Weather satellites such as NOAA 6 and 7, which produce the imagery that appears on our television screens, are largely unsuitable for measuring sea-surface conditions since their sensors operate in the visible/infra-red part of the electromagnetic spectrum and, whereas weather patterns can be inferred from images of cloud formations, for much of the time these clouds also deny the sensors a view of the sea surface.

In the Journal for May 1980, Adlard Coles, author of Heavy Weather Sailingand an Institute Gold Medallist, gave an account of his own investigation into the weather situation which decimated the ocean racing fleet during the Fastnet Race of 1979. Neither the formal report of the Fastnet Race inquiry nor the official meteorological analysis seemed entirely to explain what had happened. Alan Watts, a meteorologist particularly concerned with small craft navigation, from his own analysis of meteorological factors, including the barometric readings of many of the competitors, here suggests an explanation for the particular violence of the seas which was responsible for most of the damage.

Captain Maybourn's paper, and that which follows by Kerr and Anderson, were presented at a hydrographic symposium entitled ‘The Nautical Chart – The Future’, held during the 12th International Hydrographic Conference at Monaco, April 1982. It outlines the Merchant Mariner's requirements of the chart and speculates as to the effect of new navigation aids on both chart making and use. All the papers presented at the symposium, together with the ensuing discussion, will in due course be available in book form from the International Hydrographic Bureau in Monaco.

Commander Paton's paper, here slightly condensed, was presented at the Fourth International Symposium on Vessel Traffic Services held in Bremen from 28 to 30 April 1981. The author is Hydrographic Adviser to the Department of Trade, but the views expressed here should not be taken to represent those of the Department. Commander Paton has also for some years been Chairman of IMCO's Working Group on routing matters.

Apart from some wartime measures, modern ship routing really dates from the early sixties, when the Institutes of Navigation in Britain, France and Germany set up a joint Working Group on traffic separation. The principal result of their labours was the Dover Strait traffic separation scheme, jointly submitted to IMCO by the British, French and German Governments and implemented in 1967. This was followed by various proposals for the North Sea, Baltic and elsewhere, considerable impetus being given by the Torrey Canyon disaster off the Scilly Isles in 1967.

In this paper Captain I. D. Irving, master of a cross-channel ferry, discusses some of the problems which arise from the operation of the 1972 Collision Regulations within the Dover Strait Traffic Separation Scheme. The paper is a revised version of one presented at the Fourth International Symposium on Vessel Traffic Services.

The Dover Strait and its approaches form one of the world's busiest waterways. Perhaps inevitably therefore it has been the scene of a large proportion of the world's collisions and strandings, and for this very reason became the site of the first offshore Traffic Separation Scheme. At first the scheme was only voluntary, but with the introduction ten years later of the 1972 International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, compliance with the IMCO-approved scheme became mandatory for all vessels.

Over the past ten years at least the Law of the Sea has been a subject of continuing debate. This would have been inevitable even if there had been no UN Law of the Sea Conference to focus people's minds; the increasing importance of offshore hydrocarbon deposits, the potential exploitation of seabed mineral nodules and the competition to exploit fish stocks would have ensured that. Add to these factors the demands of the large number of newly formed coastal states, which did not see their interest well served by the law that had largely developed under the influence of the western maritime nations, and something clearly had to be done.

Various writers have discussed the origins of the nautical chart. In this paper we wish to show how the marine cartographer has responded to developments in navigation and the changing needs of shipping. The development of the chart has been greatly affected by changes in navigational techniques. For example, Portulan charts, with their criss-crossing loxodromes, developed from a need to illustrate the pilots books, called ‘Portulans’ by the Italians. On these were carefully recorded bearings and distances between points of departure and arrival. As the measurement of latitude became established, the graduation of latitude began to appear on charts early in the sixteenth century. Problems developed on longer voyages through the convergence of the meridians which were temporarily overcome by the use of an oblique meridian. In 1569 the solution to this was finally found when Gerardus Mercator published his famous world map, although the general use of this projection did not take place until much later. Charts of the sixteenth century showed considerable detail and even at that early date there were some who questioned the need to show information that was considered redundant. Bourne, writing in 1574, deplored the hydro-graphers' practice of filling vacant spaces of land ‘with so many flagges’ and colouring the compasses ‘with so many colours’ and that instead of wasting their time, they should include tidal information and the elevation of the shore from the sea.

In December 1981 the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) published a Memorandum on Shipping and the Environment, of which the following is a condensed version. Prior to publication, the Memorandum was favourably discussed at a one-day EEB Workshop on Shipping and the Environment, held in London, on 23 October 1981, and attended by representatives of the European Commission, the Marine Environment and Maritime Safety Divisions of the International Maritime Organization and shipping interests. The EEB is an independent, international liaison body which coordinates the activities of some sixty non-governmental environmental organizations operating in all the member States of the European Economic Community (EEC).

The EEB Memorandum intends to put into perspective various recent initiatives by the European Commission aimed at curbing pollution of the sea by ships, as well as improving maritime safety. These initiatives concern the development of a Community information system for marine oil pollution prevention and abatement, together with an advisory committee; the establishment of Port State control; and the adoption of a concerted action project on shore-based maritime navigation aid systems through European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical research (the so-called COST-301 project).

After examining the complementary roles of worldwide and regional arrangements for maritime safety and the prevention of vessel-source pollution, and in particular the distinct but related functions of IMO and EEC in this regard, the EEB Memorandum indicates two major aspects of ship safety and pollution control: the inspection of vessels in port, to ensure compliance with generally agreed safety standards, and offshore vessel traffic management in areas of safety and pollution hazard.

This paper by the Harbour Master of Marseilles and his adviser on radio aids describes the system of traffic surveillance developed by the Port of Marseilles. The paper was originally presented at the Fourth International Symposium on Vessel Traffic Services held in Bremen from 28 to 30 April 1981.

The creation of an Integrated Traffic Regulation Centre (ITRC) was the solution chosen by the Port of Marseilles Authority to deal with the numerous traffic problems that had arisen in recent years in the Gulf of Fos due to the extremely rapid growth of the maritime traffic, especially oil tankers, converging on the Gulf which now totals over 80 million tonnes per year and the general tendency towards the construction and operation of very large ships, conspicuous in the development of oil tankers but now to a lesser extent in other categories of ship also.

A major research project to investigate the causal relationships of collisions and groundings involving Norwegian registered vessels has recently been completed. This article reviews mainly the Final Report, by K. H. Drager, but earlier project reports have also been taken into account.

The project was launched in 1976 by Det Norkse Veritas in co-operation with Norwegian maritime authorities, shipowners and research organizations. It was inspired by what was considered to be a high rate of collisions and groundings, attributed mainly to human error. The aim of the project was to investigate the causes of the accidents and to develop measures to reduce the incidence of collisions and groundings.

For hundreds of years ships have roamed the oceans at random, serving the trades according to the prevailing supply and demand; each vessel taking care of itself, none caring about the whole transport and traffic pattern, but each one willing to assist and save unfortunate brothers in distress. This historic and very individualistic pattern of maritime transport operations, with as little interference, regulation and control as possible, is called by some ‘freedom of the sea’. In the minds of generations of seafarers there is instilled the idea that this utter freedom of operation was in essence the proper interpretation of being master under God. Away from the home port nobody could interfere in the way the ship was managed or the voyage proceeded. Even selling the ship abroad was a possibility on which the master could decide.

Before a helicopter takes off from an airport on the Norwegian coast to fly to an offshore installation it is cleared in the usual way and is followed by the air traffic control; even after having left controlled airspace the helicopter gets flight-following and alerting services as long as contact can be kept by vhf radio.

When the helicopter approaches its destination it has to enter the platform area by flying over a certain reference point (e.g. an outer platform, Fig. 1), which is to be passed at an altitude of 500 feet and which uses a special frequency for its non-directional beacon (NDB) transmissions; it can thus be easily recognized. Before the reference point is reached, radio contact between the helicopter pilot and the platform area will have been established so that necessary information can be transferred. The pilot then asks all platforms to turn off their NDB's and his destination platform to turn on its own (all NDB's unless otherwise mentioned use the same frequency).

It is recorded that Egypt was the first country to dig a canal to promote world trade; the first canal was dug in the reign of Pharaoh Senusret III (1887–1849 B.C.), to link the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea through the Nile delta. This canal, often abandoned due to silting, was reopened for navigation by later Pharaohs and finally by Amro Ibn El Ass in A.D. 640 after which it remained open for 150 years.

Rule 13 of the Collision Regulations reads as follows:

Overtaking:

(a) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Rules of this Section any vessel overtaking any other shall keep out of the way of the vessel being overtaken.

(b) A vessel shall be deemed to be overtaking when coming up with another vessel from a direction more than 22·5 degrees abaft her beam, that is, in such a position with reference to the vessel she is overtaking, that at night she would be able to see only the sternlight of that vessel but neither of her sidelights.

(c) When a vessel is in any doubt as to whether she is overtaking another, she shall assume that this is the case and act accordingly.

(d) Any subsequent alteration of the bearing between the two vessels shall not make the overtaking vessel a crossing vessel within the meaning of these Rules or relieve her of the duty of keeping clear of the overtaken vessel until she is finally past and clear.

The present paper reports a small part of a research project aimed at finding the cost of marine casualties. It is hoped first to find acceptable ways of estimating the cost of casualties and, by applying cost/benefit theory, to help decision makers to choose the most cost-effective programmes of marine safety and environmental protection.

What constitutes a minimum safe distance of approach in an overtaking or meeting situation is a problem that has engaged the interest of seamen since steam began to supplant sail. Prior to that time vessels were often obliged to steer zig-zag courses in tacking against the wind, and though they were probably no less concerned with avoiding a collision the problem was of a different order.

Many nations are debating the implementation of vessel traffic services (VTS) and it is envisaged that some regulation of the movement of marine traffic may soon be imposed. It is highly desirable that prior to any change a rigorous appraisal of the existing traffic be carried out to establish the level of risk in the area; this level can then be used to evaluate any proposed change. The following note describes a research project concerned with establishing a general method of determining the base risk level, developed from earlier research by M. Degré and M. Lefèvre who used a computer simulation of marine traffic in the Dover Strait to assess the impact of various suggested traffic separation schemes. A cost-effective tool has been developed at Liverpool which will enable traffic patterns to be studied in areas remote from the land. This is a computer simulation model which is being used to establish dynamic areas of risk in the Irish Sea, which could easily be transposed to study traffic patterns in any other area.

In recent years acoustic logs have begun to replace mechanical and electromagnetic logs as a technique for measuring the speed of ships at sea. The acoustic Doppler log has become well established and, although its performance is usually far from ideal, there are many models available commercially, including those from Krupp Atlas, Thomson CSF, Simrad, Magnavox, Edo Western, Marquardt, Sperry and Amatek Straza. The acoustic correlation log has only made its appearance relatively recently.

This paper, which reviews briefly the development of modern maritime electronic navigation aids, was presented at a meeting of the Scottish Branch of the Institute held in Edinburgh on 7 October 1981.

The electronic navigation systems dealt with in this paper are the principal position-fixing aids and the somewhat related computer radar data-processing equipment or Collision Avoidance Systems, inasmuch as these envelop a navigational task. The survey will thus embrace the principal hyperbolic aids – Decca Main Chain and Loran-C; the artificial satellite navigation systems – TRANSIT SATELLITE and NAVSTAR, the Global Positioning System; and the navigational role of collision avoidance systems.