Voyage Data Recorders (VDR) are devices that gather, process and record sensor data from ships to provide valuable insights after an incident. They are essentially black boxes for the maritime industry, designed to identify the cause of marine accidents and help in prevention.
VDRs and S-VDRs are fitted to all vessels of 3000 gross tons or more http://www.digitaldealdataroom.info/ built after July 1, 2002. A VDR/S -VDR is a fixed electronic storage medium that is tamperproof that is enclosed in a capsule that is capable of enduring the shock and pressures associated with a marine accident such as fire, collision or sinking.
The system is designed to collect data from a variety of shipboard sensors, digitize it and compress it, and then store it in a secure externally mounted storage unit. The tamperproof capsule was designed to withstand the extreme shock, impact, heat and pressures encountered in a marine incident such as a collision or fire.
Members may wish to upgrade their VDR/SVDR systems so that they can retain the data for a longer duration. Currently, IMO performance standards only require the VDR/SVDR to retain data for 12 hours after an incident.
A growing number of manufacturers now offer a ‘MantaDigital’ S-VDR which can be interrogated remotely similar to the way that airlines’ FDR data is analyzed after an incident. This allows for remote diagnosis of technical issues aboard and assists in implement proactive maintenance procedures. Regular shoreside playbacks also assist bridge teams in analyzing the trends in their performance and identifying opportunities for improvement.