Radar / navigation of ships?

Question

on a large cruise ship there are some radar screens passengers can look at and see islands / progress that the ship is sailing .

why technology is used to avoid collision with other boats in sea ? and to avoid hitting subs. the airtraffic controllers watch over the height planes fly .. but who regulates the ocean ? navigates the paths the ships sail ?

Answer 1

radar is radio waves that are sent out and when they hit an object,the time it takes the waves to come back to the reciever is how they measure distance and shape of the object that the waves are being reflected off of

Answer 2

The international regulations for navigation (to which all mariners are bound) require qualified personnel "on-watch" at all times.  It also requires that they use all means at their disposal to avoid collisions at sea.  There are many "rules of the road" for ships and, hopefully, if the rules are followed there are no collisions.

There are also traffic separation schemes in the frequently traveled waterways.  Again, it is encumbant upon the master of each vessel to provide a properly trained watch for his vessel at all times.

Answer 3

"Ambrose Light Tower" is the control tower for the entrance to New York harbor, I can hear foreign ships going up and down the VHF Marine radio channels Hailing "Ambrose Light" while I'm fishing in my "Dinky" boat, NY Harbor Master is also contacted through "Ambrose Light", it used to be a "Light Ship" stationed there, the ship is now a floating museum at south street seaport in Manhattan.

Answer 4

as far as sailing at sea goes...a ship can choose any path it wants too...there are many well traveled paths, called shipping lanes, that 400 years of sailing has shown to be shorter or better weather or safer getting from there to there....so you may have a lot of ships all traveling the same general path say, from New York to London

in some crowded waterways like the English Channel there are one way traffic lanes that ships are supposed to follow....most do a few don't and it gets exciting when a rouge ship comes travelling dopwn the  wrong path....

each ship is responsible for keeping a proper lookout and obeying the Rules of the Road..Ie The Navigation Rules.....big ships  do so with radar,which can be tied into a compute to give all sorts of useful information to the officer of the deck to keep from hitting other ships.....or land!

There are only a few places that aircraft like traffic control systems are used.......always crowded harbors with little room to turn.........Antwerp and New York and Seattle come to mind.......look up Vessel Traffic Management Scheme..

Answer 5

Nautical radar has become so common now that almost all seagoing vessels, including yachts, are so equipped.  It can be a great aid to local navigation and collision avoidance in bad weather, but radar is always an AID to navigation.

There are basic rules that all vessels must follow that prescribe the way they must run in various channels and sea lanes, and those rules are the number one provision.  The rules are set by the laws of various states, nations, and provinces.  In the United States, the US Coast Guard is the best known enforcement authority.

Radar can be helpful in seeing and avoiding certain hard-to-see targets.  One can even use the radar to see the surrounding outlines of islands and channels under poor visibility conditions.

Submarines do not appear on radar when submerged, and submarines are always responsible for keeping clear of all other vessels.