20 | telegraph | nautilusint.org | June 2017
MARITIME SAFETY
Taking the broad view of safety What are the key causes of shipping accidents and how can they be minimised? The latest in the Nautical Institute’s series of command seminars assembled an impressive panel of experts at Trinity House to consider the issues and offer some solutions. STEVEN KENNEDY and ANDREW LININGTON report on the discussions…
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Shipping is facing a growing challenge in mixing the rapid advances in technology with traditional seafaring skills, the Princess Royal argued in a keynote address to the Nautical Institute command seminar last month. The princess — who is Master of Trinity House — told the meeting that, in seeking to address the causes of navigational accidents, there is a need not just to learn from the past but also to understand the way technology will impact the skills base of the future. Balancing technology with the ‘real basic skills’ needed by seafarers to work in often difficult conditions is a big issue, Princess Anne cautioned. ‘There is a danger if people don’t feel that the sea has an impact on a modern vessel and they lose their sense of the natural environment,’ she explained. Add in the effects of reduced crew levels and long working hours, and
‘Dinosaur attitudes are holding us back’ F
The maritime industry is in danger of falling further behind other sectors if it doesn’t learn to adapt and embrace new technology. Frank Coles — the CEO of Transas Marine, which has a 35%-plus share of the ECDIS world market — told the Nautical Institute seminar that while shipping has changed dramatically since he first went to sea, it is still not keeping pace with technological advances. ‘I think the future is a very different one from when I first went to sea in 1967,’ he said. ‘Then the master was God. When I came to shore in 1989, GPS was king, sat communications was the new god and the master was getting used to the idea that he was becoming a secretary. ‘The Attenborough brothers happen to be my second cousins,’ he added. ‘Richard Attenborough took part in Jurassic World and when I look at our industry I sometimes feel like I’ve walked onto his film set. We are making progress, but we are in a fast-changing world and it’s becoming increasingly hard for the ship owners and maritime sector to keep up.’ Mr Coles said that artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more prevalent onboard ships and is already providing real-time decision-support and real-time actions. He added that
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Transas is building an AI system that can predict — with a ‘99% reliability factor’ — a vessel’s track. Then, using previously collected data, it adjusts the ship to avoid other vessels in the area. But, he argued, a change in attitudes is essential if shipping is to embrace such technology and to ensure that regulators
like the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) don’t keep the industry in the dark ages. ‘We are dinosaurs,’ Mr Coles said. ‘The IMO is a hindrance, not a help. They don’t think ahead and they hold us back. We — like every innovator — must think big. We must move with the speed of the technology and not at the speed of the regulator.’
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the weaknesses in safety systems are appare a move to criminalise seafarers — especially wrong, it is extremely important to have lega place, she noted. The princess said organisations supportin more closely together to combat these probl identifying the weak spots. ‘Training needs t
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Frank Coles, the CEO of Transas Marine Picture: Harry Gale
There is a dange lose their sense of t environment aroun
People make mistakes and instead of chasing the goal of zero accidents, shipowners should seek to develop systems with high error tolerance, the marine and safety director of a major gas tanker company told the seminar. Captain Niels Vanlaer, marine and health and safety director with Exmar Shipmanagement, said operators ought to find ways to develop resilience and create back-up and redundancy to deal with change or to manage emergencies. He told how, as a young master, his career had been saved by a second mate who had intervened when he gave an incorrect change of course order at a waypoint shortly after leaving the Suez Canal. It is important that companies create a culture where a junior officer can challenge a senior in such a way, he added. ‘You can manage a ship by bullying, but it will not be successful in the long term,’ Capt Vanlaer said. ‘While a junior officer needs to learn the procedures, a senior officer needs to know when they can move outside those procedures. It is a matter of common sense and open communication.’
Mentoring is one of the best risk control measures that shipping can take and, used effectively, it can help to deal with many of the biggest safety problems facing the industry, the Nautical Institute seminar heard. Shipmaster and trainer Captain Sarabjit Butalia told delegates that the sweeping changes which have affected seafaring make mentoring more important than ever before — not as a substitute for training, but to make training more robust. Investigations show that many accidents are the result of factors such as shortfalls in seamanship or a lack of particular knowledge and experience, he pointed out. Issues such as ship handling, situational awareness and technology are commonly highlighted. However, Capt Butalia argued, seafarers are often not taught some basic elements and principles. ‘We are not taught about anchoring,’ for instance, ‘and no book can teach situational awareness, while IMO regulations are very difficult to understand. ‘Officers have no longer been trained to think and act independently and make decisions based on their own judgements, because they have
Captain Sarabjit Butal
‘Our optical technology i
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Optical technology onboard ships is a century out of date, yet small updates could have a massive impact, an electronic navigation expert told the meeting. Dr Andy Norris, a fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation, explained that items including binoculars have remained a mainstay on every bridge for the past 100 years. However, he argued, there are cheap and affordable technologies available that could dramatically improve the way in which bridge crews successfully navigate. Using items such as small cameras and sensors placed around the ship, technology
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Promotion to master mariner is the goal of many seafarers — but some are getting the role too quickly. That is the view of shipmaster Captain Paul Armitage, who told the Nautical Institute seminar that chief officers looking to make the step up need to do more to understand the master’s role and that just having the certification does not mean a person is ready for command.
would go a long way to give the crews a much clearer view of everything happening in the vicinity of their vessel rather than what’s just in front of them, he suggested. ‘We’re still using binoculars and they’re pretty much the same as they always were,’ explained Dr Norris. ‘Today there are very affordable and ever higher resolution optical sensors available. These would allow for fixed and non-fixed optical sensors being fitted onboard ships — in all directions — for detection of all optical visible targets at sea. ‘Optical technology — to aid relative positioning — on bridges has been stagnant for
‘Chief officers need to anticipate a maste to be seen as useful,’ he argued. ‘If a chief offi organises their work so it assists with the ma then they are more likely to be a trusted pers need to learn to anticipate the master’s requ and actions before they happen and think ab they’d do in various situations. ‘Gaining the appropriate certification is t evidence to an examiner that an officer has t
24/05/2017 17:50