Let us face it. There is a huge difference between a passage plan and agood passage plan.

The good passage plan is a work of art. You know it when you see a good passage plan.

How can we define a good passage plan then?

A good passage plan is the one that has all the information on the chart and yet the chart is
not cluttered. It is the passage plan which has all the information marked at locations where
it is supposed to be. And it is the passage plan that gives the confidence to the watch keepers
about the preparedness of the bridge team.

But sometimes we either have too less information on the chart or so much that it hides the
important information. Now how to place all the information on the chart and yet not clutter
the chart?

It all starts with the knowledge of why something is required and what use it can be of.

And when it comes to safely executing a passage plan, there are certain rules of thumb. One
such rule of thumb is knowing when we can abort a passage plan. Marking of “Abort point”
help in doing so. In this post we will discuss everything about abort point and also if “point of
no return” is any different than that.

Let us begin.

Abort point

Abort point is not limited to maritime field only. Even the air pilots have to consider abort
point for take off and landing. For example, for them the abort point is the point after which
the runway is too short to stop the airplane. After the abort point they have to pull the
throttle and fly even if they sense a problem. They can anyway come back and land again if
they feel so, but they cannot stop the plane after abort point.

Air pilots calculate the abort point based upon the speed of the airplane, stopping distance at
that speed and the available runway length.

Or if you are Mission Impossible fan like me, you would have heard this,

“Anything goes wrong, I call ABORT. Everyone walks away”

For Ethan hunt, abort point is the maximum time at which if he doesn’t call the mission off, it
can get his team members killed.

On the ship it is no different than that. For a ship the abort point is the point after which
there is insufficient sea room to turn back. While entering a port if we try to swing back after
we have passed the abort point, we may end up grounding the vessel. Or we may end up
hitting a danger mark.

So In simple word, abort point is the point after which there is no sea room to turn the vessel
and return back.

Where to mark abort point?

We need to mark abort point only when approaching a port, canal or such restricted areas.
We do not need to mark abort points in open sea just because of one patch where vessel
cannot turn. This is because even when there is no room to swing the vessel, we can still
continue with our passage to turn after passing that patch.

For example while passing Singapore straight, we do not need to mark abort point anywhere.
If we need to turn back, we have all the time to assess the situation while we continue
towards the general traffic flow in the TSS.

Exclusive Bonus: Download this Cheat sheet on how to mark abort point

How to mark abort point ?

To safely swing the vessel and return back, there are two things we need to know. If I put
the rudder hard over, how much distance the vessel will cover in forward direction and
second how much distance it will cover on the side of the turn. This area should be clear for
the vessel to turn around safely.
So we need to know the maximum “Head reach” and maximum “side reach” of the vessel in a
full turn.

Though not exactly but the forward distance covered is close to the “advance” of the vessel
and sideways distance is close to “tactical diameter“.

You can find the highest value of advance and tactical diameter from themanoeuvring

booklet. For example below is what I found from a 45000 DWT ship’s manoeuvring booklet.
You can also get this data from wheel house poster on the wheelhouse. Find the maximum
tactical diameter and advance of the vessel. As the abort point will most likely be marked in
lesser depths, use the data for shallow water.

Below is the turning circles data from same vessel of 45000 DWT and you can see the max
tactical diameter is 0.45 NM in shallow waters.
Take the value of tactical diameter or advance whichever is greater. Here we have maximum
value as 0.45 NM. Just double this value to allow for external factors like current and wind
which can affect the head reach and side reach.

Take the additional distance that the ship would cover in 5 minutes. These 5 minutes are to
allow for analysing the traffic around before we start to turn the ship.

So say we have planned a speed of 6 knots while approaching a port. In 5 minutes, ship
would cover around 0.5 NM. So it all adds up to be 1.4 NM distance for marking the abort
point.

Now mark the abort point at such a position close to the entrance of the port that has 1.4 NM
clear distance in the forward as well as on the sides.
Like below is the abort point marked for arrival in one of the chinese port.

Abort point is just a reference point

So are we saying that after passing abort point vessel cannot turn ? of course we can. There
are number of ways. We can use succession of ahead and astern movement to turn the
vessel without any significant side reach. Or we can use the bow thruster if we have and if
our speed is below 5 knots. Using astern movement and bow thruster can even turn the
vessel virtually at its position.

Another question. Are we sure that just before abort point we can turn the vessel ? There
could be lots of ships on both sides of our vessel and we may not be able to achieve the turn.

The idea of the abort point is to have an indication as to when vessel can or cannot turn back
just by putting the rudder hard over.

It is to be used as an information and not as a blind fact that vessel can surely turn or cannot
turn.

This is where experience of the navigator comes into play. Abort point is an important
information that along with other informations helps the navigator take wise decisions.

Mistakes while marking Abort point

Now there are few mistakes that we make while marking abort point. These mistakes must
be avoided to have a good passage plan.

Mistake 1: The abort point is marked too close where there may not be sea room to swing.

In this situation, ship cannot turn even before the abort point. Master may have wrong
impression that he can swing the vessel as vessel has not crossed abort point. If he believes
in the passage plan and try to swing, he may end up grounding the vessel.
Mistake 2: The abort point is marked too far

Another mistake we can make is marking the abort point too far. Even after crossing the
abort point, ship would still have room to swing and return back. This information is of no use
to the person in con as it is an inaccurate information.

Mistake 3: Marking abort line instead of abort point

Do you wonder why this is called “abort point” and not “abort line”.

Because it is a point on the planned passage and not a line. But sometimes we draw a line
indicating position of abort point.

Can you see some problem in this ?

If the vessel’s position is off track, Can we safely turn the vessel if we have not crossed this
line ? I am sure your answer is no.

If we draw a line marking the abort point position, it can give the wrong impression when the
vessel is off track. It will look like we are still behind the abort point and we can turn the
vessel, while it will not be the case. Not atleast on turn to one side of the vessel.

So we need to mark abort point the way a point should be marked. We can show this position
by a very small dotted line or by pointing to that position by an arrow.
How can abort point help in safer navigation

Have a look at below abort point marking. The abort point is marked at the correct position.

And nothing seems to be a problem in this, except one.

The problem is that the abort point is before the pilot boarding position. Now why this would
require special attention ?

To pick up the pilot, we need to cross the abort point. What if after we cross abort point, port
control inform us that the pilot is cancelled for today. We cannot turn around as we have
already crossed abort point.
 If we ever need to cross the abort point to pick up pilot, we should be ready for situation as
mentioned above and should have steps ready to counter that.

These steps could include

 Waiting at or before your abort point position and asking the pilot to come to your position. or

 Proceed at a very low speed so that you can use astern movement to stop the ship and turn
around

 Have the bow thruster ready if that is fitted on board.

The whole idea is that you should assess the situation taking into account the fact that you
may need to turn around after crossing the abort point.

Point of no return

There is a whole lot of mystery around the term “point of no return”.

Some say there is no difference between “Point of no return” and “abort point”. Others
consider there is a difference but they fail to give a logical difference between these two
terms.

Let us see if “point of no return” is any different from the “abort point”.

First let me acknowledge that Yes, these are two different terms and there is a slight
difference between these two.

Here is the difference between “abort point” and “point of no return”

After you cross abort point, you still can turn around. There are number of resources to help
you with that. For example you can use astern movement, bow thruster or even tugs if you
have those made fast. But after you cross “point of no return” you cannot return back even if
you use all these resources.

One good example for this is moving in a falling tide. You may have crossed a point after
which if you wish to return, you cannot. Because the tide level has gone down and now there
is insufficient waters behind you to proceed back.

While coming from south of brazil and entering Amazon river, you will find one such bar of
around 6 meters charted depth.

Now consider this example. Your ship is going to Manaus, a port in Amazon river. Let us say
that your ship requires 10 meter depth to comply with UKC policy of your company after
giving consideration to squat and other factors. Now in this area you got 4 metres of tide at
1000 Hrs today and then you have same tide height after 2 days.

You cross this point at 1000 Hrs. At 1400 Hrs you are advised that you no more need to call
Manaus. Can you abort your passage to Manaus ? Yes, you can. There is no issue with the
vessel turning back as after we have crossed this bar, there is sufficient sea room to turn
around. After turning back you can find an appropriate location to anchor. In any case you
have aborted the passage.

Now can you return back ? No, you cannot. There is no depth of water to return back. You
have to wait for the tide level.

So “point of no return” is the better abbreviation for this situation.

Conclusion

There are number of elements in a passage plan. All these elements need to be marked on
the charts for the passage plan to be called complete. But if these are marked at the wrong
places, they can confuse the navigators leave alone helping them.

Marking these elements at the right places require thorough knowledge of all these elements.
Abort point is one such important element of the passage plan. We need to mark it at a place
that can help the navigators. Marking these at incorrect positions can be more dangerous
than not marking at all.

Infographic: Actions required in restricted visibility as per COLREG rule 19

1 July 2016

Shipper, consignee and Notify party, explained.

8 January 2015

What is Abort point and how you can use it for safe navigation
31 July, 2016
12 comments

5 Questions that can help in Understanding of Squat effect on ships