Young officers have faced some flak in the past 5-8 years for their low competence levels and lack of professionalism. But there is another aspect that has quietly crept up on us and, it seems to me, reflects how seafarers (and the composition of a shipboard team) are changing.
Some officers coming through to senior ranks cannot draft documents such as Claims, Protests, Disclaimers or other formal letters that require a bit more than elementary school knowledge of English. On the other hand, some of our Able-bodied seamen speak good English, though, equally, a number do not understand much. And since the young AB who can converse well in English probably feels he can take a shot at becoming an officer - and many have qualified to serve as officers - the crewing gets a bit skewed in that we have a team that is not balanced, leans on one or two individuals, and is comprised of one or two part-timers who might lack even basic seamanship skills, exercise of which is the key to responding well in an emergency situation. This can lead to serious consequences if, say, a situation that demands concerted effort spins out of control.
To build expertise, one needs painstaking attention to learning from the grass-roots level. This is not possible in the present scenario of running a ship. The ship demands efficiency, which often means that thoroughness is a casualty.
So, is there a solution? For one, I guess training ashore has to be more effective to make a dent. Crew selection criteria has to be transparent and stringent. Plus, when shipowners carpet-bomb the vessel with additional training resources, they should also indicate how much time must be set aside for learning from that particular module or lesson in a dynamic shipboard environment, so that work/rest hours of crew members can be preserved.
More importantly, hiring of ever-cheaper crews as a business KPI (Key Performance Indicator) must be avoided! If next year's crew hiring costs have to reduce by 5% over this year's, then we have lost the battle for safer ships and cleaner seas already.
1 comment:
When you talk about your crew and their command of the English language, or the lack of it, consider this: The public schools in the United States are turning out students that are no more proficient in the English language than the crew members you allude to.
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