Standard Operating Procedures for normal situations should
cover normal operation at different stages of the passage including
the vessel’s operational limits, manoeuvring trial data and
ship’s data including squat and anchoring.
The route should be divided into zones according to the
nature of navigation, as follows:
- Sea passage;
- Shallow waters, pilotage waters and fairways; and
- Harbour areas.
The standard operating procedures should be documented in
the form of checklists demonstrating transition from one zone to another.
The items to be listed are e.g. manning of the bridge and the use
of automated equipment including the selection of subsystems and their
modes of operations.
Manual or automatic heading, track and speed control modes
and the required actions for changing modes should be clearly presented
in the graphical or checklist flow chart form, if not clearly indicated
by the equipment itself.