Challenges Senior Officers Face On A Daily Basis

Introduction

After many years of hard work, determination and overcoming many obstacles to finally reach the rank of a senior officer i. e. Master or Chief Engineer a new set of challenges await. These are numerous and vast but for the purpose of this assignment I will only focus on those which are continually highlighted within the maritime industry and what I have experienced first-hand during my seagoing career thus far. The five areas I have chosen that senior officers are faced with challenges on a daily basis whilst onboard are as follows; Fatigue (International Maritime Organisation, 2002), Food and Catering (The Nautical Institue, 2015), Harassment and Bullying (International Chamber of Shipping, 2016), Communication (The Nautical Institute, 2015) and finally Mentoring (The Nautical Institute, 2017). From the above mentioned areas I will discuss how they affect the management of the day to day operation of a vessel from a senior officer’s point of view, what can be the direct result if they are not properly managed, the recommendations already available to overcome these challenges and finally my own conclusions and recommendations.

Fatigue

The (International Maritime Organization, 2002) describes fatigue “as a state of feeling, tired, weary, or sleepy” that are a result of “prolonged mental or physical work, extended periods of anxiety, exposure to harsh environments, or loss of sleep”. This is of great concern to senior officers as fatigue will not only have an impact on their own ability to work but also that of shipboard personnel to carry out their duties i. e. a navigational watch, cargo operations or routine engine room maintenance. As fatigue has been a factor in marine casualties i. e. the “Exxon Valdez” (International Maritime Organization, 2002) and in more recent times the Nautilus Telegraph featured an article where fatigue was blamed for the grounding of the aggregates carrier “Atlantic” due to the Master of the vessel only obtaining a maximum of six hours sleep in three days (Nautilus International, 2018). For senior officers to overcome this challenge the (International Maritime Organization, 2002) has laid out a number actions in achieving this. Below mentioned are a few of these actions which can be done to reduce crew fatigue onboard:

• They must ensure compliance with marine regulations in regards to minimum hours of rest/maximum hours of work are complied with.
• Rested personnel should be utilized to cover for new joiners who have been travelling for long hours.
• Impress upon shore management that fatigue management and countermeasures are part of the company’s safety management system.
• Impress upon shore management the importance of fatigue awareness and preventative measures.
• Promote a positive culture with crew members on the importance of reporting to their supervisors if fatigue is hampering their performance.

Food and Catering

I have heard many times throughout my seagoing career that “a well fed ship is a happy ship”. The importance of this is highlighted in (The Nautical Institute, 2015) where it is stated that the performance of the ship depends on the crew’s moral, physical health and emotional well-being, which is dependent on the quality of food they receive onboard. It also brings reference to the instructions laid out by The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 which establishes standards for quantity, quality, nutrition and the variety of food available onboard, which takes into account any religious or cultural dietary preferences of the personnel onboard. For a senior officer to overcome this challenge (The Nautical Institute, 2015) has laid out a number actions in achieving this. Below mentioned are a few of these actions which can be done to improve food and catering quality onboard:

• Universal principles of nutrition should be followed i. e. meals should have a good balance of protein, vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates.
• In equatorial and tropical climates where it is hot and humid meals with higher water and mineral contents should be provided.
• In cold and temperate zones where temperatures are considerably lower meals with higher protein and carbohydrate contents should be provided.
• Water produced onboard most merchant vessels is distilled and lacking in minerals, if this is the case the water should be dosed with mineral tablets or an online mineraliser. If this is not possible bottled mineral water should be supplied.
• Monthly feedback from the crew should be taken to ensure standards are kept high and areas for improvement are identified.
• Sourcing of good provisions from reputable chandlers along with regular replenishment frequencies and physical stock taking should be practiced.
• In order to prevent wastage and spoilage long-standing stock supplemented with frozen stock should be consumed on a first in first out principle.

Harassment and Bullying

The (International Chamber of Shipping, 2016) states that “Harassment is a form of discrimination which has the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of a person and of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment” and that “Bullying is a form of harassment that includes hostile or vindictive behaviour, which can cause the recipient to feel threatened or intimidated”. This can affect the targeted person in a number of ways, which may include: increased stress levels, lack of motivation, reduced work performance, frequent absence from duties and sometimes resignations (International Chamber of Shipping, 2016). For a senior officer to overcome this challenge (The Nautical Institute, 2016) has laid out a number actions in achieving this. Below mentioned are a few of these actions which can be done to reduce harassment and bullying onboard:

• Be able to recognise examples of harassment and/or bullying.
• Be able to identify incidents through the use of effective grievance procedures.
• Involve yourself in situations where you see other seafarers being harassed and bullied in the workplace and support them.
• Be aware of your own behaviour towards colleagues as to avoid bullying and harassing them.
• Report bullying and harassment immediately if it is observed or experienced.
• Apply and ensure that the company’s policies against bullying and harassment are complied with.
• Use the company’s procedures against bullying and harassment to deal with bullying and harassment.
• Promote the benefits of a workplace free from harassment and bullying to colleagues.
• Arrange training for ship personal to participate in explaining the undesirable effects of harassment and bullying and setting out the company’s policy.

Communication

Effective communication is put as a the key component in good navigation, which is why a number of collisions and groundings have been attributed, directly or indirectly, to poor communication (The Nautical Institute, 2015). But in order for this key component to work the data transmitted verbally or by other means needs to be managed, understood and applied correctly. This is of great importance to senior officers in regards to any key task onboard the vessel. Let’s take the example of navigate a ship safely into port, it is a difficult task requiring the combined effort of the bridge team with the ship’s master overseeing the entire operation. As pointed out earlier any mistake on the part of any one individual could result in an accident and due to the nature of the weather conditions, channel/fairway size the ship’s crew could be operating within very small margins of safety that leaves no room for communication errors. For a senior officer to overcome this challenge (The Nautical Institute, 2015) has laid out a number actions in achieving this. Below mentioned are a few of these actions which can be done to contribute to better communication onboard:

• Encourage subordinates to speak their mind, so that you are sure that your message has been clearly understood.
• Always consider the multi-national environment of the maritime world, remember when you speak, you do so clearly and slowly.
• Always use simple words and short sentences and speak loud enough to be heard above the general sound level in the room or general surroundings.
• Remember that English maybe not the first, second or even the third language of your of your team.
• Use all available resources such as “The IMO Standard Maritime Communication Phrase (SMCP)”, as nearly all seafarers are familiar with it. Using the standard phrases is good practice even if English is your first language as it makes things clearer and concise to your crew.
• After speaking, wait to see if the words rule, the policy onboard should require the listener to repeat what they have heard and for the speaker to then acknowledge that what the listener has just repeated was correct. This is generally referred to as ‘Closed Loop Communication’.
• Once the message/command has been given and the listener has repeated the communication the speaker must observe and verify that the correct action has been carried out by the listener.

Mentoring

Poor mentoring from senior officers aboard a ship can have a detrimental effect on personnel’s safety and confidence. (The Nautical Institute, 2017) discusses an accident aboard a tanker carrying very a volatile cargo of “methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), as well as several million litres of ethanol”. The MTBE was subsequently discharged during a port call but the empty tanks were not filled with inert gas to reduce fire and explosion risk which is standard industrial practice. On completion of the port call the vessel proceed out to sea after which a “senior officer” ordered “junior crew members” to open the emptied tanks for cleaning. The empty tanks now contained explosive vapours instead of inert gas and with the introduction of fresh air caused a “highly flammable mixture” which flowed out to the deck and collected in various places. Once the cleaning process began compressed air was introduced to the cargo lines to blow back any remaining residues back to the empty tanks, this resulted in a static electrical charge which in turn caused a spark igniting the vapours and causing “two major explosions”.

Panic ensued resulting in no organised evacuation and crew members jumping into the sea as the vessel sank, “most with lifejackets; none with survival suits”. Only six crewmembers survived as they managed to climb into a liferaft. It was later found out that the senior officers onboard had created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation which resulted in junior crew members feeling unable to question any unsafe decisions made by them and prevented them from “reading safety, quality and environmental protection management documents”.

The senior officers also failed to train or mentor the junior crew members in the “technical skills they needed to work proficiently”. When the unsafe cleaning process was ordered this ultimately led to an explosion and the loss of the vessel the junior crewmembers did not have the knowledge or the confidence to question it. For a senior officer to overcome this challenge (The Nautical Institute, 2017) has laid out a number tips in achieving this. Below mentioned are a few of these tips which can be done to improve mentoring onboard:

• Any complex task onboard a ship can sometimes takes years of experience to master; mentoring on the job is one of the best ways to achieve success.
• Anyone of the crewmembers onboard can be mentored or be a mentee regardless of age or experience; everyone has some knowledge to share.
• A good mentor allow enough space for the mentee to make their own decisions but are always there to guide them, more importantly, assist them if their action does not go according to plan.
• Mentoring can be a lifelong challenge, but it can also take as little as ten minutes. Take ten minutes whenever possible to help a crewmember onboard to understand something better.
• True mentoring is a reward in itself, from having the appreciation of someone who you’ve helped to being able to sleep better at night in the knowledge that the crew are competent, confident and happier to ask for assistance when needed.
• The ship can be lonely place, particularly if the personnel onboard do not speak a common language. Mentoring helps in building good relationships on board.
• When someone takes the time to share some knowledge with you, be thankful and repay the favour by helping and/or mentoring someone else.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Concluding on the above mentioned points I tend to agree with all the actions, steps and tips laid out in the publications and journals I have referenced to overcome the challenges that a senior officer might face in these areas. However even though all this useful information is available and easy to access, I feel and from my past experiences on ships it is entirely up to the senior officers as to whether they use it, how the companies draw up policies, enforce them and support senior officers in achieving this and finally the willingness of the junior crew members to accept and adhere to the processes laid out. I feel that senior officers nowadays need to be open, approachable and draw upon all their past experiences, resources available to them and be willing to listen and learn from others regardless of rank. No one is perfect and that is not expected at sea but if a senior officer can master all this they should be able to come to a solution to overcome any challenge that they may be faced with resulting in a positive outcome.