And here is one more interesting documentary film of Extreme Engineering series officially presented by the famous Discovery Channel. This episode shows us the operations together with the weapon systems of the world famous warships of today, USS Donald Cook.

You will get a chance to witness the installation of a missile launcher on board this ship, as well as other extremely complex and interesting operations. It is a really must-see video film for every person with the interest in the engineering marvels, shipbuilding and Navy fleet.

You will definitely get impressed what the human genius can build. This is not something you can see at the ordinary ship construction or ship repair facility. Note that we also have two films from this series - Container Ships and Off-shore Oil Platforms. Have a look!

The content of this excellent training video was developed by the specialists of the NTS Inc., standing for the Nautical training Systems, one of the world leaders in the field. The video is reflecting many critically important aspects and shall definitely be viewed by all persons involved in the construction of the ship hulls and especially those dealing with the welding operations as they will find this one very useful.

The training starts with the information about the fundamentals of the SMAW, i.e. shielded metal arc welding covering the theoretical information and practical operations. Then, the next process addressed is the TIG welding - this also very popular welding process known as tungsten welding used to join aluminum - it is explained in detail within this video by Ron Covell.

The rest of the video is dealing with the gas welding and cutting operations as well as flame brazing and plasma cutting. We highly recommend this video to the future shipbuilders taking into account the concise and clear explanations it provides - they will be understandable even to the people not having too much of practical experience. However, it will be definitely found useful by the experienced welders who may wish to refresh their theoretical knowledge of the fundamentals.

This film is intended to give you much better idea of the reasons for carrying out a Risk Assessment. While 'Hot Work' is specifically discussed, it should be remembered that the lessons you will definitely learn from this film apply to any Risk Assessment, does not matter if it is conducted for Hot Work, Confined/Enclosed Space Entry, Working Aloft or any other potentially hazardous task.

Where anything in this training film differs from your company guidelines, or where specific instructions are issued by your employer, these should always take priority over the content of this film! It is considered essential that you read and understand the relevant section of the SMS, standing for the Safety Management System for your vessel that describes procedures for carrying out any Hot Work.

The present thoroughly revised edition of the ECDIS Procedures Guide duly reflects all changes that recently took place in the marine navigation software. The author has addressed the critical menus as well as the alarms that require to be managed through proper identification of their significance. The publication provides a good overview of the observations.

The main objective was to provide industry with the updated and practically useful guidebook to the procedures that would be relevant to the major equipment manufacturers and take into account the latest regulations in the field of electronic marine navigation. As a result, the navigators who have familiarized themselves with the information contained in this guide will be prepared to the use of ECDIS installed on board their vessels.

The document gives info on the recommendations regarding the configuration of the electronic charts systems and its use as the primary navigation means. In order to be considered as being in compliance with the relevant regulations, the vessel should have the type approved system, provide the navigators with the proper and detailed training, be in possession of the sufficiently detailed data for the planned passage, consider any requirements from the Flag administration etc.

This book was prepared by the recognized authorities in the field with the intention to provide all interested readers, including practicing engineers, scientists and just enthusiasts with a good working familiarity with both theory and modern practical applications of the GPS, as well as the INST, standing for the inertial navigational systems, and Kalman filters.

In fact, this book is the only one containing required guidance to Kalman filtering together with its applications to the real-world problems of GPS/INS. Throughout the volume, the focus has been made on solving of the live problems and the effective use of the modern integration techniques, and Kalman filters, in particular. The authors of the volume has explored numerous subtleties and common failures, plus inherent limitations of the theory as applicable to the real-life situations; they have also provided many detailed examples of the application.

The content of the volume is based on the authors' practical experience with the INS, GPS and Kalman filter, enabling them to present different design and also implementation techniques that are not commonly found in the other books. This would include the original techniques for representing the problems in a math model, assessing the computational requirements, testing the validity of the obtained results, analyzing the performance and monitoring it in operation.

The present Fire Training Manual has been designed and released to suit various types of ships. The purpose of the document is to provide the crew members with both general and vessel-specific information as well as with the practical instructions relating to the fire safety practice and relevant precautions, meaning of the various alarms, established procedures for the fire fighting, operation and use of the various fire fighting systems together with the associated equipment, operation of fire dampers and fire doors plus the information about the escape routes.

In addition, the present Manual may serve as a reference source for the crew members with the duty to provide the instructions to other people on board the ship in the practice of the all above stated equipment and following the procedures. The content of this FTM is fully compliant with the requirements of IMO Res. MSC.99(73) and its main part is describing the procedures and equipment generically.

However, its seventh section is specifically designed so that the users may easily fill in details of the procedures and equipment applicable to their ship, making the present document unique and still compliant with the applicable regulations. The fire training manual shall be provided in each mess/recreation room and cabin, together with the fire safety operational booklet.

This set of two training video supplements the training booklet. The whole program was developed by the Videotel with the idea to provide all people on board with the necessary information on the VGP. The first video will explain what the Vessel General Permit is and what ships shall do in order to reach full compliance. The second video will take the viewers through all applicable requirements for the various discharge streams.

The VGP itself is a permit to the implementation of the United States environmental regulations relating to the effluent discharges from merchant ships. Subject regulations apply to the vessels more that seventy-nine feet in length visiting American ports and operating in American waters. The Permit supplements the relevant provisions of MARPOL convention which is internationally applied and making a part of the legal system of the United Stated.

What it means is that the ships in US waters shall be in full compliance with all requirements of the MARPOL together with the VGP. The main purpose of the Permit is to raise due awareness of the discharges, enabling better water pollution control from all merchant fleet vessels in the United States waters.

Mooring is a routine procedure. It involves huge stress on the lines and sometimes huge stress for the team. The operation is quickly done and forgotten most of the time. There is one way to help ensure safer mooring – good risk analysis and proper safety planning. Remember – better planning means safer mooring. Because precise data of the berth, weather and traffic conditions may not be available until the last moment, there may be little time to plan.

Many issues need to be considered. The increased risk of mooring at night must be allowed for. How experienced are the crew members involved? Have recent incidents been considered? Ask yourself – are you missing something? Never become complacent about planning the mooring. The next step is preparation. The members of the mooring team need to be informed about the plan.

Do they understand it and know what they are expected to do? In mooring operations complacency causes accidents. The correct personal protective equipment is an important part of proper preparation. Everyone must wear boots and gloves, hard hats with straps. Once at the mooring station, first check that the lines and equipment prepared are exactly those required by the mooring plan…