The Black Box

Friday saw us aboard a large mixed bulk carrier updating software on an AIS, annual survey on a SVDR as well as piping in two video feeds for said SVDR to show the X and S band radar screens.

So what prey tell is a VDR or SVDR? Glad you asked that question cause I’m about to tell you. This subject is huge and I won’t bore you to death with minute details but I’ll give you enough information and photos just to make it bearable! Sitting comfortably? Good we’ll begin.

VDR = Voyage Data Recorder

SVDR = Simplified Voyage Data Recorder

Under the terms of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a vessel over a certain tonnage and usage is to be equipped with one of these devices. Like commercial aircraft, a ship also has a black box recorder that that can be retrieved in the event of an accident or sinking that will help determine the cause of the accident or who was a fault which is the bit the layers just love.

It’s pretty comprehensive stuff in that the system records radar or radar images, AIS data, speed, heading, rate of turn, course over ground, rudder position, door and/or cargo door alarms, VHF radio traffic and even the crews voices at various positions on the bridge and bridge wings.

Once a year, this equipment needs to be inspected to ensure that it all works as advertised and a certificate issued, depending on the classification society and flag the vessel operates under. It’s what’s called an Annual Survey or APT and is usually an all day affair to check connections, recordings, batteries etc. At the same time an APT is (usually) also carried out on the radio equipment but that is another subject for another day.

The IMO has decreed that stricter controls are necessary on this SDVR molarky because there are more and more instances of incomplete data present following an incident so tighter checks are on the way from classification societies I’m sure.

These survey’s are a great opportunity to get under the skin of ships communications and procedures and you get to see how well or, ahem unwell a vessel is managed and maintained.

This one was in great shape and a credit to her Captain, crew and owners and a pleasure to be involved with. Thanks for reading.

Transfer at Sea

It’s quite amazing really. The shipping business can be traced back to the earliest of all human trading activities but over the centuries has developed into one of the most organized and hi tech industries that quite literally keep the worlds economy’s, governments and societies moving along 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In fact, if it weren’t for shipping, our world would be completely unrecognizable and a lot less interesting I’m sure.


Automation is becoming more prevalent and the level of technology I have seen in the newer Liquid Natural Gas carriers would make some NASA specialists raise an eyebrow or two. For example, the last monster I boarded had a 9 megawatt power plant aboard…just to keep the LNG cold and the energy stored in the one vessel alone could supply all the energy the UK uses in a single day. The figures are staggering.

So when it comes time to hop aboard for a spot of electronic maintenance, how do you think we do it? A good old fashioned rope ladder, that’s how. This method of boarding is as old as ancient history itself and it never ceases to tickle me as I scramble up the most technologically advanced ships with a web 2.0 device in my pocket and various electronics systems monitoring our every move from the bridge, the shore and low earth orbit that it still comes down to spliced and interwoven fibers and planks of wood to get the geeks aboard in the first place.

Getting off the ship and onto the launch for the return leg to shore is the same but in reverse. The difference here is the launch is smaller and weighs a fraction what he ship does and so bounces up and down by as much as 2 or 3 meters. Like good comedy, it’s all about timing!

You have to time the jump from the rope ladder to the launch and hope you get it right. Time it wrong and you’re going to twist an ankle or worse, slip between the launch and the ship and then risk getting squashed. If you don’t have a life jacket you could drown, if you have a life jacket and you fall in then you can’t dive down below the surface to avoid the squashing. Perhaps that’s where the saying “between the devil and the deep blue” comes from.

Strange as it may sound, it’s almost comforting to know that some things have remained the same for hundreds, if not thousands of years and the humble rope ladder is just one of those things.