Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 January 2010
Like any other vehicle a ship needs to be started, stopped and steered safely; the art of doing this is sometimes called ship handling. Successful ship handling depends upon three distinct operations: acquiring the right information, making the right decisions and performing the right manoeuvres. In this paper we assume that the Captain has all the facts and knows the right thing to do, and examine the physical ability of the ship as a mechanism to respond to his will.