maritime safety essay

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Good Essay About Maritime Safety And Risk Management: A Discussion Of The Costa Concordia Incident

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Disaster , Management , Bridge , Crew , Risk , Safety , Tourism , Vehicles

Words: 3000

Published: 03/30/2020

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Introduction

A lot of things can happen to a ship after it has departed from a seaport and left to travel against the waves of the ocean on its own. This is where the purpose of maritime safety and risk management comes in. Its purpose is to educate officers and crew members of a ship on how to react to certain risks, or in the worst case scenario a certain crisis. In general, the objective of a maritime safety and risk management is to ensure that the current maritime risk does not escalate into a crisis, and if it already did, mitigate the probable effects of the crisis. Maritime hazard and crisis mitigation are often focused on the minimization of the loss of lives, the protection of the safety of the onboard crews and passengers, the protection of the integrity of the environment in an event of a shipwreck, and if at all possible, the salvage of the ship, especially the damage it sustained from an incident was still deemed within economically repairable standards. The objective of this paper is to discuss the different aspects of maritime safety and risk management in relation to the Costa Concordia disaster that happened in Isola del Giglio, Tuscany on January 13, 2012, focusing on how such events can be prevented in the future, what mistakes and or judgment errors have been committed, their respective consequences, how different individuals and or agencies can properly evaluate the events and factors that contributed to the outcome of the Costa Concordia maritime disaster.

Costa Concordia

The Costa Concordia used to be deemed as one of the most luxurious and biggest cruise ships in its time. It was a Concordia class cruise ship whose construction started in 2004 with a total construction project price tag of roughly 570 million USD. One thing that is common among this ship and other Concordia class cruise ships is that they are managed and operated by the two subsidiaries of Carnival Corporation and PLC namely: Costa Cruises and Carnival Cruise Lines . Cruise ship operations were conducted using the Costa Concordia from 2005 until 2012, after sustaining an irreparable gash of 50 meters on the port side of its hull. The relatively long gash on the hull caused the flooding of the engine room and other sections of the ship containing major electrical components, which led to the loss of power. Fortunately, the luxury cruise ship had an on-board electric generator, which the officers used to keep power available across the upper decks, where for the first few minutes after the initial crash, it was business as usual, although reports suggest that some passengers panicked after hearing a loud crashing or banging sound . The cause of the large, irreparable, and catastrophic damage on the hull was the ship’s contact with a large reef while it was sailing in one of the shallow portions off of Isola Del Gigilo in Tuscany, Italy. The ship’s captain was Francesco Schettino. Onboard the ship when the ship struck the large reef were some 4,252 passengers , 3,206 of which were client passengers while 1,023 were crew and personnel employed by the cruise line operators . After the rescue operations were officially stopped by the authorities, 32 passengers were confirmed dead, one of which were still missing and had been considered deceased, 1 salvage member dead, and some 64 passengers injured.

The Costa Concordia Disaster

It was an ordinary sunny cruise day on January 13, 2012. The Costa Concordia was, at that time, on its first leg of its schedule cruise course around the Mediterranean Sea, when it hit a large protruded portion of a reef in one of the shallow portions off of Isola Del Gigilo, while it was conducting an unofficial near shoreline salute to the local islanders. By unofficial, we mean that the companies responsible for the operation of the cruise line were not made aware by the captain nor by any other officers aboard the ship about the near shore salute and the fact that it would be done in shallow and rocky portions of the water. A sail-by or a near-shore salute is a customary practice that can be traced back to ancient times, performed by the crews, the passengers, for the natives of the island, or in some cases, for the passengers’ and crew members’ families. Sail-by salutes are a common practice in countries around the Mediterranean Sea . Most cruise line operators based in the United States and Europe recognize the fact that some ship officers and captains perform the customary maritime practice whether it is approved by the cruise companies and operators or not . In this case, the captain of the Costa Concordia, Francesco Schettino, guided by his own intentions, did not seek approval from the cruise line operators governing Costa Concordia when he ordered the rest of the crew members on the deck to perform a sail-by salute routine. The capsizing of the Costa Concordia is currently considered as one of the biggest modern maritime disasters that may be associated with a sail-by routine. It remains a controversy whether it was really the captain’s decision, together with all the officers and superiors who collaborated with him, to perform a sail-by salute that caused the accident. But as far as the Costa Cruises’ side is concerned, one of the operators of Costa Concordia, chief executive Pier Luigi Foschi stated that the owners and operators of the ship are often not aware of the condition of the waters and other factors when the ship crews perform such a procedure, including “unsafe practices involving ships coming close to shore to give tourists a better view” but defended the routine procedure before the Italian parliamentary committee during one of the inquiries suggesting that not all sail-by salutes happen without cruise line approval and that they recognize the importance and impact of such maneuvers—they, the cruise line operators, even call them tourist navigations that enriches the cruise quality and product. In the case of the Costa Concordia however, the sail-by salute was conducted without the due approval of the cruise operators. Following the Costa Concordia incident that killed a small but significant number of people, some members of the Italian parliament suggested that luxury cruise ships be banned from doing dangerous sail-by salutes or any shipping activity that exposes them to portions of the sea near islands and or shorelines, or any delicate areas that can cause another shipping industry catastrophe . Some key personalities in the maritime safety and risk management industry however presented their own arguments suggesting that ship captains and crews should not be totally banned from conducting such long-time traditions—the sail-by salute, and that authorities should divert their focus on stricter regulations and control mechanisms for such procedures so as not to subject the ships and its passengers, who frequently number in thousands, to risky situations. There is currently no available tool that maritime authorities can use to regulate this particular issue since as mentioned earlier, most sail-by salute and other risky tourism navigation procedures occur without the informed consent of the ship owners and cruise line operators. However, thanks to the lessons learned from the Costa Concordia incident, there are methods that call form reform that policy makers may undertake in order to minimize, if not totally eradicate, the occurrence of accidents related to undocumented sail-by procedures as in the case of the Costa Concordia and its captain. Another factor that may have caused the incident was the Captain’s decision to turn off the on-board alarm system which was a built-in feature of the ship’s computer navigation system. The alarm gets activated when the ship sensors sense that the ship is sailing in shallow and often, rocky waters. The captain, during the sail-by procedure turned off this alarm saying that he already navigated through that portion of the water near the coastline three to four times and that he already knew the landscape of the seabed there. Evidently, he did not. In crew interviews following the incident, he admitted that he committed a major and fatal judgment error that led to the loss of lives . When the ship was struck by the protruded rock from a large reef, reports suggest that the ship was roughly 300 meters away from the shore, which meant that it was indeed in very close proximity to the shore, especially when we consider that the precise length of the Costa Concordia was 290.20 meters long. There is really nothing that the maritime safety and risk management industry could do to stop this type of incidents, if indeed this was really the sole cause of the accident, simply because it was caused by a human judgment error, which the captain admitted he did. It would be impractical for policy makers to impose a protocol that would remove the captain and ship controller’s privilege to manually override some of the computer and mechanical controls and features of the ship as doing so may also lead to disasters in the future in case a computer or a mechanical malfunction occurs . In these situations, there is nothing more than the judgment and the vigilance of the crew, and especially the captain and senior officers, that can dictate the safety of the voyage. In this case however, the captain of the Costa Concordia failed to fulfill his duty in ensuring the safety of the ship and her passengers and crews. It has been reported that aside from the two possible causes of the accidents described above, there were other wrong decisions and or errors that the captain of the Costa Concordia committed. Firstly, despite knowing the extent of the damages the ship sustained from the reef crash as reported by his officers on the bridge, Captain Francesco Schettino still attempted to resume the original course. There were most likely two things that ringed in the captain’s head upon hearing the reports from his crew about the ship damage. They could either attempt to bring back the ship to the shore, which is the more safe option, and continue with the planned cruise operations once all necessary repairs are completed or they could attempt to resume the original course and pretend as if the reef impact did not cause any significant and irreparable damage to the ship. It turned out that the captain of the ship chose the latter option. Instead of choosing the more surefire option to take the Costa Concordia and her passengers to safety considering the proximity of their then current location to an Italian port, the captain decided to continue with the operations. There were even reports suggesting that the captain ordered the crew members to urge the passengers back to their cabins and to suggest that everything is under control when it clearly is not. It was not until the ship leaned towards its port side that captain Schettino decided to cancel the trip, make a distress call, and make a U-turn towards the nearest port. After the U-turn, the port side-leaning ship leaned towards the starboard side by some 20 degrees. The ship movement, which evidently was abnormal and could be associated with the recent shock which was apparently felt by all officers and passengers across all decks, caused every passenger in the ship to panic despite the crews repetitive statements suggesting everything is under control. Normally, passenger ships, which well includes cruise ships, that are under distress should be able to provide and launch survival crafts that would be sufficient for the total number of passengers aboard, within a period of 30 minutes, and not longer, from the time the abandon-ship order from the captain has been given, as per the requirements of the International Maritime Organization . In the case of the Costa Concordia disaster however, it took the officers and crews way more than 30 minutes before they could fully evacuate all passengers out of the ship and into the survival crafts. Costa Concordia’s operators were signatories to two International Maritime Organization (IMO) requirements: the first being the conduction of the “musters of the passengers” within 24 hours after the ship’s departure or after embarking into the ship which the Costa Concordia’s crews successfully complied with and the second being the provision of survival crafts for all passengers aboard including the crews within a period of 30 minutes after the abandon ship order was given, which the Costa Concordia failed to achieve. In May of 2012, the IMO conducted a Maritime Safety Committee meeting, its 90th session, which focused on the discussion of ship safety recommendations following the numerous accidents that recently happened, including the Costa Concordia disaster. As mentioned, the recommendations included stricter policies on providing survival drills and emergency practices in case of emergencies; the provision of adequate lifeboats; the earlier required schedule for carrying out the muster for embarking passengers which would now be done prior to the schedule departure; and the “limitation of access to the bridge to those with operational or operationally related functions, during any period of restricted maneuvering or while maneuvering in conditions that the master or company bridge procedures/policy deems to require increased vigilance (e.g. arrival, departure from port, heavy traffic, poor visibility; and ensuring that the ship’s voyage plan has taken into account IMO’s Guidelines for voyage planning, and if appropriate, Guidelines on Voyage planning for passenger ships operating in remote areas . According to reports, a girl, who identified herself as the Captain of the Costa Concordia’s lover, was present on the bridge when the cruise ship was struck by the large protruded rock off the coast of Isola Del Gigilo in Tuscany, Italy . The IMO MSC’s recommendation about the limitation of people who would be allowed to enter the ship’s bridge, especially during situations that require the full awareness of and total vigilance from the crews, most especially the captain, was in relation to such reports. The IMO confirmed that majority of the recommendations in that session was in consideration to the information provided to them by the Government of Italy after completing a series of investigation and inquiries regarding the Costa Concordia incident, as well as previous proposals on enhancing the safety of passenger ships and cruise lines brought to the Maritime Security Committee’s attention by the parliament of Italy and other International Maritime Organization member states, and by the proposals and recommendations of the Cruise Industry Operational Safety Review .

What happened during the Costa Concordia disaster and its ultimate outcome was a combination of factors which include but are not limited to: lackluster passenger safety protocols, failure of the ship crews to follow IMO and MSC prescribed protocols, a series of miscommunications, and wrong ethical and professional judgment errors committed by the Costa Concordia’s captain, Francesco Schettino. Investigations would point out that it was really the matter of a series of judgment errors that comprised majority of the factors that led to the luxury cruise ship’s demise. Nonetheless, the member states of the IMO and its branch, MSC have no choice but to take in the learn from the lessons taught to them by the incidents that happened in the Costa Concordia disaster, all of which were stapled in the immediate meeting by the IMO MSC following the incident which pointed stricter policies on providing survival drills and emergency practices in case of emergencies; the provision of an adequate lifeboats; the earlier required schedule for carrying out the muster for embarking passengers which would now be done prior to the scheduled departure; and the “limitation of access to the bridge to those with operational or operationally related functions, during any period of restricted maneuvering or while maneuvering in conditions that the master or company bridge procedures/policy deems to require increased vigilance (e.g. arrival, departure from port, heavy traffic, poor visibility; and ensuring that the ship’s voyage plan has taken into account IMO’s Guidelines for voyage planning, and if appropriate, Guidelines on Voyage planning for passenger ships operating in remote areas . It is encouraged that all IMO and MSC member and signatory states practice and adopt these new recommended protocols to significantly decrease the likelihood of disasters similar to what happened in the Costa Concordia incident.

Aloisi, S. (2012). Italy's worst environmental disaster in 20 years. Reuters. Channel 4. (2012). Terror at Sea: The Sinking of the Concordia. Chennel 4. Hondro, M. (2012). A Ship is its own best lifeboat. Lloyd's List Australia. Howard, J., & Stephenson, E. (2013). Stocks on the Rocks: A Costa Concordia Sinking Event Study. Atlantic Economic Journal, 461. IMO. (2012). Maritime Safety Committee (MSC), 90th Session, 16 to 15 May 2012. IMO. IMO. (2012). Passenger Ship Safety Recommendations Agreed by IMO's Maritime Safety Committee. IMO. IMO. (2014). Response to Costa Concordia Incident. International Maritime Organization. Liljas, P. (2013). Captain's Lover: I was on Bridge During Costa Concordia Collision. Business Source Complete. Mackenzie, J. (2012). Costa Concordia Owners Deny Knowing About Captain's Near Shore Salutes. Reuters. Pullella, P. (2012). Italians want ban on Liners too close to Shore. Reuters. Shawn, D. (2012). A Short History of the Costa Concordia. Maritime Matters. Sloan, G. (2012). Cruise Lines won't say whether they allow sail-by salutes. USA Today. Squires, N. (2012). Gigilo Islanders threaten to sue Costa Concordia Owners. The Daily Telegraph. The Associated Press. (2012). Magistrate in Charge of Preliminary Inquiries. The Associated Press. Winfield, N., & Frances, D. (2012). Coast Guard Cruise Ship Runs Aground off Italy. Associated Press.

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Safety Culture in the Maritime Industry Report

Introduction, literature survey, constituent elements of safety culture, safety culture review, analysis of recommendations for development of a robust safety culture, strategy for development of a robust safety culture, reference list.

The maritime industry has become one of the most lucrative industries by contributing greatly to national development and international trade. Over the years, our company has successfully shipped cargo across the nation and ensured that the various businesses that depend on our delivery of goods work efficiently through the provision of reliable service delivery and maintenance of the quality of their goods during transportation.

Therefore, it is safe to derive that the success of the maritime industry, and particularly our company, greatly influences the wellbeing of other industries such as the textile, automotive, and food industries that rely on us, thus placing significant pressure in the consistency of optimal performance of our company. In the past, the company has successfully fulfilled its duties to its clients by ensuring the arrival of their goods on schedule. However, over the past twelve months, our ships have been involved in three separate incidents, thus resulting in concern over several matters, with key among them being the adequacy of the current safety culture at the company.

Historically, incidents and accidents involving vessels such as ours have created risks of damage to the vessels, cargo, and the environment, thus endangering the lives of employees (Alisadeh & Nomikos 2009). Such accidents have also created strenuous relationships between companies and host governments and in some instances foreign governments within which shipping companies conduct business. For instance, in November 2002, the Prestige, which is a heavy fuel oil tanker, sprung a leak on the Galician coast, thus creating a potential hazard to the environment.

Initially, the vessel master had refused assistance from a tugboat citing financial costs for such refusal. However, the situation deteriorated, and thus resulted in a rescue attempt by four tugboats, which failed as the Spanish government refused to accord the vessel permission to dock in its ports. The vessel stayed at sea where it broke into two and sank six days later on November 19 the same year ( The Guardian 2002). The incident raised questions such as whether there was the implementation of all necessary precautions at the time and the extent to which such loss was avoidable.

The most significant factor in this case, as with most other maritime accident cases, was the human factor. According to the Accident Database Review of Human-Element Concerns Report by the American Bureau of Shipping, human error causes approximately eighty to eighty-five percent of maritime accidents (Baker 2005). One of the most recent examples of similar incidents is the capsizing of the Coasta Concordia in 2012.

The company’s concerns over the potential damage or loss of the three vessels and the cargo they carried at the time are thus valid, which forms the basis for the analysis of the company’s current safety culture and the creation of a more robust safety culture. This report contains a literature survey and critical analysis of the concept of safety culture. It also identifies and critically analyses major safety culture constituents that apply to this company as well as recommendations for a more robust safety culture for the company.

Further, the report will evaluate the implementation strategy for the new safety culture onboard the vessels in order to determine the financial costs of such implementation, the timeline within which such implementation is possible, and some of the challenges that the company expects during and after the implementation process. This analysis factors in the diverse nature of our multinational crews, the current management model, and the company’s goals and objectives.

Definition of safety culture

Over the years, various scholars have developed varying definitions of the term ‘safety culture’, which mostly dependent on their consideration of what constitutes essential elements of the term. While some scholars define the term as a constituent of attitudes of employees and management teams at the workplace, others take a behavioural approach to the definition, while others still consider the integration of the two perspectives in their approach. Essentially, safety culture concerns the management of safety in the workplace and it reflects attitudes, perceptions, beliefs, and values that employees share regarding the maintenance of safety in the workplace in the execution of their duties (Duffey & Saull 2008).

The term ‘safety culture’ became a trend after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in April 1986. An explosion and fire at the power place resulted in a release of large quantities of radioactive particles in addition to deaths of dozens of people and destruction of property. Cancers and deformities resultant from the blast persist to date. The containment of the contamination that the blast caused took more than five hundred thousand workers and cost over seventeen billion roubles.

Hetherington, Flin, and Mearns (2006, p.409) posit that the ‘disaster brought attention to the importance of the creation of a safety culture within the workplace and the impact of human factors on safety performance’. Initially, corporations placed great focus on safety strategies and technical factors such as operation of equipments and largely ignored the human performance aspect in the prevention of disasters in the workplace (Taylor 2010). However, such limited definition of safety culture has changed since then as different industries now bear interpretations that suit their operations.

Clarke (2000, p.66) posits that the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) defines safety culture to entail the ‘assembly of characteristics and attitudes in organisations and individuals which establish that, as an overriding priority, nuclear plant safety issues receive attention warranted by their significance’. On the other hand, Antonsen (2009, p.16) notes that the UK Health and Safety Commission (HSC) provides a more integrated definition for safety culture as ‘the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behaviour that determine the commitment to, style, and proficiency of an organisation’s health and safety management’.

Unlike the IAEA’s definition, the breadth of scope of the HSC’s approach to the definition of safety culture allows for its application in various organisations in as far as the issue of health and safety is concerned. Cooper (2001, p.15) incorporates behavioural attributes in his definition of safety culture as ‘the product of multiple goal directed interactions between people (psychological), jobs (behavioural) and the organisation (situational)’.

Cooper’s (2001) definition is applicable in most workplace situations regardless of the industry under which a company falls as it essentially addresses the interrelationship of an organisation’s safety aims, different perceptions that employees have regarding the constitution of safety, and the normal day-to-day behaviour of each individual in any workplace setting with regard to safety performance. Cooper’s (2001) definition implies the existence of a safety management system, which is essential for the creation of a proper safety culture. Cooper (2001) explains that the quality of a safety management system dictates the existence of goal-oriented safety behaviour, which is an important aspect in the preventions of accidents at the work place.

An analysis of the above literature with regard to the definition of the term ‘safety culture’ reveals certain aspects that form the constituent elements of the concept. One such element, which is prominent in the above definitions, is the perception of safety. Perception forms the psychological element of the concept of safety culture and according to Cooper (2001), it influences the attitude that different people in the workplace have regarding the issue.

For instance, some workers only consider the immediate danger associated with certain environments or situations and develop perceptions of safety around such considerations. Some examples that these people think of in their considerations include immediately perceivable dangers such as slipping on wet floors and electrocution due to exposed electrical wiring.

On the other hand, other employees consider the results of the persistence or existence of certain conditions in the workplace when forming their perceptions of safety. For instance, in reference to the above example, such an employee considers the frequency at which the floor gets wet, prevention measures for such wetness, the resultant costs of addressing the issue personally, and the cost of alternative options such as ignoring the situation and leaving it to the janitor.

Some employees address the issue of safety in terms of the roles and duties that each employee has at a company. For instance, while one employee might consider the duty of dealing with the exposed wiring as the responsibility of the electrician, another may hold the management responsible for lack of proper oversight on maintenance of company facilities. Most companies offer safety-training sessions in order to establish a unified perception on what the general perception of safety for their employees should constitute as part of the creation process of a safety management system.

The difficulty with perception as a psychological constituent is that individuals in a work place control their own safety operations. Although it may be easy to alter rules on safety, changing individual perceptions on safety presents an entirely different challenge for any company’s management. It is also often difficult to synchronise between individual perceptions on safety and company goals, which leads Rothblum (2005) together with Ek and Akelsson (2005) to conclude that the management should pay close attention to the human component, as employees control the success of any safety culture.

Attitude forms the second constituent of safety culture. Weick (1987, p.112) defines an effective safety culture as one requiring a ‘clear understanding of the system and its safety features, positive attitudes towards safety measures, and an incentive system that encourages safety operations’. Essentially, Weick (1987) links positive attitudes towards safety performance to understanding a company’s safety features and the existence of incentives that encourage the development of a positive safety culture among individuals at a workplace.

In his explanation, Weick (1987) states that employees are likely to react positively to safety regulations at the workplace if the company’s management recognises and rewards their effort, thus equating safety performance to rewards. By striving for positive individual safety performance, employees generate a collective positive attitude towards safety, thus resulting in a well-established safety culture that new employees adopt with time. However, Weick (1987) states that companies must first create an understanding of what constitutes positive safety performance, usually through training instead of allowing individual perceptions to dominate.

Another essential component of safety culture, as Thai and Grewal (2006) note, is the behaviour in a workplace, which is reinforced by the duties that various people play in the work environment. The authors identify management commitment and employee involvement as essential elements in the development of an effective safety culture and express the opinion that the formation and maintenance of such culture goes beyond safety procedure rules and regulations to include the actions of the management staff of any company regarding the enforcement of safety performance.

Thai and Grewal (2006) also state that the involvement of employees in the development of an effective safety culture works better as it shapes the attitudes of employees on the matter through reinforcement of their worth to the company’s successful execution of rules and regulations. Thai and Grewal (2006) explain that when managers adhere strictly to safety regulations, they create examples of what they expect of their employees, thus easing obedience from employees.

Further, involvement of employees through implementation of opinions on safety features that concern them makes the implementation process easier and ensures minimal changes to safety policies over time, which might raise company costs through features such as acquisition of new equipment. Overall, this aspect fosters commitment, responsibility, communication, and learning (Havold 2005).

According to Thai and Grewal (2006), safety culture forms part of the organisational culture at any company, regardless of the industry in question. Therefore, the successful implementation of an effective safety culture relies on the safety culture’s compatibility with the overall organisational culture. Organisational culture develops over time from the frequency and manner in which individuals at an organisation conduct their activities.

Organisational culture constitutes elements such as the arrival time of employees at work, the manner of interaction between employees and management, and the dress code permissible at a work place among other aspects. The implementation of any policy that creates a likelihood of altering the dynamics that constitute an organisation’s overall culture is likely to meet resistance from employees. Parker (2000) notes that such difficulties emerge from the predictability and convenience that an organisation’s culture creates for employees, thus leading to the creation of a friendly work environment in which people adapt and employ their skill sets with relevant ease.

Thai and Grewal (2006) suggest careful consideration of the existent overall organisational structure before the implementation of a safety culture, including any significant changes that the adoption of a new safety culture or alterations of an old safety culture might create.

It is vital for our company to analyse the adoption of any new safety culture or significant alterations to the existing model with regard to the impacts that such changes would have on the overall organisational culture (Guldenmund 2000). This assertion holds, as it will allow the management team to gauge the degree of acceptance and resistance that any changes might generate from the employees’ population and generate counter measures to mitigate such changes without compromising the company’s financial health.

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) (2014, par. 6) notes that an ‘organisation with a safety culture is one that gives appropriate priority to safety and realises that safety has to be managed like other areas of the business’. IMO (2014) holds that professionalism forms the root from which players in the maritime industry should generate their safety culture.

An important element of the organisation’s perspective on the issue of safety culture is its opinion on culture in terms of accident prevention and reduction. IMO (2014, par.8) holds that in terms of ‘shipboard operations, it is to do the right thing at the right time in response to normal and emergency situations’. Additionally, IMO (2014, par. 11) notes that the ‘quality and effectiveness of that training will play a significant part in determining the attitude and performance the seafarer will subsequently demonstrate in his or her work’.

The attitude of employees in the shipping industry depends on the overall culture of the organisation (Hetherington, Flin, & Mearns 2006). Therefore, it is crucial to identify the strengths and flaws in the current overall organisational culture while conducting a review and developing the strategic implementation of any new rules to the safety culture. The main problem with the current safety culture at our company is the lack of a rounded approach to the safety culture.

The company concentrates on either the technical or human error aspects regarding onboard safety measures by tackling each issue in isolation from the other instead of adopting an integrated approach. The company appreciates the importance of technical improvements in the prevention of accidents, but it does not deal with the issue of human error with the severity it deserves.

Historically, technical fault has been the main area of concern in the shipping industry and it has resulted in heavy investments in the prevention of such hitches through the purchase and installation of quality equipment and emergency gear (Hurst 1998). However, the industry has experienced little decline in accidents in the recent past, thus leading to the conclusion that the human factor plays a huge role in the occurrence of maritime accidents as seen in the table below.

Source: (Rothblum 2005)

The adoption of HSC’s elements of mutual trust and shared perceptions of importance of safety between the management team and employees in the establishment of an effective safety culture will go a long way in improving this company’s safety culture.

Thai and Grewal (2006) insist on the necessity for robust safety cultures in companies operating in the maritime industry as lack of such cultures places the company’s capital, employees, and the maritime environment at risk. Borodzicz (2005) agrees to the various benefits that accrue to a company resultant of an efficient safety culture. Borodzicz (2005) explains that an effective safety culture fosters profitability through the anticipation and prevention of situations likely to result in huge losses in the event of crisis mitigation.

Borodzicz (2005) points out that sometimes the expenditure necessary for ensuring the safety of property is less than that which a company would use to repair or rebuild such property in the case of damage or destruction in disaster situations. Prudent disaster prevention and management measures such as the purchase of enough first aid equipment and fire extinguishers should be part of every company’s risk management strategy and subsequent safety culture. Borodzicz (2005) also notes the ability of a robust safety culture to increase employee efficiency and overall productivity. Caroselli (2000) explains that employees working in an environment that they consider as safe concentrate on their duties as they worry less about accidents and danger to their health.

Podomoroff’s (2005) contribution to safety culture also revolves around the value of an employee. Podomoroff’s (2005) perspective on the value of employees and the subsequent necessity of safety culture practices that protect workers stems from his consideration of workers in terms of human capital. Podomoroff (2005) posits that employees comply with rules that they consider as profitable or directed to their personal interest as such rules reinforce the notion of value that the company places on its employees.

In this case, employees that perceive safety regulations as part of the company’s way of protecting their interests comply with such regulations, lower the risks of accidents, and generate higher revenues to the benefit of the company. Thirdly, effective safety culture practices, like all other organisational culture practices, improve the quality and reliability of goods and services that companies provide. In the maritime industry, the two components are essential for the sustainability of business in shipping. Customers should know that they could depend on the shipping company to deliver their products on time and in good condition. Lastly, a robust safety culture ensures a company’s good reputation and fosters a culture of trust from employees and customers, thus increasing business opportunities and revenue.

Although the idea of the development of a robust safety culture for the company is fairly easy and applicable, it is not without its challenges. The main challenge facing the company is gaining financial approval for the project from various stakeholders. Most people have trouble in associating safety with profits and perceive additional safety training and development of new safety measures as expenditures, and thus reductions in profit (Vaughn 2011). However, the recent accidents should make it easier for the management teams to convince shareholders of the urgency to undertake the improvement of the current safety culture into a robust form that is likely to increase company profits.

The main strategy for the creation of a robust safety culture for this company involves the incorporation of new ideas in the transformation of the existent safety culture. The strategy is goal-oriented and progressive in nature. The company will implement the strategy in three levels, which are spread over a period of five years in order to ease management and provide a window of review that is essential for monitoring the success of the plan for optimal results.

The first level will involve the development of a management control system consisting of monitoring procedures and frequent feedback mechanisms for strategic plans. This level ensures that the new safety plans are flexible enough to accommodate changes in the overall organisational cultures, yet simple enough for actualisation and oversight procedures (Guldenmumd 2000).

One of the plans that fall under this level is the installation of a new-networked computer system in which the onboard crew will enter their daily logs during convenient times of the day and allow the management team on land to monitor and establish practices that form the daily routine of the crew. It will also provide the onboard crew with a fast method of communicating with the team on land in case they require urgent assistance.

The computers will include a satellite tracking system that allows the management team to locate all the ships in the fleet at all times, which is vital in scenarios where communication networks are inadequate. The tracking system will allow the management team to identify the appropriate intervention plan when an accident occurs, including the fastest, safest, and most cost-effective way to avail the ships assistance regardless of global location (Florczak 2002). The installation of the computers will take place upon immediate approval for the new safety culture strategy by the stakeholders in order to allow the onboard crew and on-land team enough time to adapt to the new system- approximately three months.

The second level will require the development of a management information system. This system’s core purpose will be to evaluate the current practices of the company in terms of safety performance and identify practices that require improvement, alteration, or replacement. This level requires a review of the entire current organisational culture inclusive of the safety culture and is thus likely to take approximately six months to one year to execute. The company will need to hire a safety practitioner as per the ISM Code (Kuo 1998) and create a risk control system, including an appropriate contingency for emergencies (Kristiansen 2005). The contingency fund will be part of the recurring expenditure and thus falls under the company’s long-term expenses.

The final level regards the involvement of different players in the company’s safety strategy by requiring their active involvement in the execution of new plans developed as part of this strategy. The main task in this level concerns convincing people on the importance of engaging in the new safety strategy and participating in the company’s long-term safety goals. The main feature at this level will be collective training of both managers and subordinate employees (Esbensen, Johnson, & Kayton 1985). The training sessions will occur in normal company settings as well as informal settings where outdoor activities will encourage communication, which is essential in the new robust safety culture (International Maritime Organisation 2009; Roughton & Mercurio 2002).

Alisadeh, A & Nomikos, K 2009, Shipping Derivatives and Risk Management, Palgrave Macmillan, London.

Antonsen, S 2009, Safety Culture: Theory, Method, and Improvement, Ashgate, Farnham.

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Borodzicz, E 2005, Risk, Crisis, and Security Management , Wiley & Sons, Chichester.

Caroselli, M 2000, Leadership Skills for Managers, McGraw Hill, New York.

Clarke, S 2000, ‘Safety culture: under-specified and overrated’, International Journal of Management Reviews, vol. 2 no.1, 65-90.

Cooper, D 2001, Improving Safety Culture, John Wiley & Sons, Upper Saddle River.

Duffey, R & Saull, W 2008, Managing Risk, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.

Ek, A & Akelsson, R 2005, ‘Safety culture on board six Swedish Passenger ships’, Maritime Policy & Management , vol.32 no.2, 159-176.

Esbensen, P, Johnson, E & Kayton, P 1985, The importance of crew training and standard operating procedures in commercial vessel accident prevention, Web.

Florczak, C 2002, Maximizing Profitability with Safety Culture Development, Butterworth – Heinemann, Burlington.

Guldenmund, F 2000, ‘The nature of safety culture: a review of theory and research’, Safety Science , vol. 34 no.3, pp.215-257.

Havold, J 2005, ‘Safety-culture in a Norwegian shipping company’, Journal of Safety Research , vol. 36 no.1, pp. 441-458.

Hetherington, C, Flin, R & Mearns, K 2006, ‘Safety in shipping: The human element’, Journal of Safety Research , vol. 37, pp.401-411.

Hurst, N 1998, Risk Assessment: The Human Dimension, The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge.

IMO: Safety Culture 2011, Web.

Kristiansen, S 2005, Maritime Transportation: Safety Management and Risk Analysis, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.

Kuo, C 1998, Managing Ship Safety , LLP Professional Publishing, London.

Parker, M 2000, Organisational Culture and Identity, Sage, London.

Podomoroff, D 2005, 365 ways to motivate and reward your employees every day: with little or no money , Atlantic Publishing Company, Starke.

Rothblum, A 2000, Human error and marine safety, Web.

Roughton, J & Mercurio, J 2002, Developing an Effective Safety Culture, Butterworth–Heinemann, Woburn.

Taylor, J 2010, Safety Culture, Gower Publishing, Farnham.

Thai, V & Grewal, D 2006, ‘The Maritime Safety Management System (MSMS): A Survey of the International Shipping Community’, Maritime Economics & Logistics, vol. 8 no.3, pp.287-310.

The Guardian : Oil tanker sinks off Spanish coast 2002, Web.

Vaughn, G 2011, ‘Creating a safety culture’, Railway Age , vol.212 no.6, pp.48-50.

Weick, K 1987, ‘Organisational culture as a source of high reliability’, California Management Review , vol.29 no.2, pp.112-127.

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Maritime Safety and the Protection of the Marine Environment

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The Role and Importance of Safety in Maritime Transportation

Today, safety is a very important factor that affects all elements of maritime industry. However, safety management and its implementation in the maritime industry are more important than ever. International legislation and regulations in shipping were rather scarce at the time of the Titanic tragedy. Present-day maritime industry has a number of codes, conventions and guidelines that set the boundaries of safety and efficiency in shipping. The development of maritime industry has resulted in the great development of technology, design, size, propulsion and safety of ships. Consequently, the development of new technologies in the maritime industry has brought changes in the education systems over the last few decades. After the Second World War the maritime education system has been evolving proportionally to the demands of the industry. Despite great breakthroughs in technology and safety at the workplace, the marine industry is still a relatively dangerous place to work. This paper presents the flow and the analysis of the development of technologies that have been major milestones in shipping with regard to their contribution to maritime safety. The paper also discusses important factors that adversely affect the safety of navigation today and points out the dangers affecting the future of maritime safety, with the aim of minimising the dangers, i.e. material and human losses, and maximising the environment preservation.

• http://www.pfst.unist.hr/imsc/archive/2014/IMSC2014_proceedings.pdf

• Abstract reprinted with permission of the University of Split, Faculty of Maritime Studies, Croatia.

University of Split

• Galić, Stipe
• Lušić, Zvonimir
• Skoko, Ivica
• 6th International Maritime Science Conference (IMSC 2014)
• Location: Solin , Croatia
• Date: 2014-4-28 to 2014-4-29
• Publication Date: 2014
• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; Maps; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 186-200
• Monograph Title: 6th International Maritime Science Conference (IMSC 2014) Book of Proceedings

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Guidelines ; Maritime industry ; Maritime safety ; Policy, legislation and regulation ; Safety management ; Ship navigational aids ; Shipping
• Identifier Terms: Titanic (Steamship)
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Policy; Safety and Human Factors; Vehicles and Equipment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01611166
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 21 2016 2:45PM

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International Maritime Organization, Essay Example

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Introduction

Shipping is fairly regarded as the most international of all industries and the critical element of the international trade landscape. Owning and maintaining a ship is not an easy task: a whole range of international shipping standards needs to be followed, to secure countries, ships, populations, and the environment from the negative effects of the global shipping and trade activity. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is an international agency devoted solely to maritime affairs and providing the space for cooperation among governments, governmental institutions, and national maritime organizations in the field of maritime regulations and international shipping activity. Since the beginning of the 1960s, IMO has facilitated the adoption of numerous treaties, regulations, technical measures, and universal standards of safety and efficiency in maritime operations. Today, IMO can become the basic driver in the development and adoption of standards and measures aimed at enhancing environmental protection and reducing the negative effects of shipping and international trade operations on the environment.

The history of maritime treaties dates back to the beginning of the 19th century (IMO). The rapid growth of the maritime industry and international trade urged governments and ship owners to adopt international standards of shipping operations. The tragic Titanic disaster indicated the need to create and implement a new set of safety norms, to avoid similar disasters in the future. In 1948, International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) was adopted, to become the most important international treaty concerning merchant ships’ safety. The Convention also established the International Maritime Organization (IMO), with the first meeting of the IMO members taking place in 1959. Since that time, IMO has been working to develop and maintain a well-functioning regulatory framework in the field of shipping and trade operations. As of today, these regulations cover safety and environmental concerns, technical cooperation and legal matters, as well as maritime security and shipping efficiency. IMO is based in the United Kingdom. 169 states are current members of IMO (IMO).

The International Maritime Organization has a well-developed organizational structure and consists of an Assembly, a Council and five different Committees. The Assembly is the highest organizational and governing body of IMO and consists of all member states that meet once in two years at regular sessions. The Assembly votes the budget, approves the work program, determines financial arrangements, takes financial decisions, and elects the Council. The Council exemplifies the executive branch of the IMO’s organizational structure and is responsible for supervising the work of the whole organization. The basic functions of IMO include coordinating all organization bodies’ activities, developing draft programs and budgets, appointing the Secretary-General, taking decisions regarding IMO’s participation in various treaties and international trade processes. The five IMO Committees include Maritime Safety Committee, Marine Environment Protection Committee, Technical Cooperation Committee, Facilitation Committee, and Legal Committee. The IMO Secretariat includes the Secretary-General and around 300 personnel around the world. The budget for the period of 2010-2011 was approved at the point of £61,151,200. The main budget contributors are Panama, Liberia, Bahamas, and the Marshall Islands (IMO).

IMO is the sole United Nations’ agency exclusively devoted to the management, organization, and resolution of maritime conflicts and affairs. The IMO achievements in the field of international maritime and trade regulations are difficult to underestimate: since the middle of the 20th century, more than 50 treaties have been signed and over 800 codes have been adopted, to guide the development and implementation of effective international trade and shipping regulations. IMO has all mechanisms in place necessary for the development, adoption and implementation of international rules and regulations in the field of maritime and international trade activity. That IMO’s political and trade mandate is widely accepted and legitimized is difficult to deny: 169 states are regular members of IMO; all members participate in all IMO meetings and take cooperative decisions for or against the adoption of recommendations and regulations regarding safety, security, and environmental efficiency of various maritime operations; all states, regardless of their membership status, are invited to participate in the development and implementation of various IMO conventions (United Nations).

Needless to say, most IMO treaties, regulations, and decisions are directed at the minimization and elimination of security and safety threats in maritime operations. The minimization of the environmental pollution is one of the basic IMO tasks. However, the scope of IMO activity is not limited to adopting and passing the rules of the international trade conduct: the organization attaches the highest priority to ensuring that these rules and regulations are properly implemented and work for the benefit of the global community. To meet this purpose, IMO constantly monitors how states, shipowners, shipbuilders, and other stakeholders manage their capacities and fulfill their obligations. The Cooperation Committee works to ensure that available resources are channeled and used in ways, which align the goals and objectives of shipping with the international safety, security, and environmental protection standards (United Nations).

The International Maritime Organization can become the basic driver in the development and implementation of international regulations aimed at minimizing negative environmental pollution in shipping and international trade. It would be fair to say that environmental protection has already become one of the basic IMO strategic and tactical goals. At the beginning of 2010, IMO has accepted the proposal to establish a Vessel Efficiency System (Marine Environment Protection Committee). The proposal reflects the basic principles of IMO cooperation with other organizations and marks the beginning of the new safety stage in the evolution of global shipping. Proposed and submitted by the World Shipping Council, the document justifies the need to establish new efficiency design standards for the new and existing vessels, to assess the charges for those vessels that fail to meet applicable standards, and to establish a fund for the charges collected from such vessels (Marine Environment Protection Committee). The authors are confident that by combining vessel efficiency with the fund concept, they will be able to provide better financial incentives to vessel owners and operators to invest more resources in the vessels’ efficiency improvement (Marine Environment Protection Committee). Given the complexity of the environmental situation, the increasing number of vessels, and the growing scope of the global trade, this proposal is, probably, the first step toward establishing a new environmental vision of international maritime operations. Yet, it is clear that years will pass before IMO can guarantee the safety and environmental efficiency of shipping strategies and the security of the global maritime operations.

Shipping is a crucial element of the international trade landscape. The globalization of the international trade operations requires that shipowners, shipbuilders, and other stakeholders operate within a well-developed, comprehensive regulatory framework. International maritime regulations and standards must promote better security, safety, and efficiency of global trade operations. The International Maritime Organization was created as an international agency devoted solely to maritime affairs. Today, 169 countries are regular members of IMO. The organization develops, adopts, and monitors the process of implementing international safety, security, and efficiency standards in the field of shipping activity. IMO has a potential to become the basic driver in the development of the international environmental regulations, aimed at minimizing the negative environmental effects of the global trade.

Works Cited

IMO. “Introduction to IMO.” International Maritime Organization. 2010. Web. 12 September 2010.

Marine Environment Protection Committee. “Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships.” World Shipping, 15 January 2010. Web. 12 September 2010.

United Nations. “Contribution of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to the Secretary-General’s Report on Oceans and the Law of the Sea.” The United Nations, 2008. Web. 12 September 2010.

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