Passage Planning Guide English Channel, Dover Strait and Southern North Sea (2019 Edition) The content in this publication is for information purposes only and Witherby Publishing Group Ltd, the UK Chamber of Shipping and the UK Hydrographic Office shall not be responsible or liable in any way for any costs, damage, liability or losses that may be incurred from the reliance on or use by anyone of the information contained herein. First published in 2010 by Witherby Publishing Sixth edition published 2019 ISBN 978-1-85609-841-0 © Witherby Publishing Group, 2010–2019 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library . Notice of Terms of Use All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. While the advice given in this book (Passage Planning Guide – English Channel, Dover Strait and Southern North Sea) has been developed using the best information currently available, it is intended purely as guidance. Use at your own risk. Neither The UK Chamber of Shipping, The UK Hydrographic Office or Witherby Publishing Group Ltd accept any responsibility for the accuracy of any information or advice given in the document or any omission from the document or for any consequence whatsoever resulting directly or indirectly from compliance with or adoption of guidance contained in the document even if caused by failure to exercise reasonable care. This publication has been prepared to deal with the subject of Passage Planning. This should not, however, be taken to mean that this publication deals comprehensively with all of the issues that will need to be addressed or even, where a particular issue is addressed, that this publication sets out the only definitive view for all situations. This product has been derived in part from material obtained from the UK Hydrographic Office with the permission of the UK Hydrographic Office, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office © British Crown Copyright, 2019. All rights reserved. Cover image: View of vessels transiting The Dover Straits, taken from MV 'Scot Mariner' Image courtesy of Engineer George Belcher Feedback Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and relevance of the information contained within this Guide. All source data consulted was correct at the time of compilation in June 2019. Please email PPG.Feedback@Witherbys.com if you have any feedback, corrections, updates or observations that you think might improve the Guide, or be worthy of mentioning in the next edition. Published by Witherby Publishing Group Ltd Navigation House, 3 Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA, Scotland, UK +44 (0)1506 463 227 info@witherbys.com witherbys.com Printed and bound in Great Britain by Martins The Printers, Berwick-upon-Tweed Contents PART 1 – Background and Supporting Notes to the Guide ...........................................................................1 1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................3 1.1.1 Explanation of Routes Shown on the Chartlets in this Guide .................................................................3 1.2 DW Route, UKC and Increase in Draught due to Rolling on VLCCs and ULCSs ....................................................4 1.2.1 DW Routes in the Southern North Sea and German Bight ...................................................................6 1.2.2 Deep Draught Vessels that are SW-bound .........................................................................................6 1.3 Considerations for Planning Routes in the TSSs off Terschelling/German Bight .....................................................7 1.4 Preparation ....................................................................................................................................................8 1.4.1 Emission Control Areas .....................................................................................................................8 1.5 Passage Planning Guidance ............................................................................................................................9 1.5.1 Purpose of Passage Planning .............................................................................................................9 1.5.2 Error Management ...........................................................................................................................9 1.5.3 Preparations for the Plan .................................................................................................................10 1.5.4 Preparing the Plan ..........................................................................................................................10 1.5.5 Preparing Paper Charts ...................................................................................................................10 1.5.6 Preparing ECDIS .............................................................................................................................11 1.5.7 Preparing or Amending Passage Notes ............................................................................................12 1.5.8 Pre-Entry Bridge Team Meeting ........................................................................................................13 1.5.9 Monitoring the Passage Plan ............................................................................................................13 1.6 Channel Navigation Information Service (CNIS) ............................................................................................14 1.6.1 Suspicious Small Craft ....................................................................................................................14 1.7 Right of Way ................................................................................................................................................14 1.8 Background to Deep Sea Pilotage in the North Sea, English Channel and the Skagerrak ....................................15 1.9 Using Services of a Deep Sea Pilot ................................................................................................................15 1.10 Deep Sea Pilot Stations .................................................................................................................................16 1.11 SWATH Pilot Tenders .....................................................................................................................................17 1.12 Deep Sea Pilotage Agencies ..........................................................................................................................18 1.13 AIS, Local Requirements and Reporting ..........................................................................................................19 1.14 VHF Communication and Collision Avoidance ................................................................................................20 1.15 Visual Aids to Navigation .............................................................................................................................20 1.16 Coverage of the Relevant Volumes of the ‘Admiralty Sailing Directions’ .............................................................20 1.17 Charts and Nautical Publications ...................................................................................................................21 1.18 Tidal and Current Effects ...............................................................................................................................23 1.19 General Direction of Buoyage .......................................................................................................................23 1.20 Traffic and Main Ferry Routes ........................................................................................................................24 1.21 Wind Farms ................................................................................................................................................25 1.22 Groundings and Collisions in the English Channel, Dover Strait and Southern North Sea – Case Studies .............26 1.22.1 Collision between the ‘Norwegian Dream’ and the ‘Ever Decent’ – August 1999 .................................26 1.22.2 Collision between the ‘Tricolor’ and the ‘Kariba’ – December 2002 ....................................................27 1.22.3 Collision between the ‘Nedlloyd Vespucci’ and the Yacht ‘Wahkuna’ – May 2003 ...............................28 1.22.4 Near Miss between the ‘Maersk Dover’, the ‘Maersk Vancouver’ and the ‘Apollonia’ – October 2006 ..29 1.22.5 Near Miss between the ‘Costa Atlantica’ and the ‘Grand Neptune’ – May 2008 .................................30 1.22.6 Collision between the ‘Scot Isles’ and the ‘Wadi Halfa’ – October 2008 ..............................................31 1.22.7 Loss of the ‘Baltic Ace’ after a Collision with the ‘Corvus J’ – December 2012 ......................................33 1.22.8 Grounding of the ‘Ovit’ – September 2013 .......................................................................................35 1.22.9 Collision between the ‘Paula C’ and the ‘Darya Gayatri’ – December 2013 ........................................36 1.22.10 Collision between the ‘Rickmers Dubai’ and the ‘Walcon Wizard’ – January 2014 ..............................37 1.22.11 Close Quarters Situation in the Sandettié Deep Water Route – 2016 ...................................................38 1.22.12 Collision between the ‘Saga Sky’ and the ‘Stema Barge II’ due to Turn in Heavy Weather – November 2016 ..................................................................................................39 1.22.13 Collision between the ‘Huayang Endeavour’ and the ‘Seafrontier’ – July 2017 ....................................41 1.22.14 Loss of Containers Overboard from the ‘MSC Zoe’ – January 2019 ....................................................43 1.23 Traffic Hotspots .............................................................................................................................................44 1.23.1 NE-bound – North Hinder ...............................................................................................................47 1.23.2 Eastbound North Hinder – MAAS Center..........................................................................................50 1.23.3 NE-bound – TSS Off Vlieland ..........................................................................................................53 1.23.4 Westbound – out of Europoort .........................................................................................................56 1.23.5 SW-bound – in the vicinity of Foxtrot 3 .............................................................................................59 1.23.6 SW-bound – South Falls ..................................................................................................................62 1.23.7 SW-bound – after The Varne ...........................................................................................................65 1.23.8 NE-bound – Rijnveld .......................................................................................................................68 1.23.9 Rounding Sunk Centre LTV from the South and/or East ......................................................................71 1.23.10 Arriving at Wandelaar Pilot Station ..................................................................................................74 1.23.11 From MAAS Junction to Steenbank PBG/Schouwenbank Precautionary Area ......................................77 PART 2 – Passage Notes .............................................................................................................................81 NE-bound Approaches to Cap Gris-Nez .................................................................................................................83 NE-bound Cap Gris-Nez to Sunk .........................................................................................................................103 NE-bound Cap Gris-Nez to Wandelaar ................................................................................................................115 NE-bound Cap Gris-Nez to North Hinder/MAAS .................................................................................................125 NE-bound Cap Gris-Nez to Elbe/Jade Weser Pilots ...............................................................................................143 SW-bound Elbe/Jade Weser Pilots to South of Varne .............................................................................................171 SW-bound MAAS to South of Varne .....................................................................................................................197 SW-bound Wandelaar to South of Varne ..............................................................................................................213 SW-bound Sunk to South of Varne .......................................................................................................................223 SW-bound Outward from The Varne ....................................................................................................................235 PART 3 – Annexes ....................................................................................................................................249 Annex 1 – Pre-Entry Bridge Team Meeting ............................................................................................................253 Annex 2 – MGN 364 Navigation: Traffic Separation Schemes – Application of Rule 10 and Navigation in the Dover Strait .257 Annex 3 – MGN 375 Navigation: Maritime Safety Information (MSI)......................................................................265 Annex 4 – MGN 506 Navigation: Deep-Sea Pilotage in the North Sea, English Channel and the Skagerrak ..............271 Annex 5 – MGN 564 (Amendment 1) Marine Casualty and Marine Incident Reporting.............................................277 Annex 6 – MSN 1831 Vessel Traffic Monitoring Notification and Reporting Requirements for Ships and Ports ............281 Annex 7 – Marine Accident Investigation Agency Contacts .....................................................................................293 Annex 8 – Navigation and Weather Warnings Diagrams.......................................................................................295 4 Part 1 Background and Supporting Notes to the Guide 1.2 DW Route, UKC and Increase in Draught due to Rolling on VLCCs and ULCSs The DW Route annotated on the chartlets within this Guide is derived from the waypoints contained within the Netherlands Hydrographic Service Chart HP8, ‘Deep Draught Planning Guide (Greenwich Buoy to Europoort)’. The DW Route is shown as a brown line (see Section 1.1.1) and is given for ships with draughts between 20.7 and 22.6 m. Although the route is intended to be used in nearly all states of tide, weather and swell conditions, care must be taken to allow for negative surges/‘tide cuts’. In extreme circumstances, information pertinent to deep draught vessels will be transmitted from coast stations and via NAVTEX. Certain parts of the brown line DW Route have limited horizontal widths of navigable water. It is important to check that radar and other electronic position fixing equipment is functioning correctly before proceeding past the Bassurelle buoy, where the width of navigable water reduces. The selected DW Route has a safety margin width of 1 nm. Therefore, a width of 5 cables on either side of the course line sometimes overlaps the adjacent separation zone or line. Ships following the route should not normally enter a separation zone or cross a separation line. Although the DW Route is designed to have a minimum number of course changes, allowances may be required to account for increases in draught caused by alterations of course for collision avoidance or as a result of rolling or pitching. Increased draught due to heel A VLCC with a 20 m draught and 58 m beam will have an increased draught at the following angles of heel: Heel AngleDraught 0.5°20.25 m 1°20.50 m 1.5°20.75 m 2°21.00 m This reduced under keel clearance is based on the following formula (for a box-shaped ship): Heeled draught = (½ beam x sin?) + (upright draught x cos?) To enable a ship that is following the selected DW Route to remain within the safety margins, alterations of speed may be considered more appropriate than alterations of course when complying with the collision regulations. Engines must be available for immediate manoeuvre. It is strongly recommended that parallel indexing techniques, incorporating the ship’s turning characteristics for wheel over positions, are used, particularly by ships operating with limited sea room. Such practices are essential as a contingency in the event of interruption to GNSS signals. 5 Part 1 Background and Supporting Notes to the Guide Increased draught due to heel A ULCS with a 15 m draught and 58 m beam will have an increased draught at the following angles of heel: Heel AngleDraught 3°16·50 m 5°17·47 m 10°19·81 m 15°21·99 m The increased draughts shown in the above examples assume a box-shaped ship and do not account for the turn of the bilge. Heel due to turning will often be less than 10°, but mariners should base calculations on their own ship’s particulars and allow for rolling due to swell. The following formula was used: Heeled draught = (½ beam x sin?) + (upright draught x cos?) Increased draught Reduced under keel clearance Ships with a draught of more than 16 m are recommended to use the Sandettié DW Route when proceeding NE. When reporting to Gris-Nez Trafic as part of CALDOVREP, an ETA and transit time for the DW Route should be prepared. These ship’s details are advised in the hourly Marine Safety Information broadcasts as a geographical position in lat/long by coast station. 6 Part 1 Background and Supporting Notes to the Guide 1.2.1 DW Routes in the Southern North Sea and German Bight There are two DW Routes for ships entering or leaving the Southern North Sea and German Bight. Depths on these DW Routes are variable and ships should check that they meet their requirements for safe navigation. The routes shown on the Netherlands Mariners Routeing Guide for the Southern North Sea (Chart NL 1970, issued by The Hydrographic Service of the Royal Netherlands Navy) noted a least depth of 23 m (1995) in the Eastern part of the route and a least depth of 26 m (2002) at the Southern end of the route. Note that the DW Routes are MANDATORY for tankers: ?Of 10,000 GT + carrying Annex 1 MARPOL cargoes ?of 5,000 GT + carrying X and Y categories of cargo under MARPOL Annex 2 ?of 10,000 GT + carrying category Z cargo under MARPOL Annex 2 ?of 10,000 GT + carrying liquefied gases in bulk. The DW Routes are either: Via: ?Off Brown Ridge TSS ?West Friesland TSS ?TSS East Friesland ?German Bight Western Approach TSS. Or, for ships that have draughts exceeding the above TSS depths, the route via the SR1 light buoy should be used via: ?Off Botney Ground TSS ?TSS North Friesland ?TSS East Friesland ?German Bight Western Approach TSS. Tankers should avoid the sea area between the MANDATORY routes and the coasts of the Friesian Islands, except when joining or leaving the mandatory route at the nearest safe point to their port of departure or destination. All Other Ships: May use any of the three routes to reach the German Bight. However, the shortest route is the inner route via: ?North Hinder North TSS ?Off Texel TSS ?TSS Off Vlieland ?Terschelling-German Bight TSS. 1.2.2 Deep Draught Vessels that are SW-bound There is no official deep draught guide for a SW-bound passage. However, a route that may be followed is shown as a line on charts BA 5500/NL 1970 and waypoints for this route are provided in Dover Strait Pilot (NP28). This route passes between The Varne and Colbart Nord. However, shoals will still be encountered on clearing The Varne until the 30 m contour after Bullock Bank is passed. To maximise their tidal window through this area, ships with a draught of more than 20 m should plan their passage to arrive at the South Varne buoy at high water (Tidal Ref: HW Dover). 7 Part 1 Background and Supporting Notes to the Guide 1.3 Considerations for Planning Routes in the TSSs off Terschelling/ German Bight NORTH HINDER NORTH TSS OFF BROWN RIDGE TSS OFF TEXEL TSS VLIELAND NORTH TSS TERSCHELLING- OFF BOTNEY GROUND TSS NORTH FRIESLAND TSS WEST FRIESLAND TSS EAST FRIESLAND TSS GERMAN BIGHT WESTERN APPROACH TSS TSS OFF VLIELAND GERMAN BIGHT TSS DW Routes TERSCHELLING GERMANY NETHERLANDS To ELBE To ROTTERDAM To JADE/WESER GERMAN BIGHT SOUTHERN NORTH SEA North Hinder » ºë ºë » NFR-B TG 5 TG 1 NHR German and Dutch Authorities advise certain categories of ship, including those with LOA exceeding 350 m or a beam exceeding 45 m, to take the Northern route via ‘German Bight Western Approach TSS’ when proceeding to ports on the Ems, Jade/Weser or the Elbe (Ref: NL 1970). The Mandatory Route for tankers from ‘North Hinder North TSS’ to German Bight is via the ‘German Bight Western Approach TSS’. Ships that are not obliged to follow the route via the ‘German Bight Western Approach TSS’ may, as an alternative, choose to transit through the ‘Terschelling-German Bight TSS’. However, they should first satisfy themselves that there is sufficient water in relation to their ship’s draught to safely undertake this passage, paying particular regard to the shoal areas North of Terschelling and between the buoys TG1 and TG5, where: ?The ship’s UKC may be further reduced due to heavy rolling during strong NW’ly winds or in a heavy swell (For calculated examples, refer to Section 1.2 on pages 4 and 5) ?negative tidal surges are known to occur after a period of strong and persistent Easterly winds ?local weather forecasts will advise of negative (or positive) tidal surges, which may occur at some distance offshore. In such cases, it may be prudent to consider proceeding North, at the buoy ‘VL-Center’, using the TSS Off Vlieland and then join the Eastbound lane of the ‘TSS East Friesland’ in the vicinity of the NFR-B buoy where deeper water is available. In all conditions of wind and tide, all ships should consider a reduction in speed to reduce the effects of squat. Ships experiencing rolling during heavy swell or confused sea should also consider re-routeing to the North because of the reduced UKC caused by rolling (discussed in Section 1.2). 8 Part 1 Background and Supporting Notes to the Guide Mariners should familiarise themselves with the ‘MSC Zoe’ case study in Section 1.22.14, when determining whether to take ‘Terschelling-German Bight TSS’ or the ‘North Friesland TSS’. Container ships in this area have been observed experiencing synchronous rolling of 15–20°. 1.4 Preparation Prior to arrival in the English Channel, pre-arrival checks should be conducted as per the company’s safety management system (SMS) and national/international regulations. The checks will include, but not be limited to: ?Propulsion systems and steering gear tested, all navigational equipment checked, clocks synchronised and communication systems checked ?compliance with hours of work directives ?manning/watch condition requirements for the bridge and engine room, as detailed in the company’s SMS. This will also state the requirements for engine availability. Note: The consequences of adjustments to the ship's speed must be taken into account when giving the final ETA. Consideration must also be given to the overall impact of the effect of tidal streams on the passage speed. 1.4.1 Emission Control Areas Change over to low sulphur fuel (0.1%) prior to entering the SOx emission control area (SECA) at 5° W. For ships switching fuels, particular care needs to be taken to ensure that the change to low sulphur fuel (0.1%) is taken in good time before entering the SECA and care must be taken to manage and reduce the instances of slack tanks. The North Sea SOx Emission Control Area (SECA) is defined as: ?South of latitude 62° N and East of longitude 4° W ?the English Channel and its approaches East of longitude 5° W and North of latitude 48°30' N ?the Skagerrak, the Southern limit of which is determined East of the Skaw by latitude 57°44'·08 N. In addition to carrying and maintaining a Marine Fuel Sulphur Record Book, ships transiting the North Sea are required to comply with either of the following restrictions for SOx emission control areas: ?Fuel oil sulphur should not exceed 0.1% m/m (mass by mass) ?the ship should be fitted with either an approved exhaust system or an approved alternative. Note: From 1st January 2020, the limit for sulphur in fuel oil used on board ships operating outside designated emission control areas will be reduced to 0.50% m/m. East of 4° W North SeaBaltic Sea East of 5° W South of 62° N 57°44´·08 N 9 Part 1 Background and Supporting Notes to the Guide 1.5 Passage Planning Guidance The following comments on passage planning are a reminder of customary practice, including elements local to the English Channel, Dover Strait and the Southern North Sea. They are not a definitive guide to passage planning. A more comprehensive list of books on the subject will be found in Section 1.17. However, this summary, together with Part 2 of this Guide, should help navigating officers to compile an effective passage plan. Prior to planning the passage it is recommended that the publications referenced at Section 1.17 are made available. 1.5.1 Purpose of Passage Planning Effective passage planning identifies the primary risks of grounding and collision, allowing the navigator to set a safe passage having regard to safety, the protection of the environment and enhanced maritime security. A good and effective passage plan: ?Helps to establish clear and positive control of the ship at all times ?allows the time necessary to process essential information at critical moments ?briefs the bridge team on items that may otherwise be overlooked ?helps to avoid previously undetected errors that could have disastrous consequences ?encourages all concerned to anticipate potential problems and to minimise risk by planning ahead. 1.5.2 Error Management While both experienced and inexperienced people can make mistakes through fatigue or as a result of ambiguous information, rarely is an accident caused by a single error. Small errors can build into error chains that may lead to a serious incident. However, in most cases, the correction of a single small error can break the chain and prevent accidents. The bridge team should organise their actions to minimise the possibility of an error chain developing to the point where it leads to an accident. This is achieved by adopting self-checking and cross-checking procedures such as: ?Organising the bridge team well ?verifying positions by using more than two means of position fixing ?increasing fix frequency, as appropriate ?comparing water depth from the echo sounder to the depth at the charted position ?verifying the track and ship’s heading, particularly after each course alteration ?cross-checking of data from input sensors, particularly GNSS. Many maritime authorities consider over-reliance on GNSS positioning and ECDIS to be the greatest danger in their use. Masters must ensure that cross-checks of the position are made by other methods, including parallel indexing, visual and radar fixing. Encouraging independent checks by another member of the bridge team minimises the risk of errors going undetected. In constrained waters, cross-check at every opportunity to resolve any significant positioning differences. Deviations should alert the bridge team to the possibility of equipment failure or human error. 12 Part 1 Background and Supporting Notes to the Guide 1.5.7 Preparing or Amending Passage Notes Position fixing Methods for different legs should be recommended in the passage notes. Landmarks known to be conspicuous or useful should be noted. Fix frequency A minimum fix frequency should be planned for each leg of the passage. Watchkeepers should not hesitate to increase the frequency of their fixes whenever altering course, deviating from the planned track or whenever in closer proximity to hazards or dangers. Parallel indexing Parallel index lines should be established in the passage plan wherever radar conspicuous objects are available. This is an effective technique that provides continuous monitoring of the track made good by use of radar and will assist in case of restricted visibility. It is recommended that parallel indexing be used whenever practicable. VTS reporting Reporting points should be marked on the chart. In addition, the chart should show the positions for changing VHF channels and detail the reporting channel (see the Supplement to this Guide, which includes details on the various Mandatory Reporting Schemes). Tidal currents Mentioned throughout the passage notes in this Guide, these should be marked on the chart for the time of passing. Knowledge of the current can also assist in understanding the movements of other ships, particularly those that are slow moving or tugs with tows. This information may prove useful for collision avoidance when transiting the numerous TSS lanes and precautionary areas covered by this Guide. Extracts from 'Admiralty Tidal Stream Atlases' can be found in the Supplement to this Guide. Contingency planning This should make it immediately apparent if sufficient water depth exists to starboard of the traffic lanes to allow for emergency anchoring. The passage plan should, at each stage, highlight suitable locations should the ship need to anchor in an emergency, as well as points of 'no return'. Using a previous plan should be avoided as it should be dynamic and fully assessed against all of the latest information available both before departure and on passage. This requires input from all members of the bridge team. Photo taken with the permission of Mitsui O.S.K. Bulk Shipping (EU) Ltd, June 2015 17 Part 1 Background and Supporting Notes to the Guide 1.11 SWATH Pilot Tenders Small waterplane area, twin hull (SWATH) tenders operate at many pilot boarding grounds (PBGs) in the Southern North Sea and mariners should be aware of their operating characteristics as they are quite different from traditional single-hulled pilot boats. SWATH craft are very stable and are designed to operate with an increased window of operation. SWATH pilot tenders typically operate at speeds of 8–10 knots when embarking/disembarking pilots. Due to their higher speed and type of propulsion, interaction between the SWATH tender and the ship may be significant, especially during higher wind speeds. This may cause the SWATH tender to become pressed hard against high-sided ships and possibly elevated up the ship’s side. In these cases, the ship may be asked to manoeuvre to assist the pilot tender to pull away, by altering course toward the side that the SWATH tender is alongside. Due to the construction of the superstructure on SWATH tenders, ships must be aware of their current freeboard, availability of side shell doors and any obstructions protruding from the ship’s side. On ships using a combination arrangement (pilot ladder/accommodation ladder) or an embarkation platform on the ship’s side, the bottom of the platform should be a minimum of 7 m above the waterline. Freeboard/pilot ladder requirements on ships fitted with a side door The ship should inform the pilots (when requested) of the height from the waterline to the bottom of their pilot door. The ship is likely to be instructed as follows: ?If the ship’s freeboard (to the bottom of the pilot door) is less than 3.5 m, the ship will be asked to rig a pilot ladder 1 foot above the waterline and they will receive the pilot from a small pilot launch ?if the ship’s freeboard (to the bottom of the pilot door) is 3.5 m, the pilot will step from the SWATH tender on to the ship ?if the ship’s freeboard (to the bottom of the pilot door) is greater than 3.5 m, the ship will be instructed on the height to rig the pilot ladder to (typically, the ship will be asked to rig the ladder 3.5 m above sea level). Note that these freeboards must be adjusted for the prevailing swell/wave height.