A container ship’s command center is the room that navigates the vessel.
It is the brain of the ship. On the outside of the command center, you are able to see the space along the sides of the ship. This helps a lot when the vessel is docking at a port. The captain will have a clear view of the ship’s side to make their docking more precise. With the command center being high up, they have an unobstructed view of what is in front of them. This is designed to prevent the stacking of the containers from blocking the crew’s sight. Vision is extremely important for obvious reasons. Therefore, there are technologies that prevent the command center’s windows from fogging or icing up. There are filters and screens to reduce the strength of incoming sunlight.
Inside the command center, there are numerous controls and indicators for the whole ship.
Just like how you can see everything about your car on your dashboard, the ship has an indicator for just about everything. Since there are many doors that can potentially allow water in, there are indicators to display the status of every watertight door. There are systems that work with radar antennas to display the ship’s positioning and other ships nearby. With all these systems in place, there are many manuals to guide the crew when there is an emergency.
Imagine that you are meeting up with a friend, only to find out that you forgot to bring your phone.
Now, think about that scenario from the perspective of operating a huge ship. Communication is extremely important on a ship, especially when the ship is big enough to carry hundreds of containers. In the command center, there are various systems in place to ensure communication methods are accessible at all times. There is a phone system that connects every room of the ship. There is a public address (PA) system that can be used as a backup. Also, there are walkie talkies in place if everything else fails. With all these in place, the crew can communicate with each other efficiently.
