By Bob Van Leer

  (AT SEA, SATURDAY, JAN. 13, 2001) - From Gibraltar we sailed a course south west along the African coast. This morning we reached the westernmost part of Africa and turned due south toward Dakar, Senegal, our next port of call.

  This morning I took a tour of the bridge of our ship, Pacific Princess. Staff Captain Andrew Froude, the second officer of the ship, showed me around the bridge and the equipment now used.

  He said there are always three men on watch on the bridge, one a lookout. Froude said in spite of all the electronic navigation aids, the human eye will still pick up things missed by the machine.

  The ship's radar is a sophisticated instrument viewable in daylight, in color, and not only picks up other ships (and land), but also gives the other ship's speed, distance, plots its course and displays it on the screen, figures the closest point between ships, and what time that is. The radar can keep track of 21 other ships at the same time.

  Global Positioning Service (GPS), a satellite positioning system, Froude said, has made a dramatic difference in navigation. GPS can give the ship's position with an accuracy closer than the width of a pencil line.

  I mentioned to Froude that the U. S. Naval Academy no longer teaches Celestial Navigation, navigation with sun and stars using a sextant. Capt. Froude said they will check their position the old way several times a week and don't want to become completely dependent on GPS.

  The reason for this, I hadn't thought of. This is a British ship. Froude said GPS was developed and is owned and operated by the U. S. military. The U.S. has the capability of putting errors into the system, which it might do in times of conflict. And the U. S. can always shut the system off entirely. Since Britain has no control over the system it does not want to become entirely dependent upon it.

  The ship has four Diesel engines which work in pairs on two shafts. The engines are almost always controlled from the bridge now. There is still the capability of sending signals to the engine room of "stop", "slow" and "full speed", but the bridge has direct control and use it.

  The ship has two variable pitch propellers. Two levers on the bridge control the pitch and, while the propellers continue turning at the same speed, they can be set to push the ship forward, to give no push, or to push the ship in reverse.