When an SMS has grown to a point where it no longer feels manageable, the instinct is to open it and start cutting. I understand that instinct. After years of working with operators on ISM SMS review, I have seen…
When I sit down with an operator to review their ISM SMS requirements, the picture is almost always the same. The document is technically compliant. It references the right regulations, addresses the right hazards, and has been updated after every…
Most VDR requests I receive cover the port arrival. A smaller number include departure. Occasionally, the dataset contains anchor watch VDR data — not because it was specifically requested, but because the arrival or departure sequence encompassed an anchor leg.…
When I review a VDR audit for a port approach, one of the first overlays I look at is position at time of pilot boarding. Not because I expect to find a problem every time, but because the position tells…
When I open a VDR review, the radar screenshots are among the first things I examine. Not to confirm that the radar was switched on — that is rarely the issue — but to understand how it was being used.…
VDR incident investigation is not a theoretical risk. Every VDR records continuously, and every recorded passage is, in principle, available for formal review. The question that rarely gets asked before something goes wrong is: if an investigator pulled that data…
The Master Pilot Exchange has a box for tug bollard pull. In most cases the comparison gets made — if the tug bollard pull exceeds what the ship’s fittings can carry, the instruction goes to the tug master: be easy,…
During a recent VDR audit, I reviewed the port approach and berthing of a vessel calling at a busy commercial port. The Master Pilot Exchange (MPX) checklist was complete. Every item had been covered — passage plan, berth details, tugs,…
Most VDR audits begin and end with a compliance requirement. A SIRE inspection is coming. A TMSA review is due. The audit is commissioned, the report is received, and the box is ticked. The proactive use of VDR data —…
The new SOLAS lifting appliances regulation 2026 — SOLAS Regulation II-1/3-13 — came into force on 1 January 2026. Adopted under IMO Resolution MSC.532(107), it establishes mandatory requirements for the design, testing, examination, and maintenance of lifting appliances and anchor…
The radar performance monitor ship check is one of the most consistently recorded entries in a vessel’s radar log. It is also, based on VDR data across hundreds of audits, one of the most consistently unperformed. The screen does not…
I have reviewed VDR data from vessels approaching complex port entrances where the planned route placed the ship in a higher-risk position than necessary — and where no one on the bridge had questioned it before departure. The plan had…