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CHAPTER 07 Voyage data recorder :

For a good many years, data and cockpit voice recorders have been
required on commercial aircraft. These “black box” devices – which are
actually bright orange – have been invaluable tools for investigating
accidents and determining remedial actions.

In the 1980s, several major maritime disasters, notably the sinking of the
passenger ship Estonia with the loss of more than 900 lives, led the
maritime industry to consider adopting similar technology for ships.

As a result, during the 1990s the International Maritime Organization
(IMO) developed specifications for a marine Voyage Data Recorder
(VDR), which would record and store data from shipboard sensors and
systems, as well as voice recordings from the bridge and VHF radio
communications, for retrieval after an incident at sea. IMO Resolution
A.861 (20) was adopted by the IMO in May 1999. It established a
deadline of 2002, after which new ships must be fitted with an approved
VDR. The VDR carriage requirements included retrofits to passenger and
ro-ro passenger ships built before 2002, but did not provide for retrofits
to older non-passenger cargo ships. In 2005, the IMO amended
Resolution A.861 to add a requirement for retrofitting a Simplified VDR
(S-VDR) on all existing cargo ships over 3,000 gross tons.

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