Passage Planning: Appraisal, Planning, Execution, Monitoring

Why plan: the rules and the four stages

In short: Read compulsory nautical publications, chart correction, tides and ECDIS safety settings first: passage planning puts them all to work. Every ship that goes to sea must have a proper voyage plan, berth to berth (SOLAS V/34). The method is APEM: Appraisal → Planning → Execution → Monitoring (IMO A.893(21)).

The rules

• SOLAS V/34 makes a properly prepared voyage plan mandatory for all ships that proceed to sea. Port State control can ask to see it (MGN 610 (M+F) Amendment 1, Annex A 41).
• The plan must follow the IMO Guidelines for Voyage Planning, IMO A.893(21) (adopted 1999).
• Under SOLAS V/34 the route must: take account of ships’ routeing systems; give sufficient sea room all the way; anticipate all known navigational hazards and adverse weather; and respect marine environmental protection measures.
• SOLAS V/34-1: the Master’s discretion. Nobody (owner, charterer, company) may stop the Master from taking a decision needed for safety or the environment.
• STCW A-VIII/2 Part 2 repeats the duty for the watchkeeping officers: plan before each voyage, berth to berth.
• Small vessels and yachts: the plan is still required, but its depth depends on the size of vessel, its crew and the length of the voyage (MGN 610 (M+F) Amendment 1, Annex A 41.4).

Where the guidance lives

• IMO A.893(21) — the four stages, the base of everything else.
• MCA guidance Implementing SOLAS Chapter V (2002): Annex 24 = MCA guidance on voyage planning, Annex 25 = the IMO guidelines. Some references call it “SOLAS V Annex 23”: it is the same guidance.
• MGN 166 (M+F) — the MCA note that reproduced the IMO guidelines for UK ships.
• Today the MCA’s SOLAS V guidance is MGN 610 (M+F) Amendment 1 (2025).
• ICS Bridge Procedures Guide, chapter 2 — industry best practice and checklists.

The aim and who does it

• Aim: the safest and most economical passage berth to berth.
• Priorities, in order: safety of life, then the ship, then the marine environment.
• The OOW may prepare the plan (often the 2nd Officer, the navigating officer). The Master reviews and approves it, the officers sign it, and a copy stays on the bridge.
• It is a bridge team job: use everyone’s experience, whatever their rank.

Appraisal: is the voyage possible?

In short: Gather and study all the information for the voyage, then make a risk assessment: are the risks acceptable, is the passage feasible and viable? (IMO A.893(21))

The 5 Cs of seaworthiness

Before the route, check the ship. Five words, all starting with C:

1. Construction — is the vessel built and maintained for the sea expected? Hull integrity, watertightness, general physical state.
2. Condition — are critical systems working? Engine, steering, rigging, electronics, safety equipment: the operational status.
3. Crew — competent, qualified, rested and briefed? Their skills and their mental and physical state decide safe operation (see hours of rest).
4. Cargo — properly loaded and secured, right for the voyage? On a yacht: fuel, provisions and guests.
5. Compliance — legal and regulatory requirements met: certificates and documents in date, safety equipment, manning levels.

What to gather

• Charts of an appropriate scale (see chart scales), corrected and relevant to the voyage; the chart catalogue to find them.
• Nautical publications up to date, corrected by Notices to Mariners.
• Sailing Directions (Admiralty Pilots).
• Ocean Passages for the World, routeing charts, Mariners’ Routeing Guides and passage planning charts.
• Tide tables and tidal stream / current atlases.
• List of Lights and List of Radio Signals (radio aids to navigation).
• Weather information: routeing-chart climate, forecasts and warnings (see weather information at sea).
• Ice: the Mariner’s Handbook (NP100) for ice information.
• The ship itself: draught, manoeuvring data, equipment status, company (SMS) requirements.

On the bridge: a high-latitude passage Svalbard → Jan Mayen → Iceland → Faroe → Shetland → Norway starts with ice limits from NP100 and the routeing chart for the month, before a single line is drawn.

Planning: the berth-to-berth plan

In short: Turn the appraisal into a detailed plan on the chart (paper or ECDIS) and in a notebook, from berth to berth. Then record it and get the Master’s approval (IMO A.893(21)).

What goes on the chart

• The intended route, plotted leg by leg.
• Hazards found in a risk assessment, and no-go areas shaded so nobody crosses them; then choose the waypoints.
• A safe speed for each part of the passage (see safe speed).
• Under-keel clearance (UKC) everywhere, allowing for squat.
• TSS and VTS areas, with their rules and reporting points (see traffic separation schemes). Highlight VHF channel changes, for example abeam a given light.
• Alteration points and wheel-over positions.
• Position-fixing methods and intervals, and the marks to use (see position fixing).
• Master-calling points and the aids to navigation expected along the route.
• Expected traffic density.
• Environmental protection: sensitive areas, discharge limits.

Radar in the plan: conspicuous targets and detection ranges

Radar plays a part in all four stages. The radar information you put in the plan (good targets, parallel index lines) becomes gold when another position-fixing system fails. Plan it carefully for coastal and restricted waters, restricted visibility, ice, and TSS / VTS areas.

• Good radar targets give stable, clear, accurate echoes that match the chart: an isolated island, an island-reef, a cape, a jetty, an isolated lighthouse, cliffs with headlands, a racon. Prefer targets that are near, little distorted and easy to identify on the chart.
• Poor targets: a gently sloping tidal beach (the shoreline moves with the tide), gentle slopes (weak echo), buoys (blurred in waves, clear only close to).
• Use the chart to judge a target: its spread, height and slope.
• Caution: a nearer target can hide a larger one behind it. The radar picture is not a perfect plan view (see radar errors).
• Minimum detection ranges required of a radar (clutter-free, antenna 15 m above sea level, IMO MSC.192(79); see radar performance standards):
  • shoreline rising to 60 m → 20 NM;
  • SOLAS ship over 5,000 GT → 11 NM; over 500 GT → 8 NM;
  • small vessel with radar reflector → X 5.0 / S 3.7 NM;
  • typical navigation buoy → X 4.6 / S 3.0 NM;
  • 10 m vessel with no reflector → X 3.4 / S 3.0 NM;
  • at short range, targets shown clearly from 50 m out to 1 NM (a buoy from 40 m) with only the range scale changed.
• Real ranges change: a higher antenna sees further (but more sea clutter); super-refraction or sub-refraction changes the maximum range; rain hides targets much more on X-band than on S-band.
• Do not plan to rely on radar alone: over-reliance on radar has caused collisions and groundings. Cross-check with other methods.

Record and approve

• Record the plan: on the chart and in a passage plan form or notebook (waypoints, courses, distances, ETAs, UKC, calling points, contingencies).
• The Master must approve it; the officers sign that they have read it.
• Keep it on the bridge, available to every OOW.

The passage plan in ECDIS

In short: Depending on the ship’s certification, ECDIS may be the primary tool for passage planning. The same APEM rules apply, plus some ECDIS-only checks.

What to set up

• Calculate the safety depth and safety contour and set them to the UKC required by the SMS.
• Apply a maximum cross-track distance (XTD) to each leg, in line with the SMS and right for the area.
• Check that ENCs are available for the whole passage, and use an appropriate large-scale ENC.
• If you reuse an old route, check it again in full; remove old routes from the display.
• Select the extra chart symbols / detail you need.
• Set the ETA correctly, manually or with the route planning tools. A wrong ETA gives wrong tidal data and wrong time-dependent information.
• Apply current and tidal data to the route, if integrated and up to date.
• Then run the ECDIS route check for dangers along the XTD corridor.

Execution: ready to sail

In short: Execution starts when there is a time of departure. Fix the ETD/ETA, check the conditions, refine the plan, set the watches, brief the whole team, then carry out the plan (IMO A.893(21)).

Checks before departure

• The ship’s navigational equipment: working and tested.
• Tidal heights and streams at the critical points of the route (timing over shallow patches, narrows, bars).
• Weather, including the chance of restricted visibility.
• Passing dangerous points by day or by night: adjust the ETD if it matters.
• Expected traffic conditions.
• Then: detail the plan further where needed, refine the watch rotation, and brief everyone.

Master’s standing orders and night orders

The plan runs inside the Master’s orders (full detail in handing over the watch and calling the Master).

• Standing orders: supplementary to the company’s standing orders, and specific to the vessel and the voyage. Typical examples:
  • respect all company standing orders; keep a proper look-out and safe speed at all times;
  • call the Master as the orders say, in any doubt, or in any emergency;
  • an extra look-out on the bridge from sunset to sunrise;
  • follow the COLREG at all times, including lights, shapes and sound signals;
  • radar must not be the only means of navigation;
  • monitor the weather every watch;
  • fix the position by methods other than GPS when available;
  • keep a radio watch on the right GMDSS equipment and frequencies;
  • call the Master if visibility falls below 3 NM, and put the engines on standby;
  • defer a change of watch that falls during a bridge operation until it is finished.
• Night orders: supplementary to the standing orders, for the events expected that night. Typical examples:
  • follow the laid courses; fix and plot at the set intervals with primary and secondary methods;
  • call the Master at a set position or time; call if in any doubt;
  • anti-piracy watch; manning levels for each stage; engine room to stand by;
  • reduce speed at a set position, and the speed to keep;
  • prepare for arrival: call the Master, give the ETA to pilots and VTS, slow down about one hour before end of passage (as the engine needs), rig the pilot ladder in time, call the crew to stand by.

Monitoring: following the plan

In short: Once underway, watch the plan closely: deviation from track, progress and arrival times. The plan must be available at all times, and any change goes back through APEM (IMO A.893(21)).

What the OOW monitors

• Progress against the plan: position, cross-track error, ETA at the next waypoint.
• Position by more than one method: GNSS, radar ranges, visual bearings, soundings — never GPS alone.
• Monitoring tools set up in the plan: parallel indexing and wheel-over — a parallel index line shows at once if the ship is off track, and the wheel-over point says exactly when to start each turn.
• Bridge equipment: working, errors known.
• Compliance with the COLREG, MARPOL, the standing orders, the GMDSS radio watch and the look-out (see OOW duties).

Calling the Master in the monitoring stage

• At the calling points (position or time) written in the plan or night orders.
• The seven-word list: Restricted visibility · Traffic · Gear failure · Crew sickness · Danger of navigation · Unsure · Emergencies.
• Also when land, a mark or the expected soundings are not sighted on time, or appear unexpectedly.

Changing the plan, and the pilot

• To change the plan underway: inform the Master, discuss the change and get the Master’s approval. The change itself goes through appraisal and planning again.
• With a pilot on board, the Master stays responsible for the ship. When the Master is not on the bridge, the OOW acts for the Master. The pilot’s intentions are checked against our own plan.