OOW decides the most appropriate mean for position fixing.
However every 3 fixes the current ship position is challenged using at least two means of
position fixing.


o Paper charts fixing:

Position fixing is the OOW assistant main task.

Fix rate in coastal and restricted waters is defined in Bridge-200 Position fixing interval.


After a fix is completed, the OOW assistant provides the Master / OOW the following
information:
Distance and side from the track;
Based on the previous fix whether ship is closing or diverging from the track
Distance to the next course alteration
Coherence between chart soundings and echo sounder depth.
Permanent current assessment



o Applicable only while ECDIS is used as navigation reference (Remind ECS is not approved for
navigation)

Prerequisite:
Waypoints have been checked, verified and inserted in ECDIS and GNSS
Cross track error (XTE) is set to 0.5 Nm or less when vessel is sailing on
distance less than 5 Nm from grounding line. If route leg is longer than 50 Nm it
is recommended to insert additional waypoint due to inaccuracy of XTE
calculation on a longer leg (not relevant for ocean navigation).
Turn radius set in ECDIS must corresponds to turn radius (or Rate of Turn) set
in autopilot
Route must be displayed on radar screen. In systems where route in GNSS and
ECDIS is entered separately, than route from ECDIS must be used for display
on radar.

BRIDGE MANUAL SHIP PROCEDURE
Card No Bridge-120 Version 2 2013-04-19 Page 4 of 6
Coastal And Restricted Waters Navigation


Mandatory alarms set in ECDIS (or GNSS) is crossing of the XTE limits and
approach to wheel over position (or waypoint) with setting of at least 10
minutes prior course change. It is recommended to use ECDIS route monitoring
with anti-grounding and approach to danger alarms with setting of at least 30
minutes
Maintaining vessel on a planned track

Vessel is to be kept within the XTE limits whole time. Exception is only
manoeuvre for collision avoidance.

In case when it is needed to cross XTE limits, prior deviation OOW must verify
that is safe to do so in regard to water depth or any other object that may
damage the vessel.
In order to compensate for set and drift, course over ground vector (COG)
must be kept aligned with bearing to waypoint (BTW)

Warnings:

Above method depends entirely on accuracy of GNSS (Global Navigational
Satellite System). OOW must permanently check performance of navigation
system using one of the following methods.

Occasional overlay of chart data over radar screen to check for buoys and
shore targets alignment. Any larger discrepancy indicates malfunction of GNSS.
Because of danger to obscure targets, chart overlay must not be permanently
displayed on radar screen.
Comparing distances to shore targets measured on chart and radar
Comparing GNSS speed and course with speed log and gyro taking in account
current and wind effect.

Any other method which can be used to verify quality of GNSS positioning.


Parallel indexing on the radar still remains the main and most reliable navigation
tool when vessel is passing through narrow passages.

In no circumstances GNSS chart datum is to be changed from WGS 84.

In no circumstances manual position correction is to be inserted in GNSS.

In case of GNSS lost signal, OOW must ensure that GNSS does not switch to
dead reckoning mode. In coastal navigation it is safer to be without GNSS
position than to follow dead reckoning. In case GNSS is malfunctioning use
paper chart fixing procedure.

It is important to remember that in case of loss of positioning signal all synthetic
symbols such as AIS, routes, AIS navigational aids and different map marks
displayed on a radar screen are invalid. Invalid symbols, if not automatically
removed from the screen, must be switched off until restoration of GNSS
position.

- The Helmsman:
Manual steering upon masters order, and allways when the ship is less than 2 NM from any grounding line.

- The Pilot:
When a pilot is on board he integrates the bridge team. His duties and relations with the Master and the rest
of the bridge team are subject to SSEMS card BRIDGE-110.



BRIDGE MANUAL SHIP PROCEDURE
Card No Bridge-120 Version 2 2013-04-19 Page 5 of 6
Coastal And Restricted Waters Navigation






4. TRAFFIC SEPARATION SCHEME

These traffic separation schemes are described in the SHIPS ROUTING Binder published by OMI. SHIPS
ROUTING is part of the ships navigation publications bridge library.
When navigating in or near these traffic separation schemes, ships must conform absolutely to rule 10 of the
regulations for preventing collisions at sea (COLREG).



5. REPORT SYSTEMS (VTS)

These systems are described in the Admiralty publications, and their compulsory or voluntary system nature is
given there. SINREP, SURNAV, AMVER, CALDOVREP are some examples.
These reports generally include information on the characteristics of the ships in particular, her crew, draft,
cargo, position, route and speed. The Officers on Duty will take care to prepare the report in due time. If the
length of the report constitutes a risk, a waiting time will be requested from the organisation concerned, the
report will only be started again when that risk is no longer present.
Sending these messages should not disturb the officer on watch from his essential tasks, in particular the safety
of navigation.


V. Appendices

No appendix

VI. References

-Bridge 070 Passage Planning
-Bridge 125 Coastal and restricted waters navigation checklist
-Bridge 200 Position fixing interval.

VII. Modification of the document



Description of the Modification Date NVersion
Creation 2008-01-01 1
Added:
III. Definitions and abbreviations
IV. Coastal and restricted waters
procedure:
1. less than 24 hours passage
briefing preparation prior entering
coastal or restricted waters:
2. fifteen minutes before
arrangements to implement prior
entering coastal or restricted
waters :
3. during navigation in coastal or
restricted waters :

2013-04-19 2



BRIDGE MANUAL SHIP PROCEDURE
Card No Bridge-120 Version 2 2013-04-19 Page 6 of 6
Coastal And Restricted Waters Navigation





VIII. Validation and Approval


Versions
of the
document
Redaction
name and
function
Date and
Signature
Validation
Name and
function
Date and
Signature
Approval
Name and
Function
Date and Signature
2
Jacques
Subra
Nautical
Studies
2013-04-19

Eric
Sabrazs
Marine
Standards
Manager
2013-04-19

Ludovic
Grard
Executive
Vice
President
CMA
Ships
2013-05-07