Voyage Data Recorder
A Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) is the maritime equivalent of an aircraft black box. It continuously records a rolling window of data — bridge audio and radio communications, radar and ECDIS images, position, heading, speed, depth, rudder and engine orders, alarms and more — in a protected, tamper-resistant capsule that can survive a casualty.
The VDR is required on most merchant ships under SOLAS. After a collision, grounding or other serious incident its data is downloaded and used by investigators to reconstruct what happened. A simplified version, the S-VDR, is fitted on some existing ships.
When something goes badly wrong at sea, the VDR is often the only objective record of what was said and done on the bridge in the minutes before. It is central to accident investigation and to learning the lessons that prevent the next casualty, which is why SOLAS makes it mandatory.
What does a voyage data recorder record?
Bridge audio and communications, radar and ECDIS images, position, heading, speed, depth, rudder and engine orders, and alarms — a rolling record preserved in a protective capsule for accident investigation.