ABSTRACT
Shipping cargo from one port to another involves the coordinated working of various operations both on land and at sea. One of the integral parts of shipping operations is passage planning, which is mainly undertaken by the ship’s navigational officer. A passage plan is essentially a comprehensive, berth-to-berth guide, developed and used by the vessel’s bridge team to determine the most efficient route, to identify potential problems or hazards along the route, and to adopt Bridge Management Practices to ensure the vessel’s safe passage. SOLAS Chapter V, annexes 24 and 25, entitled Voyage Planning and Guidelines for Voyage Planning respectively, provide guidelines regarding the regulations pertaining passage planning. It is vital that all ship’s navigators are fully cognisant of the demands SOLAS Chapter V places on them. In this chapter, we will discuss the main requirements and basic stages of passage planning.
