Navigation
DeepDraft navigation analysis looks at how ships are actually handled, monitored, and kept safe at sea. This section covers bridge decision-making, electronic navigation, passage execution, watchkeeping discipline, situational awareness, and the operational traps that turn small navigational assumptions into serious incidents.
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STANDING WATCH VS SEATED BRIDGE
Standing watchkeeping is not a regulatory requirement. This analysis examines ergonomics, fatigue, and cognitive performance to determine whether posture impacts real bridge safety.
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GNSS Interference at Sea: Navigating GPS Spoofing in the Strait of Hormuz
GNSS jamming and GPS spoofing are disrupting merchant navigation across the Strait of Hormuz. This analysis explains how bridge teams detect interference, manage sensor failures, and maintain safe navigation when satellite positioning becomes unreliable.
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Lessons from the Tanker War of 1980’s: Why Dark Transits Risk Modern Shipowners
Update Note – 11 Mar 2026 – The analysis addressed independent “dark transit” decisions by commercial operators. Military-coordinated escort operations operate under a different risk structure, where navigation and situational awareness are managed by naval command systems.
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Why Navigators Understood Trump’s Greenland Remark
When Donald Trump said Greenland mattered because it was closer to the United States and because Russia and China were paying attention, the reaction was immediate ridicule. The statement was treated as a real-estate impulse rather than a geographic observation.
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SCAMIN in ECDIS: Why Always Off vs Phase-Based Still Divides Navigators
In my work as a navigation assessor, I regularly review ECDIS practices across different companies. One recurring issue I encounter is the management of SCAMIN (Scale Minimum), should it always remain OFF, or should it be used differently in passage planning and execution?
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Amplitude: Understanding Horizons, Visual Cues, and Practice
Amplitude remains one of the oldest techniques still taught and used in navigation. It survives because it is simple, quick, and independent of electronics. A rising or setting Sun gives the navigator a direct check on compass error using nothing more than a bearing and…
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Smart and Virtual Buoys: Navigating the Future of Maritime Safety
For decades, IALA buoyage systems provided fixed reference points ie. solid, visible, reliable. Today, navigation extends beyond charts and visuals. Smart and virtual buoys are redefining how bridge teams manage situational awareness, traffic routing, and navigational safety.
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Pilotage Without Surprises: Why Japan’s Methods Stand Apart
Professionalism of Japanese Pilots and Shore-Side Teams – A Comparison with Other Ports There are ports where pilotage feels like an act of experience, and there are ports where it feels like an act of engineering.In Japan, it is both experience embedded inside engineering.
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When GPS Goes Dark: Steering a VLCC Through the Persian Gulf’s Chaos
Taking Command Amid Collision News I took command of a VLCC in Fujairah, ballast condition, but still a 300,000-ton floating beast. Iran-Israel tensions simmered in the background, and just days earlier, two tankers. Frontline’s Front Eagle and the shadow fleet’s Adalynn had collided 15 nautical…
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GPS Spoofing: How False Satellite Signals Can Mislead Ship Navigation
A GPS spoofing attack attempts to deceive a GPS receiver by broadcasting incorrect GPS signals, structured to resemble a set of normal GPS signals, or by rebroadcasting genuine signals captured elsewhere or at a different time. GPS receivers deduce their position by calculating their distance from several satellites at once.