Witherby: Passage Planning Guide

Passage Planning Guide - Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS) (PPG - SOMS 2026-27 Edition)

This Guide summarises essential passage planning practice, including elements local to the Straits, to help navigating officers compile an effective passage plan. It includes practical guidance for the transit, with reference to manning levels, traffic, tugs, pilotage, anchorages, tidal streams, communications, etc.

Annotated chartlets, which now feature satellite imagery, are provided for each leg of the transit, illustrating aids to navigation and potential hazards to shipping. The chartlets are supported by guidance notes containing further navigational and safety information.

In preparation for this new edition, Witherbys have worked in consultation with Straits Pilots, harbour pilots, port authorities, local navigation superintendents and shipmasters transiting the Straits.

The Guide illustrates areas where high vigilance is required and lists the pre-emptive measures that should be taken by the ship. Also included are a number of case studies that examine the causes of various groundings and collisions in the Straits.

This new edition now includes information on the MPA's Just In Time Planning and Coordination Platform, which helps to facilitate the optimal arrival and departure of vessels to and from the Port of Singapore. Vessel reporting and pre-arrival information has been updated and expanded, with the addition of helpful flowcharts to illustrate the requirements.

The tidal streams supplement, which contains high quality diagrams to provide mariners with information about the tidal conditions in the Straits, has now been incorporated into the book as an annex. Additionally, copies of the Pre-Entry Bridge Team Meeting Checklist have been inserted as perforated pages that can be torn out for ease of use. This edition also includes a handy bookmark with QR codes linking to useful PDF downloads, such as Port Marine Circulars.

Information is also taken from appropriate nautical publications and from:

• Rules for Vessels Navigating through the Straits of Malacca and Singapore
• STRAITREP - Mandatory Reporting Procedures
• Port Marine Circulars (Singapore)
• IMO assembly resolutions.