Simplified Voyage Data Recorder (S-VDR)

The Simplified Voyage Data Recorder or S-VDR is a system that the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has mandated for carriage on the majority of large sea going vessels. It is a system similar to the aviation "black box" recorder where if a vessel is involved in an accident or sinks, data can be retrieved to reconstruct the last 12 hours of the vessels voyage. This allows the marine community to clearly understand the reason for the accident, however catastrophic and put in preventative measures to increase future marine safety.

IMO Rules

The new rules stipulate that existing cargo ships on international voyages shall be fitted with an S-VDR as follows:

• 20,000 gross tonnage and upwards constructed before 1 July 2002, at the first scheduled dry-docking after 1 July 2006 but not later than 1 July 2009
• 3,000 gross tonnage and upwards but less than 20,000 gross tonnage constructed before 1 July 2002, at the first scheduled dry-docking after 1 July 2007 but not later than 1 July 2010
• Administrations may exempt cargo ships from the application of the requirements when such ships will be taken permanently out of service within two years after the implementation date specified above.

Typical S-VDR

The S-VDR collects data from the sensors on board the vessel, it digitises, compresses and stores this information in an externally mounted Crash Survivable Module (CSM) or float-free module. The data storage is a tamper-proof unit designed to be easily recovered in the event of a maritime incident, enabling the data to be replayed for investigative purposes.

S-VDR Data Recording Comparison