1.

Planning the track

The verb navigate comes from the La n word navis, meaning “ship”, together with agere, which means “to

move and direct”. So naviga ng means direc ng the ship from a star ng point to her des na on. To be

sure to follow the shortest and safest route to his des na on, the navigator always plans his ship’s course

in advance, before star ng the journey.

He studies nau cal charts, radio bulle ns, weather maps, etc., which refer to the areas where the ship will

be sailing. The preliminary study of nau cal charts allows him to avoid marked dangers such as sandbanks

and rocks. Weather reports give him informa on on weather condi ons of the sea area, with details of

wind speed and direc on, and the movement of cyclones.

Once he has collected and studied all the available informa on, the navigator chooses the best course

between the star ng and arrival points, and joins them on the chart with a line that represents the

ship’s planned course. This planned course is also known as the track. The track line, however, does not

appear on the chart as a single con nuous line, but rather as a “broken” one. This is because there are

points along the track where the ship has to change her course direc on.

Consequently, the track line appears on the chart as “broken” into segments - these are called the legs of

the track.

Track legs meet at a junc on point, which is where the ship’s direc on needs to be changed. While plo ng

the course, the navigator marks out the junc on points between the legs of the track and calculates in

advance the mes at which the ship should reach each junc on point.

Ex 1. Answer the ques ons.

1. What is naviga on?

2. When does the navigator plan the course?

3. What kinds of nau cal informa on does he use?

4. What is the track?

5. Why is a planned track line divided into segments?

6. What are these segments called?

7. What are junc on points?

8. What does the track look like on the chart?

The following terms are fundamental when talking about naviga on, so you will need to be familiar with
them.

• Course: It is the direc on in which the ship is steered, expressed as the angular distance from the north,
measured clockwise from 000° to 360°.

• Ship’s heading: It is the direc on where a ship’s bow is poin ng to at any given me. It is measured
clockwise from 0° to 360° as the angle between the ship’s centre lineand the magne c or true north. The
ship’s heading changes constantly, because it is influenced by the effects of sea currents and winds on the
ship’s mo on. On monitors of an integrated bridge the ship’s true heading, rela ve to true north, is
represented by the acronym HDG.

• Dri , DFT: The lateral mo on of a ship due to sea currents.

• Leeway: The lateral mo on of a ship due to winds.

• Both leeway and dri influence the intended propeller speed and deviate the ship off its course of a
certain angle. A navigator calculates their angles and order a new true heading, or course to steer, that will
allow the ship to stay on its planned course

• Planned course or track: It is the course between the ports of departure and arrival that is planned before
leaving. It is plo ed on the chart or entered in the ECDIS – the electronic chart display and informa on
system.

• Ship’s true course, also called course made good, CMG. It is the real path that the ship must follow with
respect to the earth’s surface – the seabed – in order to reach its des na on. It is measured clockwise from
0° to 360° in reference to true north. It takes into account the known values of current and wind and is
corrected for any compass errors.

• Course over the ground, COG: It is the path that the ship is following over the seabed, that is over the
earth’s surface, at any given me.

• Course through the water, CTW: It is the ship’s path through the water.

• Speed over the ground, SOG: The real speed that a ship is advancing over the earth’s surface. It may be
different from the speed through the water, STW, which is affected by current.

GLOSSARY
Clockwise: in senso orario
centre line: piano diametrale
true north: nord vero (punto sull’asse terrestre dove tu i meridiani convergono)
propeller speed: velocità di propulsione
off course: fuori ro a
path: percorso
UNIT GLOSSARY
bearing and distance: rilevamento e distanza
charted object: ogge o riportato sulla carta nau ca
circular LOP or posi on circle: cerchio di uguale distanza
coastal naviga on or pilo ng: navigazione cos era
compass bearing: rilevamento bussola
course line or track line: spezzata lossodromica
dead reckoning (DR): navigazione s mata
dead reckoning posi on: posizione s mata
es mated me of arrival (ETA): orario s mato di arrivo
fix: punto nave
head (to): dirigersi
heading: prora (direzione della prua della nave)
landmark: punto cospicuo
leg of the track: tra o della spezzata
line of posi on (LOP): semire a di rilevamento
magne c devia on: deviazione magne ca
magne c varia on: declinazione magne ca
plot (on the chart) (to): carteggiare
point (to): puntare, avanzare
take a bearing (to): fare un rilevamento
transit bearing: allineamento
waypoint: punto o posizione di accostata

2 Read through the keyword list and fill in the table with the corresponding English terms and acronyms.
Follow the examples.

Keywords
True and magne c north
True north, or geographic north, is measured in reference to the geographic North Pole, which is the point
of the Earth’s axis where all meridians converge. The ship’s gyrocompass and the GPS always indicate true
north.
Magne c north is read on a magne c compass and does not coincide with true north because of two
effects: the magne c varia on of the area where the ship is sailing and the magne c devia on on board
ship.
3 True or magne c? Match the two parts of each sentence.

1 ..... True north means A indicates magne c north

2 ..... A magne c compass B is measured with a magne c compass

3 ..... Magne c heading C a gyrocompass

4 ..... True heading can be measured with D geographic north

4Follow the example and fill in the gaps with the given words.

heading • course • leeway • clockwise • devia on • direc on

The ship’s heading and course are measured 1. ...................................., from 000° to 360°. Headings, courses
and bearings – which we are going to see soon – are always read in three digits, one digit at a me. The
ship’s 2. .................................... is o en poin ng to a different compass 3. .................................... from the
intended course, because of the effects of sea currents and winds. Therefore, the Navigator will order a new
course to be steered, in order to compensate for the angle of 4. .................................... of the ship’s heading
due to dri and 5. .................................... In this way, he/she will be able to maintain the ship on the
planned 6. ....................................

The diagram shows the angle of leeway between the ship’s true heading (HDG) and the course through
water (CTW) as the ship is pushed sideways by the wind. The Navigator shall calculate the leeway angle and
then adjust the ordered course (CTS) to compensate for the leeway dri .

KEYWORDS

direc oncompass bearing: rilevamento bussola

true heading: prora vera