Voyage planning in SOLAS: four stages and one authority
Appraisal, planning, execution and monitoring, and the regulation that keeps the decision with the Master.
SOLAS V/34Resolution A.893(21)
In brief
- Voyage planning
- SOLAS chapter V, regulation 34
- Guidelines
- IMO resolution A.893(21), Guidelines for voyage planning
- Four stages
- Appraisal · planning · execution · monitoring
- Extent of the plan
- Berth to berth, including pilotage waters
- Master’s discretion
- SOLAS chapter V, regulation 34-1
Berth to berth
SOLAS requires a voyage plan before the ship sails, and A.893(21) describes how it is built: appraise all the information relevant to the voyage, plan the track from berth to berth, execute it with the plan in hand, and monitor progress against it all the way.
Where routing advice fits
Weather routing and voyage optimisation feed the appraisal and the planning. They inform the plan; they do not replace it, and they do not sign it.
The Master’s discretion
“…shall not prevent or restrict the master of the ship from taking or executing any decision which, in the master’s professional judgement, is necessary for safety of life at sea and protection of the marine environment.”SOLAS chapter V, regulation 34-1
Software ashore can set out options, costs and risks. Under SOLAS, the decision on board stays with the Master.
What to check
- Routing advice is recorded as an input to the passage plan, not as the plan.
- The plan runs berth to berth, including pilotage waters.
- Company procedures leave the Master free to depart from advice from ashore.
Our reading at 8 Oct 2026, for planning. Not legal advice; the authority’s current text decides.
Sources
- SOLAS chapter V, regulation 34
- SOLAS chapter V, regulation 34-1
- IMO resolution A.893(21)