It is disconcerting to hear that Congress has ordered the Coast Guard to remove the requirement for Merchant Marine deck officers to demonstrate collision-avoidance paper plotting using a maneuvering board or radar-plotting sheet. The discontinuation of manual plotting in areas of extremely high-shipping density eventually will lead to more catastrophic collisions at sea, with further injuries, deaths, and loss of ships. How Congress—a landlocked civilian legislative body not in tune with the realities of the nautical operating environment—can make unilateral decisions affecting the sea going services is beyond understanding.

Prudent mariners never rely on a single source for critical data. Doing so is just asking for trouble. On the six warships I served on as an operations specialist we effectively tracked all surface contacts, including small, close in ones, using the radar repeater, naval tactical data system (NTDS) surface console, maneuvering board, and dead reckoning tracer, as well as constant communication between the combat information center (CIC) and our bridge and after lookouts. There were no “errors” in the transferring of raw radar bearing and range data to the maneuvering board plotter or the DRT.

Numerous contacts were successfully plotted on the same maneuvering board without confusion. We provided virtually thousands of sound and timely recommendations to the bridge allowing the officer of the deck to act well ahead of an in extremis situation. Our personnel, including the bridge and after lookouts, were trained to perform as an effective watch team. Communication was the key to the effective flow of tactical information.

Discarding the maneuvering board for reliance on a single electronic device during a transit of waters known for its ever present high-shipping density, such as the Straits of Malacca, is a recipe for disaster. Falling back on manual plotting only when the technology fails is no better, as the plotting skills will have become degraded. The lack of alert, properly trained, and adequately manned bridge and CIC watch teams are what contributed to the loss of seventeen sailors’ lives on two U.S. Navy destroyers in Seventh Fleet in 2017.