Definition (MSC 302/A)
Overall concept for management, handling and harmonized presentation of alerts on the bridge
Important in this definition is the word ‘concept’. BAM imposes requirements and does so on equipment that handles and presents alerts on the bridge including equipment that provides central alert management (CAM) system functionalities. The intention is to enhance the safety of operation by providing requirements for the harmonized presentation and treatment of alerts. IEC 62923 specifies the related operational and performance requirements, the methods of testing and the required test results.
What is the scope?
According to IEC 62923 , it is applicable to all alerts presented on and transferred to the ‘bridge’. On some ships, the bridge is a workspace that includes different operational clusters e.g. Navigation, Dredging, Machinery, etc., each with their own responsible operator. Therefore, in this context, the word ‘bridge’ should be read as ‘the operational cluster with a navigator (navigation officer / team) as responsible operator’. As operators in those other clusters are confronted with similar (or even worse) alert management related problems as the bridge operator is, one may argue that it is beneficial for the safety of shipping to make IEC 62923 applicable for each cluster on board a ship. The machinery cluster in particular would benefit as it is notorious for the many spurious alarms, the lack of standardisation of alert management, and the resulting track record of undesired operational consequences.