A good sailor has traditionally been a person who makes
decisions that ensure that their ship, cargo and crew are safe. Good seamanship
has not been synonymous with following procedures and doing everything by the
book. Maybe just the opposite.
Opposing a set of rules that are perceived as irrelevant or
written on land can almost be seen as part of the identity and professional
pride of seafarers.
Today, the profession is undergoing radical change, and so
is the seafarers’ own understanding of their role. New seamen and seawomen are
trained to follow procedures, reducing the opportunities for them to exercise
their discretion.
“A lot of the practical work on board ship is embodied
knowledge that needs to be learned through working with experienced seafarers.
The formalized procedures seem to value this knowledge transfer less,” says
Torgeir Kolstø Haavik from NTNU Social Research.
He and a research team at NTNU and Safetec, a provider of
risk management services, have interviewed fourteen seafarers aged 22 to 62,
and have documented their understanding of how the profession has changed.
The work was carried out as part of the “Professional
competence, standardization and safety in aviation and the maritime industry”
project.
“Technological and administrative changes in the work
environment affect how we understand good seamanship and maritime safety. The
bridge has seen a lot of new technology, including navigation and positioning,”
says Haavik.
New technology has changed the work tasks in the engine room
as well, with increased automation and data collection for use in on-land
analyses. Most situations have technological solutions, such as keeping the
boat in a stable position during loading and unloading at offshore
installations.
All these innovations alter the professional competence
related to safety. When navigators monitor the automatic systems instead of
doing the navigating themselves, the classic nautical skills aren’t all needed
or sufficient to do the job.
“The job and the tasks are changing. That’s a fact,” says
Haavik. “And being able to follow procedures and monitor the technology is
usually good enough.” But, he points out, operations at sea can involve other
vessels, technical problems and demanding weather conditions that cause
unforeseen situations that there aren’t any procedures for.
One of the sailors interviewed by the researchers puts it
this way: “It’s almost like you’re not allowed to think for yourself anymore,
because procedures take care of everything.” What the informant describes is a
work situation that provides few opportunities for him to use the professional
judgment he has acquired through experience. That judgment comes from training,
and so sailors are not necessarily prepared if something arises that isn’t
covered by the procedures.
The study findings indicate that the scope of administrative
paperwork can be at the expense of critical safety tasks. And this phenomenon
doesn’t only exist at sea.
“The room to maneuver, where you can exercise your
professional judgment, is shrinking in a lot of professions,” says Haavik.
The Norwegian Maritime Code states that “The master shall
ensure that the navigation and management of the ship accords with good
seamanship.” But what exactly is “good seamanship”? New and experienced sailors
have different views on this.
“It isn’t necessarily problematic in and of itself that a
concept loses its content. But as long as both international and national
regulations require “good seamanship,” and the Accident Investigation Board can
conclude that “poor seamanship” has been exhibited, it would be interesting to
know what the term means to the professionals. If the content is changing, it’s
important for this to be captured and discussed,” Haavik says.