Passage planning
Compiled By: Capt. Sunil Bhabha
Stepwise Procedure
1. Mark your initial & final positions on the chart.
2. Keeping in mind the draft of the ship, Decide the waypoints & finetune them (going to nearest
gridline to get simple numbers) and mark on chart, write their Lat Long also if time permits.
3. Join the waypoints with straight lines.
4. Mark the course & distance on each leg in big bold big letters along with arrows.
5. Mark no go areas using light lines, do not obscure the information on the chart by marking very thick
lines.
6. Mark call master point.
7. Mark Standby Engine point.
8. Mark contingency anchorages.
9. Mark parallel indexing lines where available / possible.
10. Mark Speed changes required if any, wheel over lines for alterations, clearing bearings & abort
points.
Clearing Bearings
Clearing bearings are the bearings of prominent points, that keep you clear of dangers. Generally, we
use a prominent mark on the chart that we will be able to identify at a reasonable range.
Draw a line on the chart, from the mark along the safe side of any dangers close to the route. Write the
bearing along this line, which you can then monitor when passing that area.
You don’t have to sail along this line, it’s just there to act like a safety handrail that you mustn’t cross.
Capt. Sunil Bhabha (202103)
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Abort Point & point of no return
Abort point is the point on the passage beyond which there is no sufficient sea room to turn back the
vessel. When approaching or entering a port or proceeding in a channel, the width of the channel may
not be sufficient to turn the vessel. The point where width of the channel becomes narrow enough that
vessel cannot make a turn would be called Abort point.
Point of no return is not related to the width of the channel or turning of the vessel. With point of no
return, there may be sufficient sea room to turn the vessel but the vessel cannot return to where it came
from because the conditions have now changed. One example of "point of no return" is while
proceeding in a river with falling tide. If the next port is changed or cancelled after passing the "point of
no return" then vessel cannot return back because the tide now will be less than it was few hours earlier
when vessel passed the same location. In this case vessel can turn and there is no issue with the turning
back and may be anchoring. So, it will not be called "Abort point" but it will be called "point of no return".
Sample Passage Planning Table to be made on answer sheet
Passage Planning Table
Date
Passage Details From
To
Max Draft
Max Speed
WP
Latitude
Longitude
Course
Total
Capt. Sunil Bhabha (202103)
Distance
UKC
Speed Steaming Time
Remarks
Total
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Sample Passage Planned on Chart
Capt. Sunil Bhabha (202103)
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Parallel Indexing
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Capt. Sunil Bhabha (202103)
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