Navigator

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For other uses, see Navigator (disambiguation).

A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.[1] The navigator's
primary responsibility is to be aware of ship or aircraft position at all times. Responsibilities include
planning the journey, advising the ship's captain or aircraft commander of estimated timing to
destinations while en route, and ensuring hazards are avoided. The navigator is in charge of
maintaining the aircraft or ship's nautical charts, nautical publications, and navigational equipment,
and he/she generally has responsibility for meteorological equipment and communications. With the
advent of GPS, the effort required to accurately determine one's position has decreased by orders of
magnitude, so the entire field has experienced a revolutionary transition since the 1990s with
traditional navigation tasks being used less frequently.

Contents

 1In naval occupations

 2In aviation
 3Nautical charts
 4Nautical publications
 5Mission and passage planning
 6Navigational equipment
 7See also
 8References

In naval occupations[edit]
Shipborne navigators in the U.S. Navy are normally surface warfare officer qualified with the
exception of naval aviators and naval flight officers assigned to ship's navigator billets aboard aircraft
carriers and large deck amphibious assault ships and who have been qualified at a level equal to
surface warfare officers. U.S. Coast Guard officers that are shipboard navigators are normally cutter
qualified at a level analogous to the USN officers previously mentioned. Quartermasters are the
navigator's enlisted assistants and perform most of the technical navigation duties.
Aboard ships in the Merchant Marine and Merchant Navy, the second mate is generally the (senior)
navigator.

In aviation[edit]
Further information: Air navigation

Navigators are sometimes also called 'air navigators' or 'flight navigators'. In civil aviation this was a
position on older aircraft, typically between the late-1910s and the 1970s, where separate crew
members (sometimes two navigation crew members) were often responsible for an aircraft's flight
navigation, including its dead reckoning and celestial navigation, especially when flown over oceans
or other large featureless areas where radio navigation aids were not originally available.
As sophisticated electronic air navigation aids and universal space-based GPS navigation systems
came online, the dedicated Navigator's position was discontinued and its function was assumed by
dual-licensed Pilot-Navigators, and still later by the aircraft's primary pilots (Captain and FO),
resulting in a continued downsizing in the number of aircrew positions on commercial flights. Modern
electronic navigation systems made the civil aviation navigators redundant by the early 1980s.[1]

Navigators cockpit 1928

In military aviation, navigators are still actively trained and licensed in some present day air forces,
as electronic navigation aids cannot be assumed to be operational during wartime. In the world's air
forces, modern navigators are frequently tasked with weapons and defensive systems operations,
along with co-pilot duties such as flight planning and fuel management, depending on the type,
model and series of aircraft. In the U.S. Air Force, the aeronautical rating of navigator has been
augmented by addition of the combat systems officer, while in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps,
those officers formerly called navigators, tactical systems officers, or naval aviation observers have
been known as naval flight officers since the mid-1960s. USAF navigators/combat systems officers
and USN/USMC naval flight officers must be basic mission qualified in their aircraft, or fly with an
instructor navigator or instructor NFO to provide the necessary training for their duties.

Nautical charts[edit]
Further information: Nautical charts

A 1976 United States NOAA chart of part of Puerto Rico

A naval ship's navigator is responsible for buying and maintaining its nautical charts. A nautical
chart, or simply "chart", is a graphic representation of a maritime or flight region and adjacent coastal
regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water and heights of land,
natural features of the seabed, details of the coastline, navigational hazards, locations of natural and
man-made aids to navigation, information on tides and currents, local details of the Earth's magnetic
field, restricted flying areas, and man-made structures such as harbors, buildings and bridges.
Nautical charts are essential tools for marine navigation; many countries require vessels, especially
commercial ships, to carry them. Nautical charting may take the form of charts printed on paper or
computerised electronic navigational charts.
The nature of a waterway depicted by a chart changes regularly, and a mariner navigating on an old
or uncorrected chart is courting disaster. Every producer of navigational charts also provides a
system to inform mariners and aviators of changes that affect the chart. In the United States, chart
corrections and notifications of new editions are provided by various governmental agencies by way
of Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs), Notice to Mariners, Local Notice to Mariners, Summary of
Corrections, and Broadcast Notice to Mariners. Radio broadcasts give advance notice of urgent
corrections.
A convenient way to keep track of corrections is with a "chart and publication correction record card"
system. Using this system, the navigator does not immediately update every chart in the portfolio
when a new Notice to Mariners arrives, instead creating a card for every chart and noting the
correction on this card. When the time comes to use the chart, he pulls the chart and chart's card,
and makes the indicated corrections on the chart. This system ensures that every chart is properly
corrected prior to use. British merchant vessels receive weekly Notices to Mariners issued by
the Admiralty. When corrections are received all charts are corrected in the ship's folio and recorded
in NP133A (Admiralty Chart Correction Log and Folio Index). This system ensures that all charts are
corrected and up to date. In a deep sea vessel with a folio of over three thousand charts this can be
a laborious and time-consuming task for the [navigator].
Various and diverse methods exist for the correction of electronic navigational charts.

Nautical publications[edit]
Further information: Nautical publications

This page from a Sailing Directions assists the navigator by providing pictures and descriptions of a harbor
approach.

The term nautical publications is used in maritime circles to describe a set of publications, generally
published by national governments, for use in safe navigation of ships, boats, and similar vessels.
The nature of waterways described by any given nautical publication changes regularly, and a
mariner navigating by use of an old or uncorrected publication is courting disaster. Every producer of
nautical publications also provides a system to inform mariners of changes that affect the chart. In
the United States, corrections and notifications of new editions are provided by various
governmental agencies by way of Notice to Mariners, Local Notice to Mariners, Summary of
Corrections, and Broadcast Notice to Mariners. Radio broadcasts give advance notice of urgent
corrections. For ensuring that all publications are fully up-to-date, similar methods are employed as
for nautical charts. Various and diverse methods exist for the correction of electronic nautical
publications.

Mission and passage planning[edit]

Further information: passage planning

The navigator focuses on creating the ship's passage plans (or "mission plans" for USAF purposes).
A mission or passage plan can be summarized as a comprehensive, step by step description of how
the voyage is to proceed from berth to berth, including unberthing, departure, the en route portion of
a voyage, approach, and mooring/arrival at the destination.
Before each voyage begins, the navigator should develop a detailed mental model of how the entire
voyage will proceed. In the aviation community, this is known as "chair flying." This mental model
includes charting courses, and forecasting weather, tides, and currents. It includes updating and
checking aeronautical charts, nautical publications, which could include Sailing Directions and Coast
Pilots, and projecting the various future events including landfalls, narrow passages, and course
changes that will transpire during the voyage. This mental model becomes the standard by which he
will measure progress toward the goal of a safe and efficient voyage, and it is manifested in a written
passage plan.
When working in a team environment, the passage/mission plan should be communicated to the
navigation team in a pre-voyage conference (USAF term is "mission briefing") in order to ensure that
all members of the team share the same mental model of the entire trip.
Passage planning procedures are specified in International Maritime Organization Resolutions, in
the laws of IMO signatory countries (for example, Title 33 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations),
and a number of professional books and USN/USAF publications. There are some fifty elements of a
comprehensive passage plan depending on the size and type of vessel, each applicable according
to the individual situation.

Modern navigators often enter passage plans on electronic systems.

A good passage plan will include a track line laid out upon the largest-scale charts available which
cover the vessel's track. The navigator will draw and redraw the track line until it is safe, efficient,
and in line with all applicable laws and regulations. When the track is finished, it is becoming
common practice to also enter it into electronic navigation tools such as an Electronic Chart Display
and Information System, a chartplotter, or a GPS unit.
Once the voyage has begun the progress of the vessel along its planned route must be monitored.
This requires that the ship's position be determined, using standard methods including dead
reckoning, radar fixing, celestial navigation, pilotage, and electronic navigation, to include usage of
GPS and navigation computer equipment.
Passage planning software, tide and tidal current predictors, celestial navigational calculators,
consumables estimators for fuel, oil, water, and stores, and other useful applications.

Navigational equipment[edit]
The navigator is responsible for the maintenance of the ship's navigational equipment. U.S. Air
Force navigators are responsible for troubleshooting problems of the navigation equipment while
airborne, but the ground Maintenance personnel are ultimately responsible for repair and upkeep of
that aircraft's navigation system.