Successful shiphandling involves more than technical skill. Understanding emotions and pressure is as foundational to shiphandling as understanding wind and current. Alongside how to handle emotions such as fear, panic and anxiety in stressful situations, Shiphandling, the Beautiful Game provides a resource on managing the fundamentals, from momentum and inertia, turns and arranging assist tugs to anchoring and mooring.

The book covers common challenges, such as navigation in restricted visibility or in channels, turning in confined waters and ports, maintaining situational awareness and avoiding the distractions that have become more common with advances in technology. The authors combine technical analysis with less formal anecdotes and recollections from their decades of experience at sea as pilots.

Topics include:

Ensuring situational awareness
Safer operations
Stress management
Bridge resource management
Communication

Acknowledgements

List of abbreviations

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1: Emotions

Chapter 2: Shiphandling

Chapter 3: Managing pressure

Chapter 4: Managing zero or reduced visibility

Chapter 5: Managing inertia and momentum

Chapter 6: Anchoring

Chapter 7: Narrow rivers, channels and bridges

Chapter 8: Managing assist tugs

Chapter 9: Managing docking and undocking

Chapter 10: Managing dead ship movement

Chapter 11: Managing technology and distractions

Chapter 12: Managing professional conduct

Appendices