why the stripe

[Trucker001]

 what is the purpose for the the floresnat stripe over the bridge on most ships these days? can anyone explain?

[Ben Mugford]

I've been wondering that myself.
Perhaps it has something to do with visibility for other ships at night?

[BobS]

It means: Here I am! If you can't see me, you must be blind or not keeping a proper look-out. So please do not collide with me and if you do so in daylight - even if its a bit foggy -  with my dayglo-orange stripe you will not have a leg to stand on at the inquiry.
The fluorescent, dayglo paint has, however, no advantage at night or, more importantly, on a radar screen so, really the orange bridge roof is just a bit of a nonsense safety extra.

[Kelvin Davies]

I agree Bob,

If you can't see a bloody big ship heading toward you, you don't have much chance of spotting a lone painted stripe!
It's a bit like Greek flagged, Filipino crewed tankers having "Safety First" and "Clean Seas" painted in large letters on the superstructure.
Window dressing!
Kelvin

[Allan RO]

Hi Kelvin

I trust this is not a racist comment.............!!!

Allan

[Jarrod David]

It means: Here I am! If you can't see me, you must be blind or not keeping a proper look-out. So please do not collide with me and if you do so in daylight - even if its a bit foggy -  with my dayglo-orange stripe you will not have a leg to stand on at the inquiry.
The fluorescent, dayglo paint has, however, no advantage at night or, more importantly, on a radar screen so, really the orange bridge roof is just a bit of a nonsense safety extra.

Interesting Bob, Am I correct in saying it is mostly seen on ferries crossing the English Channel. Although we are starting to see the Atlantic Towing tugs in Eastern Canada sporting the orange atop their superstructures as well.

[Trucker001]

when i asked i meant i seen  it on various kinds of ships not ferried and tugs but tankers and freightersalso

[Gulfspan]

Ships are kinda like moose,cant really tell where they are when your looking at them endo in low light.

[Jarrod David]

when i asked i meant i seen  it on various kinds of ships not ferried and tugs but tankers and freightersalso

OK
I only noticed the stripe on ferries in the English Channel  and the tugs herein Nova Scotia.That was why I mentioned those types.

[BobS]

Perhaps Canada should embark on a policy of of painting dayglo, hi-viz stripes on the noses and butts of all mooses - or fit radar to all cars!
You are right that some (eg P&O and Cobelfret) - but by no means all - cross-Channel ferries/freight ro-ros have a hi-vis stripe on the bridge roof but so do many vessels of other and varied types.
I am not aware of any maritime law that requires an orange stripe but no doubt someone will correct me if I am wrong on that point. 

[Cornelia Klier]

Hello,

not only on ferries and other ships bridge front you can see these strips. Another example is, that on many MSC containerships you can view this stripe, although not on bridge, but this location here:

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1007073
http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=819087

Or here, typical location on the bridge
http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1246353

However, not all have it some come just as black as they are.

I tend to think, that this stripe should be a sort of help of visibility, although I don't know whether it really helps.

Or perhaps the best thing that would help after all, would be doing this here:
http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1243625

Not just a stripe but all over red ! Not easy to be overlooked with this color. Which makes me tend to ask following question:

Why are so many of this type of tankers painted in bright red ?

Seems, more questions than answers, perhaps someone from shipping companies can confirm above riddles.

Greetings,

Cornelia 

[itsfoto]

There is radar and AIS and VHF and what not. But a good navigator still likes to have his or her confidence backed up by hard, real-life facts, as opposed to electronic hearsay.
Look out of the window, dude!
It so happens that haze, fog and all kinds of precipitation make life very difficult indeed for navigators, electronic gizmos notwithstanding.
That's where this ugly stripe suddenly becomes a godsend. That paint tends to sort-of glare through the haze long before anything else of an approaching ship becomes visible.
This applies to a somewhat closer range, near port entries, in estuaries etc.

cheers
Uwe

[Jarrod David]

Perhaps Canada should embark on a policy of of painting dayglo, hi-viz stripes on the noses and butts of all mooses - or fit radar to all cars!
You are right that some (eg P&O and Cobelfret) - but by no means all - cross-Channel ferries/freight ro-ros have a hi-vis stripe on the bridge roof but so do many vessels of other and varied types.
I am not aware of any maritime law that requires an orange stripe but no doubt someone will correct me if I am wrong on that point. 

LOL It would probably work great too.I almost hit one a couple of years ago.They are very hard to see and are in no hurry to move.

Take Care
Jarrod

[Christian Br]

As a navigator I have never really understood the real purpose of this stripe. If it's foggy or hazy you'll only see a "shadow" of the ship anyway.
As said already, if one cannot see a big ship approaching you should not be a navigator anyway!

Radars and AIS has some delay; radars need to process the reflections and AIS is not updating every second. AIS should NEVER be used for navigation! That's why us navigators like to look out the window; because that's the real life!!!

[Kai R]

Interestingly, Stena Trader and Stena Traveller had the stripe. It was painted out in the transition to Blue Puttees and Highlanders.

http://www.forum-schiff.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2781&start=10 (see middle and end of the second page)

Regards

Kai