INSTRUMENTS ON BOARD A SHIP:

1) HYDROMETER:
Hydrometer is used to measure density of dock water (DW)
Units of density of water – T/M3

Hydrometer is used:
I. For a draft survey – Loading/unloading a ship
II. To calculate dock water allowance (DWA) – DWA is calculated to find out how
much loadline will submerge in port

Formula for - DWA = FWA X (1025 – DW density)

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 STEPS TO BE FOLLOWED WHEN USING A HYDROMETER:

I. Hydrometer should have a certificate for marine use
II. Check the physical condition of hydrometer, scale, floating bulb and weighted
bulb should not be cracked or damaged
III. Check errors of hydrometer using distilled water
IV. Take a clean bucket and take samples from 6 points around the ship from at
least half draft depth
V. Make sure sample is taken away from overboard discharges and floating debris
VI. Make sure bucket is filled enough so that hydrometer doesn’t touches the
bottom and floats freely
VII. Let water settle down
VIII. Put hydrometer in bucket and give it a slight spin to break surface tension
IX. Make sure hydrometer doesn’t touches the sides of the bucket
X. Take the reading from the lower meniscus

2) HYGROMETER:
Hydrometer is used:
I. To calculate humidity in air and predict fog
II. To decide whether to ventilate or not

 Why is dry and wet bulb kept in Stevenson screen?

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 Dry and wet bulb are kept in Stevenson screen to prevent it from sudden gust of wind
and variable evaporation rate. It is placed at least 1.5m above deck.

 Hot to predict fog?

I. Take the dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures from windward side - for any given
time
II. Calculate their difference known as depression of wet bulb
III. Get the dew point temperature from dew point temperature table using dry bulb
temperature and depression of wet bulb
IV. Get sea temperature for that time from engine room (E/R)
V. Plot these temperatures against time axis for successive hours
VI. Extend these lines, wherever dew point temperature and sea temperature meet
each other that is the predicted time of fog

 DEFITNITIONS:
Humidity – Quantity of water vapor present in the atmosphere
Relative humidity (RH) – It is the percentage ratio of present water vapour a sample can
hold to the maximum quantity of water vapour that sample can hold at that
temperature
Dew point – When RH is 100% saturated

 Hot to decide ventilate or not?

Cold to Hot – Ventilate NOT
Hot to Cold – Ventilate HOLD
3) PRECISION ANEROID BAROMETER (PAB):
It is used to get the pressure at any position

 How to use a PAB?

I. Put the damper (to prevent sudden change in pressure by sudden gust of wind,
rolling and pitching
II. Press push button and turn the dial
III. Stop when green light breaks
IV. Take the reading, if a reading is between two readings then take the odd one
V. Apply calibration correction (issued by met office)
VI. Apply temperature and height correction, using a table in the box or mariners
handbook.
Pressure taken on the ship is above sea level and we know that pressure
decreases as altitude increases, therefore this correction is always added.

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 What is diurnal variation of pressure?
Atmospheric pressure for any region changes from maximum to minimum everyday.
There are 2 maximum and 2 minimum pressures for any region at very nearly the same
times each day. Maximum is about 2200hrs and minimum at about 0400 and 1600hrs
The variation in pressure is called diurnal variation of pressure

 Why do you monitor pressure on board?

Pressure is monitored on board in order to know the diurnal variation of pressure in the
position of the ship.
If diurnal variation of pressure drops more than 3mb than average it means ship is in the
vicinity of a storm and if it drops more than 5mb it means TRS is within 200nm

4) MAGNETIC COMPASS:
 There are 2 types of compass cards:
I. Dry card:
i. Made up of rice paper
ii. Consists of 7 needle magnets suspended underneath the card via silk
threads due to which compass points to North
II. Wet card:
i. Made of mica or plastic
ii. Consists of one ring magnet due to which compass points to North

 Liquid inside the bowl is ethyl alcohol and water in the ratio 2:1
 Why do you have that liquid?
I. It provides damping effect
II. Acts as antifreeze till -30 degree celcius
III. Prevents liquid from evaporating

 What to do if you get a bubble?

I. Turn the bowl upside down and bring filling cap up and top it up with pure
alcohol
II. If there is no filling cap then inject it with a syringe

 What is the trouble with the bubble?

I. Restricts card movement
II. Loss of flotation

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 III. Optical error while taking a reading

 What is binnacle made of?

Any non magnetic material such as wood, fibre, brass, plastic

 What is bowl made of?

Brass or glass
 What maintenance will you carry out on a magnetic compass?
I. Take compass error every watch
II. No electrical installations around the compass within 1.5m
III. Check for structural changes around the compass
IV. Check location of corrector magnets (back of deviation card)
V. Check free movement of the card (deflection error) and gimble
VI. Report any problems to the master

 What will you do if compass bowl breaks?

I. Replace it with the spare bowl kept upside down in the navigation locker
II. Do not calculate the deviation because deviation is in the ship

 What corrector magnets are soft and what are hard?

I. Soft – Flender bar and Kelvin balls
II. Hard – Fore and aft hard iron magnetic correctors, Athwartship hard iron
magnetic correctors and Heeling error bucket

 How is expansion of liquid compensated for?

By an expansion chamber at the bottom of the bowl

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5) SEXTANT:
 Parts of a sextant:

 Errors of a sextant:
I. Adjustable errors:
i. Error of perpendicularity (1st error):
When index mirror is not perpendicular to the plane of instrument error
of perpendicularity occurs

Method to remove:
a) Hold sextant horizontally, frame up handle down
b) Set index arm almost half way through the arc
c) Look through the index mirror, true image and the reflected
image should be identical
d) If not adjust using 1st adjustment screw behind the index mirror

ii. Side error (2nd error):

If horizon mirror is not perpendicular to the plane of instrument side
error exists

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 Method to remove:
a) Hold sextant horizontally and look at horizon or look at a distant
object (star)
b) Set index arm at zero
c) Adjust using 2nd adjustment screw, at the back of horizon mirror,
lower screw

iii. Parallelism:
If index mirror and horizon mirror are not parallel to each other error of
parallelism exists

Method to remove:
a) Hold sextant vertical and look at horizon or distant light source
b) Set index arm at zero
c) Adjust using 3rd adjustment screw, inner or higher at the back of
horizon mirror

II. Non-adjustable errors:

i. Prismatic error – 2 faces of the mirror not parallel to each other
ii. Shade error – Faces of shades not parallel to ground
iii. Warm and rack error – Caused by wear on the gearing rack
iv. Graduation – May be found on the arc, vernier or micrometer scales
v. Collimation – Axis of telescope not parallel to the plane of sextant
vi. Centering – Pivot of index bar not at the exact center of curvature of the
arc
6) AZIMUTH RING:
 Parts of azimuth ring:
I. Mirrored prism
II. Magnifying lens

 How to check error in a azimuth ring?

I. Select a terrestrial object
II. Take a bearing of the object “arrow down”
III. Take a bearing of the same object “arrow up”
IV. Compare the 2 readings – If same then there is no error in the azimuth ring if not
then there is a error
V. If bearings are different then it should not be used and sent ashore for repair

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 How to use an azimuth ring?
I. Use “arrow down” for terrestrial objects
II. View reflected image of compass card and actual terrestrial object in case of
terrestrial objects
III. Use “arrow up” for celestial objects
IV. View reflected image of celestial body and actual compass card in case of
celestial objects

7) HYDROSTATIC RELEASE UNIT (HRU):

I. Strong white rope is secured to the liferaft cradle and attached to the liferaft
lashing via senhouse clip
II. When ship sinks a water pressure within 1.5 - 4m activates HRU and a very sharp
knife cuts this rope and liferaft floats in the water
III. As ship sinks painter gets a jerk with which CO2 bottle gets activated, liferaft gets
inflated, weak link breaks and liferaft floats free
IV. HRU is replaced after 2 years

8) EMERGENCY TOWING ARRANGEMENT (ETA):

I. New and existing tankers of 20,000 DWT and above should be fitted with an ETA
II. Aim of the equipment is to facilitate salvage and therefore reduce the risk of
pollution
III. Arrangement should be capable of rapid deployment at all times in the absence
of main power
IV. Towing gear should have the following components:
i. Pickup gear
ii. Chafing gear
iii. Towing pennant
iv. Fairlead
v. Strong point
vi. Rolling pedestral

V. Length of towing pennant should be atleast twice the lightest seagoing condition
at the fairlead plus 50m and should have a hard eye at the end to allow
connection of standard bow shaped shackle
VI. Fairleads and strong points should have sufficient strength to withstand towing
operation

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 VII. Chafing chain to extend atleast 3m beyond the fairlead and to be fitted with a
pear shaped link at the end for connection of a bow shackle
VIII. Aft gear should be pre rigged and capable of being deployed in 15 minutes
IX. Forward gear should be capable of deployed in 1 hour
X. Gear should be clear marked, inspected regularly and maintained in good
working order

NAVIGATIONAL EQUIPMENTS ON BOARD

1) RADAR (Radio Detection And Ranging):

 How will you test your RADAR prior departure?

I. Check if its safe to turn on RADAR – local regulations, terminal requirement, men
working on mast
II. Switch on power button and wait – warming up
III. Increase brightness, gain, tuning and clutter (sea/rain)
IV. Check speed input – log(spd over water) not GPS(spd over ground)
V. Set up trails, vectors and parallel indexing
VI. Set up 2 RADAR’s, 1 for short range(X Band-short pulse) and 1 for long range(S
Band-long pulse)

VARIOUS SITUATIONS:

I. Ice navigation – X band (3cm, 9GHz)

II. Search and rescue – X band
III. Coastal navigation – X band
IV. Heavy rain – S band (10cm, 3GHz)

 Errors / limitations of a RADAR:

i. Side error:
If there are 2 equi distant targets, RADAR strikes the targets bounces back and
can show 2 or more targets

ii. Minimum range:

Target may not be detected because of being outside VBW (vertical beam width)
range

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 iii. Blind sector limitation:
Targets cannot be detected in blind sectors usually behind the funnel
iv. Range discrimination:
When 2 targets have same bearing, different ranges RADAR may show it as a
single target
v. Bearing discrimination:
When 2 targets have same range, different bearing RADAR may show it as a
single target
vi. Target swap:
If 2 targets are nearby there information can swap
vii. Multipath error:
It happens usually in ships with a crane. Echo bounces back from crane and
shows another target
viii. Second trace echo:
In this target seems to be near but actually its far

 What do you mean by sea stabilized and ground stabilized?

Sea stabilized:
This is where the RADAR is hooked to the ship’s log and gives the ship’s speed through
the water

Ground stabilized:
This is where the RADAR is hooked up with Doppler log and gives the ship’s speed over
ground

 What is short pulse and long pulse:

Short pulse:
It is best for finding targets in heavy rain shower
Long pulse:
It is best for finding a target on the opposite side of heavy rain shower

 What set up you had on your last ship’s RADAR?

On my last ship we used to have:
i. Ship’s head up, sea stabilized, relative motion
ii. Scale used to vary depending in which area we are, traffic conditions, etc
iii. Sea and rain clutters were removed using anti-sea and anti-rain clutters knob
iv. We used to make use of EBL (Electronic bearing line) and VRB (Variable range
marker)

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  How to check that RADAR is working at its best?
By doing a performance monitoring button which would test the performance of the
magnetron

 How to check the performance of the RADAR?

i. Press the performance monitor button
ii. Switch to 12 miles scale
iii. It then checks the performance of TR monitor (Transmission performance) and
TX monitor (Receiving performance)
iv. If they are as per manufacture’s instructructions that means RADAr is working
well

2) AIS:
 Information provided by AIS:
I. Static information:
i. MMSI
ii. IMO number (where available)
iii. Call sign & name
iv. Length and beam
v. Type of ship and
vi. Location of the position-fixing antenna on the ship (aft of bow/ port or starboard of
centreline)

II. Dynamic information:

i. Ship’s position with accuracy indication and integrity status
ii. Position time stamp (in UTC)
iii. Course over ground (COG)
iv. Speed over ground (SOG)
v. Heading
vi. Navigational status (e.g. at anchor, underway, aground etc. - this is input manually)
and
vii. Rate of turn (where available)

III. Voyage related information:

i. Ship’s draught
ii. Hazardous cargo (type)
iii. Destination and ETA (at masters discretion) and
iv. Route plan (waypoints)

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IV. Short safety-related messages:
i. Free format text message - sent as required

• Limitations of AIS:
i. Gives outdated information
ii. Limited vessels carry AIS:
a) 300GT and above on international voyages
b) 500GT and above on domestic voyages
c) All passenger ships

iii. Incompatible coding and decoding between ship and shore stations
iv. CPA/TCPA based on COG/SOG
v. Assigned mode problem
vi. Antenna location not set up properly

 Legalities:
i. Mandatory – 100nm from UK coast
ii. International regulations – No need at port unless local regulations ask for. Master
has over riding power.

3) ECHO SOUNDER:
• Components of echo sounder:
i. Transdecuer
ii. Amplifier
iii. Pulse generator
iv. Recorder

• Controls in a echo sounder:

i. Range switch
ii. Gain switch
iii. Unit selector (m/feet)
iv. Paper speed control
v. Zero draft adjust
vi. Transducer change over

• Limitations of echo sounder:

i. Shallow water

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 ii. Different layers
iii. Pythagoras error
iv. Electrical noise
v. Mechanical noise
vi. Biological noise
vii. Wrong scale being used
viii. Salinity – speed of sound increase
ix. Cavitation – propeller bubble
x. Draft mark – stylus position wrong

4) ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display Information System):

• Limitations of ECDIS:
i. Software virus
ii. Hardware failure
iii. Sensor failure
iv. Datum errors
v. Information overload
vi. ECDIS accuracy – 2 pixels, 20m
vii. No worldwide coverage of ENC charts
viii. Zooming in gives false sense of space, decreases accuracy
ix. Reported depth not triggering any alarms
x. No dedicated menu to plot visual bearings
xi. Use of simplified symbols might mislead
xii. Route checking not reliable
xiii. Full information not available at certain scales
xiv. Any abnormalities to be reported to MCA

• Difference between ENC (Electronic navigational charts) and RNC (Raster Navigational
charts):
ENC RNC
i. Vector i. Raster
ii. S57 ii. S61
iii. Digitized iii. Scanned copy
iv. Multiple layer iv. Single layer
v. No worldwide coverage yet v. Worldwide coverage
vi. Variable scale vi. Fixed scale
vii. CATZOC vii. Source data box

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viii. Borderless viii. With borders
ix. No compass rose ix. Compass rose available
x. Display can be customized x. Display cant be customized
xi. Always WGS84 xi. Depends on paper chart
xii. Safety monitoring available xii. Safety monitoring not available
xiii. Orientation of screen possible xiii. Orientation of screen not poss.

• How can you go paperless:

i. There should be 2 ECDIS onboard with separate power supply for each
ii. Must be able to share sensor

• Logs:
i. EM (Electro magnetic) log:
a) Works on principle of electromagnetic induction
b) Gives speed over water
c) Used for collision avoidance

ii. Doppler log:

a) Works on principle of Doppler shift of frequency
b) Gives speed over ground

5) GPS (Global Positioning System):

 Errors of GPS:
i. Multipath error:
It occurs when a GPS signal bounces of a nearby object
Eg. Measure length of your living room with a tape one end to other keeping a
sofa in b/w and passing tape over it
ii. Ionosphere error:
It occurs when signals from satellite get delayed in reaching the receiver on
passing through an area of charged particles of Ionosphere and our atmosphere
iii. Orbital error:
Caused by small change in orbital position. Position of satellites obtained from
signal information is a prediction of where the satellite should be at any given
time, the actual position may vary
iv. Clock error:

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 Caused by change in time of satellite and receiver. A slightest difference can
make a range difference of 10s, 100s and 1000s of metres. Eg. A difference of 10
nanoseconds can make a difference of 3 metres in the position

 Dilution of precision:
It is the measure of GPS satellite/receiver geometry

A low DOP value indicates better relative geometry and higher corresponding accuracy:
Best DOP = 0
Worst DOP = Infinity

HDOP (Horizontal DOP), VDOP (Vertical DOP), PDOP (Positional 3D DOP) and TDOP
(Time DOP) – They follow mathematically from the position of the usable satellites

6) GMDSS DAILY CHECKS:

CHECKS:
I. Daily:
i. DSC internal tests (VHF)
ii. Emergency battery
iii. Check printers have ink and paper
iv. Check clocks against time ticks
v. Radio log book is signed by master

II. Weekly:
i. MF external test on 2187.5 KHz (Call coast station on its MMSI # from
ALRS VOL 5)
ii. VHF test with spare batteries for testing purpose (But not on CH 16 use
CH 15 or CH 17)

III. Monthly:
i. Antennas free from corrosion or loose connections
ii. EPIRB – Physical condition, expiry of battery, self test, HRU and bracket
iii. SART – Physical condition, expiry of battery, self test
iv. 24V batteries

SEA AREAS:

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 Sea Area A1 – within range of a shore-based VHF-FM coast station (typically 20-50miles
from shore)
Sea Area A2 – within range of a shore-based MF coast station (typically 100-400 miles
from shore, excluding Sea Area A1)
Sea Area A3 – within INMARSAT satellite coverage, between 70N and 70S, excluding Sea
Areas A1 and A2
Sea Area A4 – the Polar Regions excluding Sea Areas A1, A2 and A3

• GMDSS CRS for each sea area must maintain DSC distress and safety watch as
follows
 Sea Area A1 VHF Channel 70
 Sea Area A2 MF 2187.5 kHz
 Sea Area A3 HF Frequencies in the 4,6,8,12 and 16MHz bands

7) EPIRB (Emergency position indicating radio beacon):

i. EPIRB transmits at 406MHz using a COSPAS SARSAT system
ii. It can be tested with a self test function
iii. EPIRB can be activated by both means - manually or automatically
iv. When a ship is submerged to a depth of 2-4 metres below water level, EPIRB
gets released via HRU which cuts its lashing and gets activated sending details
like:
a) Ship’s name
b) Call sign
c) MMSI number
d) Port of registry
e) Current position etc. to the company and nearest shore station

8) SART (Search and Rescue Radar Transponder):

i. SART works on a X-band (3cm, 9GHz) RADAR
ii. Activating SART:
a) Remove it from its casing
b) Turn the knob half way across to ON position
c) A red ight will start blinking, this is an indication that SART is activated
d) Once been detected by any RADAR this light will turn green

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iii. Once SART signal is received on a RADAR, it will appear as:
a) Over 5 miles 12 blips will appear on the RADAR in the direction of SART in
which the last blip is the position of the SART
b) Between 1-5miles, 12 arcs will appear on the RADAR in the direction of
SART
c) When SART is within 1 mile, 12 concentric circles will appear on the
RADAR

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