Webinar: Bridge Watchkeeping

The UK P&I Club held a webinar on the subject of bridge watchkeeping. 

Webinar Overview

This webinar, hosted by Capt Anuj Velankar, Regional Loss Prevention Director of the UK P&I Club, provided crucial insights into best practices and recent developments in bridge watchkeeping. 

Key Discussions

The webinar focused on two main aspects of bridge watchkeeping and safety:

• Best Practices and Developments: Capt Mark Bull discussed various best practices in bridge watchkeeping and recent developments in the field. He used two videos to demonstrate how a bridge team can effectively use their equipment to navigate through constrained or high-traffic waters.
• ECDIS and Magnification: Capt Vincent Fernandes highlighted the pitfalls of using extreme magnification on ECDIS, which can give a misleading sense of security in passing navigational dangers or in heavy traffic situations.

Both panelists gave short presentations, followed by an interactive Q&A session based on questions from the audience during registration and live issues raised. Topics ranged from navigational issues with large vessels to managing alarm functions on bridge equipment like ECDIS.

Panelist

The webinar was hosted by Capt Anuj Velankar, Regional Loss Prevention Director of the UK P&I Club. On the panel were Capt Mark Bull, Author of the Nautical Institute book on bridge watchkeeping and Capt Vincent Fernandes, author of the book “ECDIS Blues” and Vice Principal at the Samundra Institute of Nautical Studies.

A recording of the webinar is provided and will be of great interest to both seafarers out at sea as well as marine and technical teams who wish to know more about the subject.

Follow-up webinar: The "After-Hour"

As a bonus, an “After-Hour” session was held with ship managers, lawyers, and technology experts discussing practical and legal aspects of bridge watchkeeping and new technologies entering the bridge and how this could affect the future of watchkeeping..

Key Issues Discussed

• Practical issues faced by the bridge team such as fatigue, resource management, training, and managing equipment
• Impact of automation on the maritime industry, discussed by Capt Ann Till from Ocean Infinity
• Legal implications of increasing automation and technology, discussed with Binoy Dubey

The session was based on audience questions and live issues raised. The recording will be valuable for office teams in marine and technical departments focusing on bridge watchkeeping and automation safety.

For more information, please contact the UK Club Loss Prevention team.

Webinar Links

Webinar: Bridge Watchkeeping (Vimeo)

Webinar follow up: After-Hour (Vimeo)