Voyage planning must be treated as a live, dynamic process, not a document completed before departure, if bridge teams are to manage risk effectively once a vessel is underway, The Nautical Institute has warned ahead of the second session in its Bridge Resource Management webinar series.
'Voyage planning for success' will take place on Thursday 18 June, from 09:30-10:30 UTC, bringing together an international panel to examine how voyage plans are prepared, shared and followed on ships today. The session will focus on the technical requirements of a well-prepared plan, but also consider the human resources that determine whether that plan genuinely supports safer decision-making.
The issue matters because a voyage plan can be perfect on paper yet fail to give the bridge team a clear mental model of the voyage ahead. Safe navigation depends on people knowing the hazards, margins, decision points and contingencies that shape the voyage, particularly when traffic, weather, port requirements and operational parameters are subject to change.
The webinar will examine how an effective voyage plan should be created, communicated and used as a go-to reference throughout the voyage, helping the bridge team anticipate risk, manage workload, challenge assumptions and make informed decisions when conditions move away from what was expected.
The panel will include Dr Captain Nadeem Anwar FNI, Director, Sharjar Maritime Academy and author of BRM Volume 2, Voyage Planning; Captain Matthew Easton FNI, Liverpool Pilot and BRM P trainer; Captain Ann Pletschke CMMar FNI, STEER Project Lead, The Nautical Institute; Emma MacCarthy, Loss Prevention Officer, West of England P&I Club; and Ross Cleland, First Officer. The session will be moderated by Steven Gosling MSc AFNI, Head of Information and Publications at The Nautical Institute, and Lucy Budd, Editor, Seaways at The Nautical Institute.
Steven Gosling MSc AFNI, Head of Information and Publications at The Nautical Institute, said: “Voyage planning is often thought of as a technical exercise, but its real value is in how it informs and supports the bridge team once the voyage commences. A good plan helps the bridge team to anticipate, be alert to changing conditions and risk, be ready to challenge and modify the plan where necessary. This discussion is important because it brings together perspectives from training, pilotage, loss prevention and sea-going professionals to look at how voyage planning can better support safe navigation at sea today”
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