Published by Shilavadra Bhattacharjee in Marine Navigation 2 years ago

What is Monkey
Island on Ships?
The term “monkey island” refers to a place on the ship which is
located at the top most accessible height. Technically, it is a
deck located directly above the navigating bridge of the ship. It
is also referred to as the flying bridge on top of a pilothouse or
chart house, and also as the ship’s upper bridge. Sailors would
use this place to perform solar and stellar observations.

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During the ancient time, when ship used to have masts and
sails, the monkey island was also supposed to be located about
term “monkey island”; however, there are a few theories that
believed to be the reason behind the usage.

Credits: IMO Collection/flikr.com

Theory 1
According to this theory, some people believe that as the
monkey island was located at the top of the main mast of
sailing ships, sailors had to scramble up the ship’s rigging to
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free or repair the sails and rigging or to keep a lookout for
Theory 2
According to this theory, it is believed that in the ancient days,
cannon balls were stored aboard ships in a brass frame or trays
called “monkey”. During extreme cold climatic condition, the
brass trays would contract and spill the cannon balls.

Hence, a humorous reference was established that the climate

was cold enough to freeze the balls of a brass monkey. However,
this theory is hardly believed to be true because of a number of
reasons:

1. There is no evidence found that such “deck” place on the

ship was named as a “monkey”
2. The rate of contraction of the brass frame cannot so fast as
to cause the mentioned effect
3. According to the past records, cannon balls were not
stored on the deck except during a battle. The deck was
kept as clear as possible
4. Practically it is not possible to store cannon balls at such
height as during heavy rolling and pitching, the cannon
balls would fall off causing harm to the ship and its crew

Though there is no concrete theory to back the origin of

Monkey Island, the term is still extensively used even on
modern ships.

In modern day merchant ships, the monkey island isn’t just a

space to take celestial observations but an integral part of the
ship where most of the external parts of the equipments of the
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bridge are housed. While the navigation bridge houses the
of those equipments are placed. Some of these driving units
that are placed on the monkey island are:

VDR capsule
AIS Tx/Rx antennae
Radar scanner(s) attached to the radar mast
Sat C/F77 Tx/Rx antennae
Communication equipment gear
Various halyards connected to the yardarm to hoist flags
Weather vane
The mast leading up to the ‘Christmas Tree’ (navigation
lights)
The mast leading up to the ship’s aft whistle

One of the most important equipment carried on the monkey

island, that is mandatory as per SOLAS carriage requirements,
is the magnetic compass. SOLAS states that “All ships
irrespective of size shall have a properly adjusted standard
magnetic compass or other means, independent of any power
supply to determine the ship’s heading and display the reading
at the main steering position”. A periscope leads from down
below the compass to the bridge to give the OOW the magnetic
heading

Maintenance of the monkey island is imperative owing to the

sheer importance of the equipments that are housed there. The
monkey deck must be derusted, painted and cleaned as per the
ship’s schedule to prevent buildup of salt particles, dust and to
reduce damage due to exposure to the weather. The deck, being
exposed to the weather and the sun at all times makes it more ▾
vulnerable to damage. Cleaning of the deck must be done using
freshwater if possible (using the kew pressure washer to ensure
and made to withstand extreme conditions, proper
maintenance of the monkey island and the items it houses will
only increase their longevity.

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My son just sent me a photo of MONKEY ISLAND. Curious, I goggled
this landform to discover my ignorance in that it is part of his vessel .
So this is an island of no fixed address !

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