No headlights on HAL ships?

[igraf]

I watched the Rotterdam sail out of San Diego on Dec 21. The departure seemed to be a little late and it was around 6pm and quite dark when the ship sailed out of the bay. I was standing right at one side of the opening of the bay (Point Loma) and had the ship sailing directly at me right before it turned to go out to sea.

What struck me was that from my point of view the ship was almost entirely dark. No "headlights" of any sort and outdoor deck lighting was minimal on the bow. In fact, what I really saw was mostly just a black silhouette coming towards me. This was in a busy harbor and I thought that this was very unsafe. Is this normal?

igraf

[iflyrc5]

The Navigational Lighting is required by international treaties and all shipping uses a standard set of lights depending on size and what it is doing like tugs towing barges have special lighting because of the tow lines. There are also different lighting requirements from when the ship is underway versus at anchor. Ships don't have headlights but they most often have search lights mounted above the bridge to scan the water when needed.

[bepsf]

Headlights only illuminate roughly 200 feet ahead of your car - giving you enough space to stop or steer around objects as long as you're not driving too fast.

Ships take roughly 1/2 mile to stop - and the Bridge officers need to see much farther than that to spot any dangers that may lie ahead to allow for safe navigation around such an obstacle.

Lights at the bow would limit ones vision to the 200 feet or so within the field of vision - and one would be blind to anything outside that beam of light.

This is why there are no big lights at the bow, and any forward facing rooms have heavy draperies covering the windows or or deeply tinted glass with dimmed lighting to prevent light from interfering with the Bridge Officer's view.

[sail7seas]

We have a view of the bridge from our cabin on Maasdam and the bridge is always has very low lighting at night. The first few times I saw that and puzzled but it was explained to me about increasing visibility.

[jkrislc]

In fact, what I really saw was mostly just a black silhouette coming towards me. This was in a busy harbor and I thought that this was very unsafe. Is this normal?

igraf

As the PP has stated, lighting on the bridge and on the bow are minimal as to maintain nighttime light sensitivity, much like the red lights that you see on submarines in the movies. Assuming there's no fog, a night adapted person can easily see the flame of a single candle 30 or more miles away, so they can actually see better without "headlights" than with them.

[BillB48]

Navigational light are very distinct and actually few in number. They are placed in such a manner that they won't blend in with the ship's non navigational lights. With all the lights that you may have seen, the navigation lights may have been easy to miss. A ship that size would have a red port light, green starboard light, a forward mast light, after mast light with the after mast light being higher. To bring up the rear is the stern light and that's it. These lights are lit when the ship is under way and the lights are configured so they can only be seen from particular angles. That way you can tell if the ship is coming at you head on or perhaps crossing in your path etc.

[Hlitner]

The officers on the Bridge do everything they can to minimize white light at night in order to improve their night vision. This is similar to practices followed by pilots at night. It takes the eye up to 20 minutes to adjust to the dark (and maximize night vision) and only a split second of white light can ruin night vision. This actually became an issue on the new Queen Mary 2 where the interior lights of one of the lounges (just above the Bridge) would cause some glare on the windows of the Bridge. Cunard solved the problem by requiring this lounge to close their window blinds after dark.

Hank

[igraf]

That makes sense as it seemed that they went out of their way to darken the bow.

I was thinking also of the small craft that might be in the way and may not notice what was coming there way, but there was a harbor police boat leading the way (which did have warning lights on).

igraf







Headlights only illuminate roughly 200 feet ahead of your car - giving you enough space to stop or steer around objects as long as you're not driving too fast.

Ships take roughly 1/2 mile to stop - and the Bridge officers need to see much farther than that to spot any dangers that may lie ahead to allow for safe navigation around such an obstacle.

Lights at the bow would limit ones vision to the 200 feet or so within the field of vision - and one would be blind to anything outside that beam of light.

This is why there are no big lights at the bow, and any forward facing rooms have heavy draperies covering the windows or or deeply tinted glass with dimmed lighting to prevent light from interfering with the Bridge Officer's view.

[Pete Jackson]

If you ever want to see the night sky in all its glory while at sea, go forward to the crows nest and then exit to the sports deck back of it. This is near the bow of the ship and the navigation bridge where it is kept very dark.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Yes -- they do keep the lights low in the bridge area at night for better vision.

We were on a couple of ships where our cabin was directly below the bridge. Each evening our cabin steward pulled the "medal" curtains closed. And we were told to keep them closed until daylight in the morning. One of the ships wa the Island Princess.

[Willem Ruys]

NO lights in the bridge after dark and NO lights permitted forward BECAUSE you can easily see from dark into light, you can see reasonably well dark into dark but you can not see well from light into dark.

[bepsf]

We have a view of the bridge from our cabin on Maasdam and the bridge is always has very low lighting at night. The first few times I saw that and puzzled but it was explained to me about increasing visibility.




From my recent experience - other than the dim light of the navigation & computer equipment there is NO lighting on the Bridge.

After a private little dinner w the Captain on our recent cruise, he brought us to his suite and the Bridge around 11pm - other than those Nav screens, it was pitch dark on the Bridge so that I couldn't see the faces of anyone in the room....
...but I could clearly see 3 ships lit up in the distance as well as every star in the sky.

[Typhoon1]

Never fear, they know where they are going.

We sailed the Mississippi in 2003 on the Zuiderdam in a thick fog, somehow, we made it back to the Gulf.

[JJ33328]

The officers on the Bridge do everything they can to minimize white light at night in order to improve their night vision. This is similar to practices followed by pilots at night. It takes the eye up to 20 minutes to adjust to the dark (and maximize night vision) and only a split second of white light can ruin night vision. This actually became an issue on the new Queen Mary 2 where the interior lights of one of the lounges (just above the Bridge) would cause some glare on the windows of the Bridge. Cunard solved the problem by requiring this lounge to close their window blinds after dark.

Hank

Hank naiiled it. White light ruins your night vision.

[billie5]

And besides, headlights on these ships would increase the chances of deer freezing right in the path of the ship.

[DAllenTCY]

The important lights are midships high up on a mast. There are a combination of lights which discribe the vessel and if has anything in tow. Also, on the left side of the ship is a red beacon, and on the right side is a green one. This tells oncoming ships which way to pass, just like on aircraft.
David

[jkrislc]

And besides, headlights on these ships would increase the chances of deer freezing right in the path of the ship.

LOL.

They could always just turn the headlights off at the deer crossing signs.

[TiogaCruiser]

I'm certainly not a sailor but had a chance to sail with an experienced buch from san Diego to Catalina this past summer. Standing watch at night was interesting and I'm amazed at the keen eyes it takes. The steaming lights from small craft appeared and disappeared with the chop and mist. There was an enormous car carrier that followed us out then overtook us to port. By tracking the Orientation of the lights you could interpret what it was doing, but the lights were all you could see. After it passed us and was on the horizon we could see it's outline. It was GIGANTIC.