Voyage Data Recorders (VDR)

Voyage Data Recorders (VDR) are devices that collect, process and record sensor inputs from ships to provide valuable insights after an incident. They are essentially black boxes for the maritime industry, designed to determine the cause of a maritime accidents and assist in prevention.

VDRs and SVDRs are required to be installed on all vessels that have a gross tonnage of 3,000 or more that was built after July 1st 2002. A VDR/SVDR is an electronic storage device that can be able to withstand pressures and shocks caused by incidents in the marine environment, such as sinking, collisions, or fire.

The system is designed to collect data from a variety sensors on a ship and then compressing and digitizing it before storing it in the form of a secure storage unit, which is mounted externally. The tamperproof storage container is designed to withstand extreme heat, impact, and shock, as well as pressures that can be encountered during a maritime accident, for example, a collision or a fire.

Members may want to upgrade their VDR/SVDR systems to ensure that they can store the data for a longer duration. At present, IMO performance standards only allow the VDR/SVDR to keep data for 12 hours after an incident.

A growing number of manufacturers now offer a ‘MantaDigital’ S-VDR that is able to be accessed remotely, similar to the method airlines’ FDR data is analyzed post-incident. This enables technical issues onboard to be diagnosed remotely, and assists in the execution of proactive maintenance processes. Regular shoreside playbacks assist bridge teams in understanding the trends in their performance and identifying opportunities for improvement.

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