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Navigation, radio and VDRLesson 1 of 7

What SOLAS Chapter V requires on the bridge

You will be able to work out a ship's required bridge equipment from its size, type and build date, and know how it is approved, surveyed and kept working.

14 minutes · Open to everyone · Rules checked 20 October 2026

Start here

Every piece of equipment on a merchant ship’s bridge is there because a paragraph of SOLAS Chapter V says so. The compass on the monkey island, the second radar, the watch alarm and the voyage data recorder all trace back to regulation 19 or 20, with approval and test rules in regulation 18.

It matters every day. In 2024 the Tokyo MOU recorded 8,066 safety of navigation deficiencies, about one in ten of all it found, and in a 2017 campaign 1.8% of ships checked did not have the navigation equipment their safety certificate listed. This lesson gives you the map: what a ship must carry, how it grows with size, and who checks it.

Try it

Where the SOLAS Chapter V equipment sits on a cargo ship

In plain words

SOLAS is the main international treaty on ship safety, and its Chapter V, “Safety of navigation”, applies to almost all ships on almost all voyages. Regulation 19 is a shopping list. Every ship needs a basic set: a magnetic compass that works without electricity, a way to take bearings, charts (paper or electronic) and a satellite position receiver. As the ship gets bigger, the list grows in steps at 150, 300, 500, 3,000, 10,000 and 50,000 gross tonnage (GT), and the steps add up: a 12,000 GT bulk carrier needs everything on all the lists up to 10,000 GT.

Regulation 18 says the equipment must be type-approved and meet IMO performance standards, and that the voyage data recorder (VDR) and the automatic identification system (AIS) are tested every year by approved people. Regulation 20 says which ships need a VDR. Regulation 16 says the equipment must be kept working, and what the master may do when something breaks at sea. The flag, or the classification society acting for it, checks all this at the safety equipment surveys, and port State control officers check it again in port.

In detail

The carriage list by size

The table summarises SOLAS regulation V/19.2 for ships built on or after 1 July 2002. Each row adds to the rows above it.

Ship size What is added (SOLAS V/19 paragraph)
All ships Standard magnetic compass (2.1.1); pelorus or compass bearing device (2.1.2); means of correcting heading and bearings to true (2.1.3); nautical charts and publications, or ECDIS (2.1.4), with back-up arrangements if ECDIS is used (2.1.5); GNSS or terrestrial radionavigation receiver (2.1.6); radar reflector on ships under 150 GT where practicable (2.1.7); sound reception system if the bridge is fully enclosed (2.1.8); communication with the emergency steering position (2.1.9)
150 GT and up, and all passenger ships Spare magnetic compass (2.2.1); daylight signalling lamp (2.2.2); BNWAS (2.2.3)
300 GT and up, and all passenger ships Echo sounder (2.3.1); 9 GHz radar (2.3.2); electronic plotting aid (2.3.3); speed and distance log through the water (2.3.4); transmitting heading device (2.3.5)
AIS (2.4) 300 GT and up on international voyages; cargo ships of 500 GT and up not on international voyages; all passenger ships
500 GT and up Gyro compass or other non-magnetic means (2.5.1); rudder, propeller, thrust and pitch indicators (2.5.4); automatic tracking aid (2.5.5)
3,000 GT and up Second radar, 3 GHz or a second 9 GHz (2.7.1); second automatic tracking aid (2.7.2)
10,000 GT and up Automatic radar plotting aid (ARPA) (2.8.1); heading or track control system (2.8.2)
50,000 GT and up Rate of turn indicator (2.9.1); speed and distance over the ground, forward and athwartships (2.9.2)

The 2009 amendments (resolution MSC.282(86)) added BNWAS as paragraph 2.2.3 (phased in between 2011 and 2014) and ECDIS as paragraph 2.10 (phased in between 2012 and 2018).

Ships built before 1 July 2002 may in general keep to the rules in force when they were built, but had to retrofit GNSS, AIS, BNWAS and ECDIS on the dates set for their size and type (MGN 610 summarises this).

Approval, testing and the “approved facility”

  1. Type approval (18.1 to 18.3). Equipment on new ships, and replacement equipment on existing ships, must be type-approved and meet IMO performance standards. The standard that applies is usually the one in force at installation: radar fitted from 1 July 2008 meets MSC.192(79), a VDR fitted from 1 July 2014 meets MSC.333(90).
  2. Annual VDR test (18.8) by an approved testing or servicing facility (lesson 2).
  3. Annual AIS test (18.9) by an approved surveyor or facility (lesson 6).

No other Chapter V equipment has a SOLAS annual third-party test. Radar, gyro, echo sounder, BNWAS and the rest are checked at the safety equipment surveys and kept working by the crew and service technicians under regulation 16.

How the surveyor checks it

The IMO Survey Guidelines under the Harmonized System of Survey and Certification (HSSC), 2025 list the surveyor’s checks for the Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Certificate. The initial survey covers each item, from the magnetic compass “including examining the siting, movement and illumination” to the radar waveguide and cable runs and the gyro repeaters. Each annual survey confirms the equipment is in working order (items that cannot be tested in port are verified from records), that a table or curve of residual deviations and a kept-up compass deviation book are on board, and that a radar shadow sector diagram is displayed.

When equipment breaks

Regulation 16.2 is the master’s safety valve: a malfunction does not make the ship unseaworthy, or justify delaying her where repair facilities are not readily available, provided the master takes it into account in planning a safe voyage to a repair port. In practice: log the failure, inform company, flag and class as your procedures require, plan around it, and repair at the first port that can. Where repair facilities exist, port State control can require repair before departure.

What the rules say

  • SOLAS regulation V/19.2.1.1 requires every ship, irrespective of size, to have “a properly adjusted standard magnetic compass, or other means, independent of any power supply”, displaying the heading at the main steering position.1
  • SOLAS regulation V/19.2.7 requires ships of 3,000 GT and upwards to carry a second radar (3 GHz, or a second 9 GHz where the Administration agrees) and a second automatic tracking aid, functionally independent of the first.1
  • SOLAS regulation V/19.2.2.3, added by resolution MSC.282(86), requires a bridge navigational watch alarm system on cargo ships of 150 GT and upwards and all passenger ships, in operation whenever the ship is under way at sea.2
  • SOLAS regulation V/19.2.10, added by resolution MSC.282(86), requires ECDIS on international voyages for passenger ships of 500 GT and upwards, tankers of 3,000 GT and upwards, other cargo ships of 10,000 GT and upwards, and other cargo ships of 3,000 to 10,000 GT built on or after 1 July 2014, phased in from 1 July 2012 to the first survey on or after 1 July 2018.2
  • SOLAS regulation V/20 requires a voyage data recorder on ships engaged on international voyages: passenger ships, and ships other than passenger ships of 3,000 GT and upwards built on or after 1 July 2002; resolution MSC.170(79) extended the requirement (allowing a simplified VDR) to older cargo ships from 1 July 2006.36
  • SOLAS regulation V/18.8 requires the VDR system, including all sensors, to undergo an annual performance test by an approved testing or servicing facility, and V/18.9 requires an annual test of the AIS.4
  • SOLAS regulation V/16.2 says a malfunction of the equipment is not a reason to treat the ship as unseaworthy or to delay her where repair facilities are not readily available, provided the master takes it into account in planning a safe voyage to a repair port.5
  • The HSSC Survey Guidelines, 2025 (resolution A.1207(34)), paragraph (EA) 1.2.1.20, have the surveyor confirm at each annual survey that a table or curve of residual deviations is provided, the compass deviation book is kept and a radar shadow sector diagram is displayed.7
  • Resolution A.1106(29), paragraph 22, says AIS “should always be in operation when ships are underway or at anchor”.12

Flag and class notes

  • United Kingdom. MGN 610 (M+F) explains how the UK applies Chapter V. It interprets “repair facilities not readily available” in V/16.2 as no repair engineers or spares available locally, and says the MCA may allow a ship to sail to the next port under a temporary dispensation.6
  • Panama. Merchant Marine Circular No. 138 sets Panama’s own rules for magnetic compasses on all Panama ships, including when they must be adjusted and what the adjustment certificate must contain (lesson 5).11
  • Equivalents and exemptions. Regulation V/19 allows “other means” in several places. MGN 610 points to MSC.1/Circ.1224 for the agreed interpretation of “other means” in place of a gyro compass. Any exemption or equivalent your flag has accepted should be recorded on the ship’s certificates and Record of Equipment, so that surveyors and PSC officers can see it.6
  • Class. As recognized organization, class surveys Chapter V equipment using the HSSC Survey Guidelines plus the flag’s own instructions; check both for additions.7

Key numbers

What Value
BNWAS required on cargo ships from 150 GT2
Second radar and second tracking aid required from 3,000 GT1
ARPA and heading or track control required from 10,000 GT1
VDR required on non-passenger ships built from 1 July 2002 3,000 GT and upwards3
Radar installed on or after this date must meet MSC.192(79) 1 July 200813
Tokyo MOU safety of navigation deficiencies, 2024 8,066 (10.4% of all)8

What inspectors find

  • Equipment not matching the certificate. In the 2017 Tokyo MOU campaign on safety of navigation, 123 of 6,672 ships (1.8%) did not have navigation equipment in line with their safety certificate.9
  • BNWAS and ECDIS. In the same campaign 2.5% of ships could not show the BNWAS second or third stage alarm being recognised, and 2.5% of ships with ECDIS lacked up-to-date charts or a suitable back-up.9
  • Passage plans. The most common finding of the campaign was a passage plan that did not cover the whole voyage, berth to berth (5.0% of ships).9
  • Detention. Absence or failure of navigation equipment, uncorrected charts and absence or failure of a compulsory VDR are all listed as possible grounds for detention in the IMO Procedures for port State control, 2025.10

Questions people ask

Does Chapter V apply to ships that never leave national waters?

Mostly yes. Unlike most of SOLAS, Chapter V applies to all ships on all voyages, with a few exceptions, and the Administration may decide how far some regulations apply to small ships and fishing vessels. Check your flag’s rules (for the UK, MGN 610).

Our ship is 2,900 GT. Do we need a second radar?

No. The second radar and tracking aid start at 3,000 GT (V/19.2.7). You need one 9 GHz radar, an electronic plotting aid and, from 500 GT, an automatic tracking aid.

Can ECDIS replace all paper charts?

ECDIS meets the chart carriage requirement of V/19.2.1.4 only with the back-up arrangements required by 2.1.5, which your flag must accept, and with up-to-date official charts.

Check yourself

5 questions. Pass with 60% to mark the lesson as done.

  1. 1 A cargo ship of 9,500 GT on international voyages, built in 2015. Which of these is NOT a SOLAS V/19 requirement for her?
  2. 2 Why must the standard magnetic compass work without any power supply?
  3. 3 Which two Chapter V items have an annual test by an approved facility or surveyor written into SOLAS regulation V/18?
  4. 4 At sea, the 3 GHz radar fails and cannot be fixed on board. The next port has no radar technician. What does SOLAS V/16.2 allow?
  5. 5 What does the surveyor confirm about the magnetic compass at each annual safety equipment survey?

Sources

  1. 1 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), 1974, as amended, chapter V (text replaced by resolution MSC.99(73), in force 1 July 2002), regulation 19 – Carriage requirements for shipborne navigational systems and equipment, paragraph 2. IMO consolidated edition (sales publication). https://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/Pages/International-Convention-for-the-Safety-of-Life-at-Sea-(SOLAS),-1974.aspx
  2. 2 IMO Resolution MSC.282(86), Amendments to SOLAS 1974 (adopted 5 June 2009, in force 1 January 2011), annex, chapter V, regulation 19 paragraphs 2.1.4, 2.2.3, 2.2.4, 2.10 and 2.11. https://www.westpandi.com/globalassets/news/110125-imo-resolution-msc.28286.pdf
  3. 3 SOLAS 1974, as amended, chapter V, regulation 20 – Voyage data recorders (as amended by resolution MSC.170(79), in force 1 July 2006). https://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/Pages/International-Convention-for-the-Safety-of-Life-at-Sea-(SOLAS),-1974.aspx
  4. 4 SOLAS 1974, as amended, regulation V/18, paragraphs 8 and 9, as reproduced in IACS Unified Interpretation SC279, Annual testing of VDR, S-VDR, AIS and EPIRB (June 2016). https://iacs.org.uk/
  5. 5 SOLAS 1974, as amended, regulation V/16, paragraph 2, as reproduced in MCA MGN 610 (M+F), SOLAS Chapter V: Guidance on the Merchant Shipping (Safety of Navigation) Regulations 2020, page 14. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f2140d3e90e071a603d33b3/MGN_610_2020.pdf
  6. 6 Maritime and Coastguard Agency, MGN 610 (M+F), SOLAS Chapter V: Guidance on the Merchant Shipping (Safety of Navigation) Regulations 2020, guidance on regulations 16, 18, 19 and 20. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5f2140d3e90e071a603d33b3/MGN_610_2020.pdf
  7. 7 IMO Resolution A.1207(34), Survey Guidelines under the Harmonized System of Survey and Certification (HSSC), 2025 (adopted 3 December 2025), annex, part 1 (Cargo Ship Safety Equipment Certificate), paragraphs (EI) 1.1.4.31 to 1.1.4.36 and (EA) 1.2.1.20 and 1.2.2.35. https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/OurWork/IIIS/Documents/A%2034-Res.1207%20-%20SURVEY%20GUIDELINES%20UNDER%20THE%20HARMONIZED%20SYSTEMOF%20SURVEY%20AND%20CERTIFICATION%20(HSSC),%202025%20(Secretariat).pdf
  8. 8 Tokyo MOU, Annual Report on Port State Control in the Asia-Pacific Region 2024, Table 7 and Figure 7 (deficiencies by categories). https://www.tokyo-mou.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/ANN24-1.pdf
  9. 9 Tokyo MOU, Report of the 2017 Concentrated Inspection Campaign on Safety of Navigation, including ECDIS (November 2018), Table 1. https://www.tokyo-mou.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/CIC-Safety-of-Navigation-including-ECDIS-Report-p.pdf
  10. 10 IMO Resolution A.1206(34), Procedures for port State control, 2025 (adopted 3 December 2025), appendix 2, section 5 (detainable deficiencies, areas under SOLAS 1974), items 10, 11 and 17. https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/AssemblyDocuments/A.1206(34).pdf
  11. 11 Panama Maritime Authority, Merchant Marine Circular No. 138, Magnetic Compass (revised April 2024; text read: earlier edition on the registry website). https://panamashipregistry.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/138.pdf
  12. 12 IMO Resolution A.1106(29), Revised guidelines for the onboard operational use of shipborne automatic identification systems (AIS) (adopted 2 December 2015), annex, paragraph 22. https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/AssemblyDocuments/A.1106(29).pdf
  13. 13 IMO Resolution MSC.192(79), Adoption of the revised performance standards for radar equipment (adopted 6 December 2004), operative paragraph 2. https://wwwcdn.imo.org/localresources/en/KnowledgeCentre/IndexofIMOResolutions/MSCResolutions/MSC.192(79).pdf

Free awareness training. Al Safwan Marine is not an approved training provider, so no certificate is given, and these courses are not a qualification. They don't replace STCW training, manufacturer training or the certification technicians need for this work. The manufacturer's manual and your flag's rules always come first.

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