Usually we say \u201cblack box\u201d when we speak about flight data recorders, but these devices are actually implemented on ships as well. They are called Voyage Data Recorders, or VDRs. Maritime black boxes are required for all passenger and cargo vessels over 3,000 gross tons.<\/p>\n
Just like an airplane\u2019s black box, VDRs log everything what\u2019s going on with a vessel at sea: weather conditions, radar images, position, speed and all audio communications. In case of an accident this device, placed into protective capsule with an acoustic beacon, becomes an automated version of ship\u2019s logbook.<\/p>\n
VDR helps investigators clarify, what\u2019s happened with a vessel and why. For example, this device was used in the trial against the captain and crewmembers of infamous Costa Concordia cruise liner<\/a>. Their culpable negligence resulted in the death of more than 30 passengers and wreckage the ship.<\/p>\n VDRs are used to investigate disasters of all kinds, including environmental incidents. In 2007 container vessel Cosco Busan rammed into<\/a> the protective fender of the Delta Tower of the San Francisco \u2014 Oakland Bay Bridge in heavy fog. More than fifty thousand US gal of heavy fuel oil spilled from its tanks<\/a> into San Francisco Bay. The crew refused to cooperate, but data extracted from ship\u2019s VDR helped the National Transportation Safety Board determine the causes of the incident.<\/p>\n What is a plane's \"black box\" really? https:\/\/t.co\/cXLa0FE3ba<\/a> #airplanes<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/3iCiJ9m6sm<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Kaspersky (@kaspersky) November 12, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n