F
or every technical space on board a superyacht there is an area where form meets function. For the Chef that space is frequently the galley for the stews it can be the laundry room, for the engineers it is often the control room while the ITOs get into a sweat just thinking about the racks in the AV room. But for the navigators there is only one space where form meets function with any real degree of practicality and that is the navigation bridge.
Often called the yacht’s control centre by those that man it, many also call it the nerve centre adding with a certain amount of irreverence that it is where the Chief Nerve works. Whatever your job on board it is considered to be by many on board the focal point of the yacht’s working purpose. The modern day bridge with its controls, multifunctional computer screens clustered around the steering and propulsion devices can impress some, baffle others and elicit scream of despair from others. What has been designed with great care and forethought by one person or even a team of people can, at a stroke immediately win the approval of those who are going to use it or can generate much striking of the head as the potential user stares at it in amazement and asks him or herself what the devil is that doing there.
Steve Monk a former Royal Navy officer served in large yachts for some years before setting up DaGama Marine, a firm that specialises in the supply of bridge ancillary requirements and training, and has over the
years seen many bridges. He says, “When it comes to bridge design, the layout of the equipment, what equipment is provided and all other aspects associated within the nerve centre of a superyacht, particularly when underway, it has to be asked why there are so many poorly designed and laid out vessels at sea?”
Citing the example of a yacht wishing to operate on an approved ECDIS (electronic chart display information system) as their primary means of navigation, Monk points out that, “It has to have a minimum of two allocated machines. Building a bridge, which only has space for one means the regulations can’t be achieved so paper charts have to be used. However when no chart table is provided or it isn’t big enough on which to house a standard Admiralty chart, how is the Captain supposed to be legally compliant? ‘Work arounds’ usually mean the regulations aren’t quite followed correctly (read that as you will) and thus poor standards and procedures creep into place.”
But is ECDIS all that its cracked up to be? RH Marine in Holland believe that although ECDIS has brought a lot of ease to the bridge, sometimes it can be a challenge for a navigator to sail without the familiar large paper chart. They say, “It may be the lack of a good overview, or the limited freedom to add notes or other content. Fortunately there are modern technologies available that can assist here. The Rhodium Bridge suite of applications already contains its own developed chart system for a long time, running on each of four navigation Multi-
RH MARINE RH Marine is a leading system integrator and innovator of electrical and automation systems in the maritime industry and delivers tailored solutions for complex Defence, Safety & Security Ships, Yachts and Special Vessels. They enable the customers to focus on their job, while they take care of the electrical and automation technology onboard. The RH Marine Rhodium portfolio provides added value through product lines that cover hardware products, software products, capabilities and services. The Rhodium portfolio consists of four product lines; Integrated Bridge, Hybrid Energy, Ship Automation and Electrical Power. For more details Tel: +31 (0)10 487 19 11 or visit
www.rhmarine.com
Function-Workstations at the bridge, so fully redundant and according the applicable regulations.” A recent addition from the company is their Voyage Planning Station (VPS), adding just the functionality to fill the gap.
RH Marine’s VPS is an add-on to optimise the planning process. They explain, “You have the accuracy and quality of an approved ECDIS with the size of a paper chart and the freedom to draw just like before on the large paper chart. The VPS gives a detailed digital overview of difficult navigation areas, with the possibility to scale the vector charts from a local ECDIS cell to world scale, by the touch of your fingers. The Bridge ECDIS systems are equipped with relatively small displays while in the past the navigator could use large A0 sized paper charts providing the required situational overview. The new Rhodium VPS combines both worlds by delivering a high resolution (4K) large sized multi touch display with ECDIS planning capabilities and more. It’s to be used as a secondary system next to
ONBOARD | SUMMER 2018 | 63
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168