VOYAGE DATA RECORDER

- VDR

STUDENT: MILOŠ ŽIVKOVIĆ

SUBJECT: TECHNOLOGY OF
MAINTENANCE
AND REPAIR OF NAVAL
MACHINES
AND INSTALLATIONS
PROFESSOR: VOLINTIRU NARCIS

January 2022. NAVAL ACADEMY “MIRCEA CEL BATRAN”

VOYAGE DATA RECORDER (VDR) ON A SHIP

Voyage Data Recorder is an equipment fitted onboard ships that record

the various data on a ship which can be used for reconstruction of the
voyage details and vital information during an accident investigation.

Information is stored in a secure and retrievable form, relating to the

position, movement, physical status, command and control of a ship over
the period and following an incident.
This information is used during any subsequent safety investigation to
identify the cause(s) of the incident.

Aside from its usage in accident investigation, it can also be used for
preventive maintenance, performance efficiency monitoring, heavy weather
damage analysis, accident avoidance and training purposes to improve
safety and reduce running costs.
UNDERSTANDING VDR
•VDR OR VOYAGE DATA RECORDER IS AN
INSTRUMENT SAFELY INSTALLED ON A SHIP TO
CONTINUOUSLY RECORD VITAL INFORMATION
RELATED TO THE OPERATION OF A VESSEL.

• IT CONTAINS A VOICE RECORDING SYSTEM FOR A

PERIOD OF AT LEAST LAST 12 HOURS (FOR VDRS
INSTALLED POST-JULY 2014, THE PERIOD OF THE
INTEGRATED DETAILS RECORDED IS 48 HOURS). THIS
RECORDING IS RECOVERED AND MADE USE OF FOR
INVESTIGATION IN EVENTS OF ACCIDENTS IN A
COMPRESSED AND DIGITIZED FORMAT.

•THE DATA RECORDS COVERING THE LAST 12 HOURS

ARE CONTINUOUSLY OVERWRITTEN BY THE LATEST
DATA.
•A VDR IS CAPABLE OF WITHSTANDING HEAVY
WEATHER, COLLISIONS, FIRES AND PRESSURE
CONDITIONS EVEN WHEN A SHIP IS AT A DEPTH OF
SEVERAL METERS IN WATER.
 HOW VDR WORKS?
THE VDR CAN BE CLASSIFIED TO CONTAIN FOLLOWING UNITS:

– THE DATA COLLECTION UNIT (DCU) (FITTED ON THE BRIDGE THAT

PULLS IN / COLLECTS DATA FROM ALL THE INTEGRATED SOURCES),

– A DATA RECORDING UNIT (DRU) (FITTED ON THE MONKEY ISLAND THAT

STORES ALL OF THE DATA THAT IS RECORDED VIA THE UNIT WITHIN THE
WHEELHOUSE) AND MICROPHONES TO RECORD BRIDGE AUDIO.

THE DCU CONTAINS THE DATA PROCESSOR UNIT, INTERFACE MODULES

AND BACKUP BATTERIES. IT COLLECTS DATA FROM SENSORS AS
REQUIRED BY THE IMO STANDARDS.
THE FLASH MEMORY IN THE DRU STORES THE DATA COMING FROM
THE DCU. THE DATA CAN BE RETRIEVED BY USING PLAYBACK SOFTWARE
FOR INVESTIGATION AFTER AN INCIDENT.
THE DRU COMPONENTS ARE EMBODIED IN THE PROTECTIVE CAPSULE.
THE CAPSULE ENSURES SURVIVAL AND RECOVERY OF THE RECORDED
DATA AFTER AN INCIDENT.
THE DATA THAT IS COLLECTED OR PULLED IN FROM ALL THE
INTEGRATED SOURCES IS, AS MENTIONED ABOVE, KEPT IN THE
STORAGE CAPSULE AND HOLDS INFORMATION FOR THE 12 HOURS (OR
48 HOURS) PRECEDING IT AND CONTINUOUSLY REFRESHED AS THE
VOYAGE PROGRESSES.

THERE IS ALSO A RECORD BUTTON PROVIDED IN THE BRIDGE UNIT

SO THAT AFTER PUSHING BUTTON (SAY DURING STARTING OF ANY
INCIDENT LIKE COLLISION OR GROUNDING), THE RECORDER WILL
START RECORDING A NEW SET OF INFORMATION FROM THAT PERIOD
OF TIME.

THE CAPSULE MENTIONED ABOVE IS A VERY STURDY UNIT, CAPABLE

OF WITHSTANDING SHOCK AND PRESSURES ASSOCIATED WITH A
MARINE MISHAP (COLLISION, GROUNDING, BAD WEATHER ETC). IT
MIGHT BE A FLOAT-FREE ARRANGEMENT AS WITH THE HRU OR
ATTACHED WITH THE EPIRB FOR SIMULTANEOUS RELEASE.
HOW VDR WORKS
Carriage requirements for VDR

UNDER REGULATION 20 OF SOLAS CHAPTER V ON

VOYAGE DATA RECORDERS (VDR), THE FOLLOWING
SHIPS ARE REQUIRED TO CARRY VDRS:

PASSENGER SHIPS CONSTRUCTED ON OR AFTER 1 JULY

2002;

RO-RO PASSENGER SHIPS CONSTRUCTED BEFORE 1 JULY

2002 NOT LATER THAN THE FIRST SURVEY ON OR AFTER 1
JULY 2002;

PASSENGER SHIPS OTHER THAN RO-RO PASSENGER

SHIPS CONSTRUCTED BEFORE 1 JULY 2002 NOT LATER
THAN 1 JANUARY 2004; AND

SHIPS, OTHER THAN PASSENGER SHIPS, OF 3,000 GROSS

TONNAGE AND UPWARDS CONSTRUCTED ON OR AFTER 1
JULY 2002.
 WHAT DOES IT RECORD?

The VDR at least must record the following:

•Date and time (SVDR)

•Ship’s position (SVDR)
•Speed and heading (SVDR)
•Bridge audio (SVDR)
•Communication audio (radio) (SVDR)
•Radar data (SVDR)
•ECDIS data (SVDR)
•Echo sounder
•Main alarms
•Rudder order and response
•Hull opening (doors) status
•Watertight and fire door status
•Speed and acceleration
•Hull stresses
•Wind speed and direction
 MAINTENANCE

•AS WITH ALL NAVIGATIONAL EQUIPMENT, CHECKS AND MAINTENANCE ARE

IMPORTANT FOR PROPER OPERATION OF ANY ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS.
• ONLY QUALIFIED PERSONNEL SHOULD WORK INSIDE THE EQUIPMENT. AS
FAR AS ROUTINE CHECKS ARE CONCERNED, EXAMINE THE CABLES FOR
SIGNS OF DAMAGE AND ALSO CHECK THAT ALL CONNECTIONS ARE RIGID.
• THE BATTERY SHOULD BE REPLACED EVERY FOUR YEARS,
• THE BACKUP BATTERY MUST BE REPLACED WITH NEW ONE BY A
QUALIFIED SERVICE ENGINEER.
•REGULATION 18.8 OF SOLAS CHAPTER V STATES THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
MAINTENANCE: THE VOYAGE DATA RECORDER (VDR) SYSTEM, INCLUDING
ALL SENSORS, SHALL BE SUBJECTED TO AN ANNUAL PERFORMANCE TEST.
THE TEST SHALL BE CONDUCTED BY AN APPROVED TESTING OR SERVICING
FACILITY TO VERIFY THE ACCURACY, DURATION AND RECOVERABILITY OF
THE RECORDED DATA. IN ADDITION, TESTS AND INSPECTIONS SHALL BE
CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE THE SERVICEABILITY OF ALL PROTECTIVE
ENCLOSURES AND DEVICES FITTED TO AID LOCATION. A COPY OF A THE
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE ISSUED BY THE TESTING FACILITY, STATING
THE DATE OF COMPLIANCE AND THE APPLICABLE PERFORMANCE
STANDARDS, SHALL BE RETAINED ON BOARD THE SHIP.
 CONCLUSION
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE VDR CANNOT BE STRESSED ENOUGH.
WHILE IT IS ALWAYS IN EVERY SEAFARER’S BEST ENDEAVOUR THAT
AN ACCIDENT DOES NOT OCCUR AT ALL, IT IS IMPERATIVE TO
KNOW THE IMPORTANCE OF A VDR IN SUCH A SITUATION.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE VDR/SVDR IS NOT

JUST A WAY TO RECORD DATA FOR USE LATER ON DURING
ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION BUT IT GIVES THE TRAINERS AS WELL
AS THE OFFICERS / ENGENEERS TO UNDERSTAND REAL LIFE
SITUATIONS AT SEA AND THE WAYS THEY COULD BE COMBATTED
TO FURTHER PREVENT ANY FUTURE ACCIDENTS, ENABLING
BETTER PRACTICAL APPROACH TOWARDS SHIP OPERATIONS AT
SEA.
VDRS PROVIDE A MEANS FOR MEMBERS TO INTRODUCE
CORRECTIVE AND PREVENTATIVE ACTIONS BEFORE REAL INCIDENTS
OCCUR. SIMILARLY, MEMBERS CAN USE VDR DATA TO IDENTIFY BEST
PRACTICES EMPLOYED ON BOARD THAT ARE WORTHY OF
REPLICATION. WHEN REVIEWING THEIR VDR POLICY MEMBERS
SHOULD CONSIDER THE POINTS LISTED BELOW.
 REFERENCES

https://www.marineinsight.com/guidelines/voyage-data-recorder-
on-a-ship-explained/
file:///C:/Users/Milos/Downloads/VDR-LP-Briefing.pdf.pdf
https://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Safety/Pages/VDR.aspx
http://furuno.de/Downloads/VR-5000/Handb
%C3%BCcher/OME44180J_VR5000.pdf
 THANK YOU FOR
YOUR ATTENTION!

ANY QUESTIONS?