Watch changeover is a routine task on board that officers and watchkeepers perform regularly.
As simple as it may seem, taking over the watch is very important. This process ensures a smooth transfer of situational awareness from the off-going Officer to the relieving OOW.
Due to their importance, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and shipping agencies have specific instructions on how to perform watch handovers.
What is “taking over the navigational watch?”
Taking over the navigational watch, also called the watch changeover, is a transition process between two watchkeeping officers, in which one of them relieves the other and assumes responsibility for safe navigation.
Changing over the watch happens at the end of each shift, mostly in 4 or 6 hours. Here, the relieving Officer assumes command of the bridge from the current OOW.
The Officer to be relieved, therefore, briefs the relieving Officer about the situation inside and outside the bridge, especially those important to navigation, as well as standing orders from the master.
Things to do before every watch changeover
Every watch shall be relieved before the scheduled change. To relieve properly, the incoming Officer shall:
- Comply with work hours as required by STCW in force.
- Complete and sign the “Watch Change Over Checklist.”
- The Officer is not suffering from illness or disability (fatigue, stress, drunkenness, etc).
Bridge watch handover steps
The Officer taking over the navigational watch must check and satisfy many things before the off-going OOW assigns him the responsibility.
Here are some of them:
1. The relieving Officer of the watch must have read the following:
- Navigational warnings
- Weather reports
- Master’s Night orders
2. All members of the relieving watch are capable of carrying out their duties.
3. The relieving OOW must acquaint himself with the following current information:
- Position, course, speed, and draft of the ship.
- Course plotted on the chart.
- Prevailing/ predicted tides, currents, weather, and visibility.
- Operational condition of all safety and navigational equipment of the bridge, including navigation lights at night.
- Radio communication, including Navtex, is tuned/ monitored at the proper frequencies, channels, or stations.
- Gyro compass and magnetic compass errors.
- Movement of vessels in vicinity/ effect on own ship.
- Identification of shore lights, buoys, etc., and conditions/ hazards you most likely encounter on watch.
- The possible effect of any heel trim, “squat,” etc., on under-keel clearance.
- The engine RPM.
4. The vision of the relieving Officer adjusted to the prevailing conditions.
5. When the automatic pilot is used, the manual steering is tested once per watch.
6. Ship security level / status.
7. The Inert Gas System (IGS) pressure checked.
8. Safety rounds performed inside the accommodation (nighttime only).
9. The approved ECDIS is checked per the following:
- The equipment is showing the correct display setting.
- Correct Route loaded in Route Monitoring.
- Correct configuration of Look Ahead setting if in True Motion.
- The ship’s heading/ gyro is correct.
- Correct configuration of the Safety Depth and Safety Contour settings.
- Proper setting of the Anti-Grounding system, including alarms, for the prevailing conditions.
- Correct display and application of the XTD.
- The slave gyro compass synchronizes with the master gyro compass.
- Vectors configured correctly.
- The chart in use is on the best scale.
- Echo sounder displays correctly.
- The chart used is the most recently corrected ENC available from installed charts.
- Double-checking the ship’s fixed position on ECDIS with the radar.
Once both officers agree that everything is in order and understood, the oncoming Officer will officially take over the Bridge Watch.
They do this through verbal exchange of gyro and magnetic compass courses.
After that, the Officer being relieved shall sign the Deck Logbook for the watch period.
When should you delay taking over the navigational watch?
There are instances when both outgoing and relieving OOWs must postpone the watch changeover.
Cases like this signify a very important event happening, that handing over the watch could prove dangerous to the ship.
Here are such occurrences or events:
1. The current OOW is maneuvering the vessel due to a hazard or heavy traffic.
2. The relieving Officer is ill, disabled, on drugs, or drunk.
3. There is doubt from the current OOW that the relieving Officer’s understanding of the vessel’s situation is inadequate.
In such cases where the relieving OOW is incapable of performing the watch, the current OOW must notify the master.
May the winds be in your favor.
A family man, he loves writing, reading, investing, and watching the golden hours while sailing.
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