Safe navigation at sea is dependent on good training, sound practice and long experience – and no organisation is better placed to draw on those qualities than the UK’s Royal Navy. The Nautical Institute is proud to publish the 11th edition of The Admiralty Manual of Navigation, Volume 1: The Principles of Navigation.

This latest edition has been updated for the electronic era of navigation. The first to be digital by design, it assumes the reader’s vessel will be navigated using an IMO type-approved ECDIS. Nevertheless, the basic principles are the same as those of a century ago: ensuring the safe conduct of a ship across the oceans. As the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Philip Jones, points out: ‘The fundamental skills of the professional navigator remain unchanged, no matter the medium on which a fix is plotted.’