Passage planning

Passage planning or voyage planning is a procedure to develop a complete description of a vessel's voyage from start to finish. The plan includes leaving the dock and harbor area, the en route portion of a voyage, approaching the destination, and mooring, the industry term for this is 'berth to berth'. According to international law, a vessel's captain is legally responsible for passage planning, The duty of passage planning is usually delegated to the ship's navigation officer, typically the second officer on merchant ships.

Studies show that human error is a factor in 80 percent of navigational accidents and that in many cases the human making the error had access to information that could have prevented the accident. The practice of voyage planning has evolved from penciling lines on nautical charts to a process of risk management.

Passage planning consists of four stages: appraisal, planning, execution, and monitoring. These stages are specified in International Maritime Organization Resolution A.893(21), Guidelines For Voyage Planning, which are, in turn, reflected in the local laws of IMO signatory countries. The Guidelines specify fifty elements of passage planning, some of which are only applicable in certain situations.

The Guidelines specify three key items to consider in the practice of voyage planning:

Voyage planning starts with the appraisal stage. Before each voyage begins, the navigator should develop a detailed mental model of how the entire voyage will proceed. The appraisal stage consists of gathering and contemplating all information relevant to the voyage. Much of this appraisal is done by consulting nautical charts, nautical publications and performing a number of technical tasks such as weather forecasting, prediction of tides and currents, and checks of local regulations and warnings.

Nautical publications are a valuable guide to local conditions and regulations, but they must be updated and actually read to be of any use. These publications could include Sailing Directions and Coast Pilots or similar texts produced by other authorities.

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