VDR (Voyage Data Recorder) is the maritime version of the black box airlines employ. The system is usually two-part, comprising an data collection unit that is attached to a protective capsule mounted on deck designed to withstand fire, deep-sea pressure and shock, as well as penetration. It is used to capture incidents of navigation, but it can also provide valuable data for analysis of damage caused by heavy weather as well as performance monitoring and crew training.
Up-grading
Many ships equipped with VDR/SVDR equipment comply with the bare minimum regulatory requirements However, members are encouraged to think about using the equipment to investigate incidents or preventive maintenance as well as bridge team training as well as to record near misses. There are other packages which can extend the period for which VDR data will be available beyond the minimum of 12 hours. It is important to make a decision made on whether to upgrade.
The system is constructed around an industrial computer that carries out many functions like processing and encoding information gathered by the sensors. The capsule is designed to survive any accident and store the data. The VDR system consists of the data collection device that is located on the bridge as along with a separate power supply and interface unit, and backup batteries. The unit collects all data from the integrated sources, including microphones for recording bridge audio and sends it to a Concentrator where a series NMEA 0183 sentence is interpreted and encoded before being sent to the final recorded media.
