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IMO PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR SIMPLIFIED
VOYAGE DATA RECORDER (S-VDR)

(FOR MMD PHASE II EXAMINATIONS)


The purpose of a si mplified voyage dat a recorder ( S- VDR) i s t o
mai nt ain a st ore, i n a secure and ret ri evabl e form, of i nformat i on
concerning t he posi t i on, movement , physi cal st at us, command and
cont rol of a vessel over t he peri od leadi ng up t o and foll owing an
inci dent havi ng an i mpact t hereon. I nformat i on cont ained in an S- VDR
shoul d be made avail abl e t o bot h t he Admini st rat i on and t he shi p-
owner. Thi s i nformat i on i s for use duri ng any subsequent i nvest i gat i on
t o i dent ify t he cause( s) of t he i nci dent .

Shi ps of cl asses defi ned in SOLAS chapt er V, as amended, shall be
fi t t ed wi t h S- VDR complying wi t h foll owing performance st andards:


OPERATI ONAL REQUI REMENTS:

1. The S- VDR shoul d cont inuousl y maint ain sequent i al records of:
presel ect ed dat a i t ems rel at i ng t o t he st at us
out put of t he ships equi pment ,
and command and cont rol of t he shi p.
2. To permi t subsequent analysi s of fact ors surroundi ng an
inci dent , t he met hod of recording should ensure t hat t he vari ous
dat a i t ems can be co- rel at ed in dat e and t ime duri ng pl ayback
on sui t able equi pment .
3. The fi nal recording medi um shoul d be i nst all ed in a prot ect ive
capsule of ei t her a fixed or fl oat - free t ype, whi ch shoul d meet all
of t he foll owing requi rement s:
Be capabl e of bei ng accessed foll owing an inci dent but
secure agai nst t amperi ng;
Pl ayback equi pment i s not normally inst alled on a shi p and
i s not regarded as part of a S- VDR for t he purposes of
t hese performance st andards.
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Mai nt ain t he recorded dat a for a peri od of at least 2 years
foll owing t erminat i on of recording;
Be of a highly visi bl e col or and marked wit h ret ro- reflect ive
mat eri al s; and
Be fi t t ed wit h an appropri at e devi ce t o ai d l ocat i on.

4. The fl oat - free t ype prot ect ive capsule shoul d:
be fit t ed wi t h means t o facilit at e grappling and recovery;
be so const ruct ed as t o mini mi ze ri sk of damage during
recovery operat i ons; and
t he device shoul d be capable of t ransmi t t ing an ini t i al
l ocat ing si gnal and furt her l ocat i ng homi ng si gnal for at
least 48 hours over a peri od of not l ess t han 7 days/ 168
hours.


DATA SELECTI ON AND SECURI TY:

The equi pment shoul d be so desi gned t hat , as far as i s pract i cal , i t i s
not possi ble t o t amper wi t h:
t he select i on of dat a being input t o t he equi pment ,
t he dat a i t sel f;
nor t hat whi ch has al ready been recorded. Any at t empt t o
int erfere wi t h t he i nt egrit y of t he dat a or t he recordi ng shoul d be
recorded.
The recordi ng met hod shoul d be such t hat each it em of t he recorded
dat a i s checked for i nt egrit y and an alarm gi ven i f a non- correct able
error i s det ect ed.



DATA I TEMS TO BE RECORDED:

Dat e and t ime:

Dat e and t ime, referenced t o UTC, shoul d be obt ai ned from a source
ext ernal t o t he shi p or from an int ernal cl ock. The recordi ng shoul d
indi cat e whi ch source is in use. The recordi ng met hod shoul d be such
t hat t he t imi ng of all ot her recorded dat a i t ems can be deri ved on
pl ayback wi t h a resolut i on suffici ent t o reconst ruct t he hist ory of t he
inci dent in det ail.

Ships posit ion:
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Lat i t ude and l ongi t ude, and t he dat um used, shoul d be derived from
an elect roni c posi t i on- fi xing syst em ( EPFS) . The recordi ng shoul d
ensure t hat t he i dent it y and st at us of t he EPFS can al ways be
det ermi ned on pl ayback.

Speed:

Speed t hrough t he wat er or speed over t he ground, i ncludi ng an
indi cat i on of whi ch i t i s, derived from t he shi ps speed and di st ance
measuri ng equi pment .
Heading:

As indi cat ed by t he shi ps compass.

Bridge Audio:

One or more mi crophones posi t i oned on t he bri dge shoul d be pl aced so
t hat conversat i on at or near t he conning st at i ons, radar di spl ays, chart
t ables, et c., are adequat el y recorded. As far as pract i cabl e, t he
posi t i oning of mi crophones shoul d al so capt ure i nt ercom, public
address syst ems and audi bl e alarms on t he bri dge.

Communicat ions Audio:

VHF communi cat i ons rel at i ng t o shi p operat i ons shoul d be recorded.

Radar dat a, post - display select ion:

Thi s shoul d i nclude elect roni c si gnal informat i on from wit hin one of t he
shi ps radar inst all at i ons whi ch records all t he i nformat i on whi ch was
act ually being present ed on t he mast er di spl ay of t hat radar at t he
t i me of recordi ng. Thi s shoul d incl ude any range rings or markers,
beari ng markers, el ect roni c pl ot t ing symbol s, radar maps, what ever
part s of t he SENC or ot her el ect roni c chart or map t hat were sel ect ed,
t he voyage pl an, navi gat i onal dat a, navi gat i onal al arms and t he radar
st at us dat a t hat were vi si ble on t he di spl ay. The recordi ng met hod
shoul d be such t hat , on playback, it i s possi bl e t o present a fait hful
repli ca of t he ent i re radar di splay t hat was on vi ew at t he t i me of
recordi ng, al bei t wi t hi n t he limi t at i ons of any bandwidt h compressi on
t echni ques t hat are essent i al t o t he worki ng of t he S- VDR.

AI S Dat a:
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I f it i s i mpossi bl e t o obt ain radar dat a, t hen AI S t arget dat a shoul d be
recorded as a source of i nformat i on regardi ng ot her shi ps. I f radar
dat a i s recorded, AI S i nformat i on may be recorded addi t i onally as a
benefi cial secondary source of i nformat ion on bot h ot her and own shi p.



I NTERFACI NG:

I nt erfacing t o t he vari ous sensors requi red shoul d be in accordance
wit h t he rel evant int ernat i onal i nt erface st andards, where possi bl e. Any
connect i on t o any it em of t he ships equi pment should be such t hat t he
operat i on of t hat equi pment suffers no det eri orat i on, even if t he S- VDR
syst em devel ops fault


OPERATI ON:

The unit shoul d be ent i rely aut omat ic i n normal operat i on. Means
shoul d be provi ded whereby recorded dat a may be saved by an
appropri at e met hod foll owi ng an i nci dent , wit h mini mal int errupt i on t o
t he recordi ng process.

CONTI NUI TY OF OPERATI ON:

To ensure t hat t he S- VDR cont inues t o recor d event s duri ng an
inci dent , it shoul d be capable of operat ing from t he shi ps emergency
source of el ect ri cal power.
I f t he shi ps emergency source of el ect ri cal power suppl y fail s, t he S-
VDR shoul d cont i nue t o record Bri dge Audi o from a dedi cat ed reserve
source of power for a peri od of 2 h. At t he end of t his 2 h peri od all
recordi ng shoul d cease aut omat i cally.
The t i me for whi ch all st ored dat a i t ems are ret ai ned shoul d be at l east
12 h. Dat a it ems whi ch are ol der t han t hi s may be overwri t t en wit h
new dat a.


SOME I MPORTANT DEFI NI TI ONS:

Simplified Voyage dat a recorder ( S- VDR) :

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I t means a compl et e syst em, includi ng any it ems requi red t o i nt erface
wit h t he sources of input dat a, for processing and encoding t he dat a,
t he final recordi ng medium, t he power suppl y and dedi cat ed reserve
power source.

Sensor:

It means any unit ext ernal t o t he S- VDR, t o whi ch t he S- VDR i s
connect ed and from whi ch it obt ai ns dat a t o be recorded.

Final recording medium:

It means t he it em of hardware on whi ch t he dat a i s recorded such t hat
access t o i t woul d enable t he dat a t o be recovered and pl ayed back by
use of sui t able equi pment .

Playback equipment :

It means t he equi pment , compat i ble wit h t he recordi ng medium and
t he format used duri ng recording, employed for recoveri ng t he dat a. I t
incl udes al so t he di splay or present at i on hardware and soft ware t hat i s
appropri at e t o t he ori ginal dat a source equi pment .

Dedicat ed reserve power source:

I t means a secondary bat t ery, wi t h sui t abl e aut omat i c charging
arrangement s, dedi cat ed sol ely t o t he S- VDR, of suffici ent capaci t y t o
operat e i t .