The Navigation bridge on a ship

The Navigation bridge on a ship

This first photo is from the bridge wing of a Cruise ship looking aft towards the stern. You can get a good view of the side of the ship where the life boats are situated below the passenger balconies. Just about all cargo ships have open bridge wings where the Captain and Pilot will control the ship from outside the bridge. There are limited services on open bridge wings. Usually only controls for the bow thrusters, telegraph, helm and emergency stops. Whereas on enclosed bridge wings on all Cruise Ships and some Ferries the services which the Captain and Pilot have access to are far more than those on an open bridge wing ship. They have all the luxuries of CCTV Radar, ECDIS on conning display, Echo Sounder, Speed log, cameras, GPS, VHF radios and shelter from the weather. So you can see why most Captains like enclosed bridge wings. Me personally I prefer open bridge wings as you get a better feel for what the ship is doing when you can look over the side of the ship and feel the wind when making a decision in manoeuvring.


The second photo is a typical lay out of a navigation bridge on a ship. You see the central conning display which is situated in the middle of the bridge with a small wheel allowing the quartermaster to do hand steering. Yes most ships still do have chairs for the Captain and Officer of the Watch to sit in. Bridge areas on Cruise Ships and Ferries all have carpet on the floors whereas Cargo ships tend to just stick with lino floor covering. This is my favourite area on a ship. I spend half my day on the bridge of ship either on watch of doing admin for routine safety checks. Go AMOS!