Bridge Watch Handovers

15 January 2026 6 min read Bridge, Latest Articles, Watchkeeping

Why most navigation accidents begin at the moment nobody owns the ship

Use the links below to jump to any section:

What a Bridge Handover Really Is
Why Handovers Are High-Risk Events
Legal and Professional Responsibility During Handover
Fitness for Duty and Arrival Timing
What Must Be Handed Over — Without Exception
Navigational Situation and Mental Model Transfer
Traffic and Collision Risk Continuity
Equipment Status and Degraded Modes
Master’s Standing Orders and Night Orders
Security, Watertight Integrity, and Special Conditions
The Correct Handover Sequence
The Moment of Taking the Watch (“I Have the Con”)
Handovers During Manoeuvring, Pilotage, and Restricted Waters
Common Handover Failure Modes
Minimum Standard for a Safe Bridge Handover
Why Checklists Help — and Why They Are Not Enough

1. What a Bridge Handover Really Is

A bridge handover is not a conversation.

It is the controlled transfer of legal responsibility, situational awareness, and decision authority from one Officer of the Watch to another.

For a short period, responsibility overlaps.
If that overlap is rushed or unclear, the ship effectively has no one in command.

Most bridge accidents do not happen because no one was qualified.
They happen because nobody fully understood the situation at the moment control changed.

2. Why Handovers Are High-Risk Events

During a handover, three dangerous things occur simultaneously:

One officer is mentally disengaging
One officer is still building situational awareness
The ship continues moving through a dynamic environment

This is when:

hazards are missed
assumptions are made
alarms are misinterpreted
traffic situations are misunderstood

A safe handover is about continuity, not speed.

3. Legal and Professional Responsibility During Handover

Until the relieving officer formally accepts the watch:

the outgoing OOW remains fully responsible
COLREGs responsibility does not “pause”
blame does not split evenly

There is no such thing as “we were changing watch.”

If something happens, the question will be:

Who had the watch — clearly, knowingly, and formally?

If the answer is unclear, the bridge failed.

4. Fitness for Duty and Arrival Timing

A relieving OOW must be:

properly rested
sober and alert
mentally prepared

Arriving just before the watch is unsafe, especially at night.

Night handovers require additional time for:

dark adaptation
visual horizon awareness
light and radar interpretation

If the relieving officer is not fit, the watch must not be transferred.

5. What Must Be Handed Over — Without Exception

A bridge handover must always include:

vessel position and method of position fixing
course, speed, and steering mode
draught, under-keel clearance, and margins
engine and steering status
lights, shapes, and sound signals displayed

Anything that affects the ship’s ability to comply with COLREGs must be known.

6. Navigational Situation and Mental Model Transfer

The most important part of a handover is not data — it is context.

The outgoing OOW must explain:

where the ship is in the passage plan
what the next constraints are
what they are expecting to happen next

The relieving OOW must understand:

what matters right now
what could go wrong next
where the escape options are

Without this shared mental model, the relieving officer is reacting, not controlling.

7. Traffic and Collision Risk Continuity

Traffic handover must include:

vessels of concern
targets being actively monitored
any recent or planned avoiding action
CPA/TCPA interpretation, not just numbers

Simply pointing at a radar screen is not enough.

If the relieving OOW cannot explain the traffic situation back in their own words, the handover is incomplete.

8. Equipment Status and Degraded Modes

All equipment limitations must be stated explicitly:

radar ranges, filters, or tuning issues
ECDIS modes, safety contour settings, alarms inhibited
compass errors or checks due
autopilot vs hand steering
any recurring alarms or faults

Never assume the next officer “already knows.”

Bridges fail when degraded modes are treated as normal.

9. Master’s Standing Orders and Night Orders

Standing and night orders are not background reading.

During handover:

relevant orders must be highlighted
call-the-Master criteria must be restated
any deviations must be explained

If the relieving officer does not understand the Master’s expectations, the watch cannot safely transfer.

10. Security, Watertight Integrity, and Special Conditions

Security and ship condition matters must be handed over, including:

ship security level
suspicious craft or activity
watertight doors or access restrictions
restricted visibility procedures
heavy weather or special operating modes

These are often forgotten — and often central in incident investigations.

11. The Correct Handover Sequence

A proper handover follows this order:

Preparation by the relieving officer
Verbal briefing by the outgoing OOW
Independent verification by the reliever
Clarification of uncertainties
Formal transfer of responsibility

Skipping steps compresses risk into seconds.

12. The Moment of Taking the Watch (“I Have the Con”)

The watch is transferred only when:

the relieving OOW confirms full understanding
the outgoing OOW confirms readiness to hand over
responsibility is verbally acknowledged

Whether phrased as “I have the watch”, “I have the con”, or ship-specific wording — it must be explicit.

Silent assumption is unacceptable.

13. Handovers During Manoeuvring, Pilotage, and Restricted Waters

As a rule:

watches should not be handed over during critical manoeuvres
if unavoidable, both officers must remain until stability is restored

During pilotage or restricted waters:

the Master is normally present
roles must be re-confirmed
no one should disengage early

Many serious accidents occur because a watch was handed over minutes too soon.

14. Common Handover Failure Modes

Repeated patterns seen in investigations include:

rushed handovers to “help the other officer rest”
incomplete night adaptation
assumptions that ECDIS shows everything
failure to mention a small but growing issue
outgoing OOW mentally leaving before the reliever is ready

These are human errors — which is why procedures exist.

15. Minimum Standard for a Safe Bridge Handover

A handover is safe only when:

both officers agree it is complete
the relieving OOW can independently confirm the situation
no ambiguity exists about responsibility
the ship is under positive control

If any doubt remains, the handover is not finished.

16. Why Checklists Help — and Why They Are Not Enough

Checklists prevent omission.

They do not ensure understanding.

A good handover uses checklists to support a professional conversation, not replace it.

Ships do not run aground because a checklist item was unchecked.
They run aground because no one fully understood what was happening next.