leadership and teamwork on board ship essay

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A Leader, or in our case a Masters Career and the fate of his vessel and Bridge team are determined by the effectiveness of his behavior. Leadership is considered crucial for success and has been considered by most researchers to be the most critical ingredient (Lussier and Achua 2009). I would describe a leader as being someone who directs and controls a group of people to perform a task. In this case the Master controls and directs his Officers to safely navigate the vessel, safety of the crew and the cargo. Unlike other businesses who will have multiple leaders, the Master is the sole leader on a vessel upon which all responsibility lies on. The way the Master deals with all his responsibilities is to delegate to his Officers. Each of his Officers essentially also become managers of possibly their own group of workers. The Master leads his managers (Officers) to perform the tasks required to maintain the vessel.

An important distinction is made between being a manager and being a leader. To be a manager means to direct and to accomplish. To lead means to motivate and inspire. Leaders who are effective, inspire their team to strive and pursue excellence. It has been said that managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing (Peter F.Drucker 1955).

For a Master to be a good leader he needs to be able to motivate his officers effectively. A masters personal factors will have a big influence on how well he/she motivates the team. I have worked with a few Captains each with their own different leadership styles. No two leaders work in the same way, each leader develops their own individual style. Some of the factors that affect a Master may develop over time and experience, whilst some may develop due to their environment e.g. type of vessel or bridge team. Some Masters may even have to adapt their leadership style to the surrounding environment and to company requirements.

Obviously one of a Masters main personal factor is his/her personality. The leadership style may be an extension of the personality. I found that two of the four Masters I worked with tend not to communicate directly to some. The two Captains that preferred the method of communicating to his team directly or face to face were more outgoing and assertive. These Captains also seemed to trust their officer more, for example they rarely did any of the maneuvers when coming in and out of port, they allowed the lower ranked officers to take control and were keen to lead and teach. The other two Captains seemed to want to lead by example as they were more reserved and rarely came up to the bridge other than when required. These Captains always did maneuvers themselves and preferred the hierarchical method. They preferred meeting with the next in command as a method of communication to the lower ranks, instead of addressing the entire team.

Another personal factor is the level of control a Master likes to have, which influences the leadership style. The Master has overall control of all decisions made on his vessel but some are more laid back than others. A Master that has a high level of control will want to be involved in all day to day operations and the decision making process. A more trusting Master may not want the burden of the decision making and will take a step back and delegate responsibility. As this is the case on most vessels a Master that delegates his responsibilities will normally need to create another layer of management, this responsibility is normally handed to the chief mate or second in command.

Another factor that may affect the leadership of a Master is the Organisation or company itself. There is a hierarchical structure on vessels whereas there is a divisional structure within a company. The company’s structure and operating methods may dictate the leadership style that the Master must adopt. The Master must implement all policies that the company set out and maintain them as checked by auditors.

A Masters experience, both as a leader and length of time with a particular company can affect his leadership. A Master who has only recently been promoted may want to lead by the book and follow all procedures to the dot, whilst they are still inexperienced as Masters. A Master who has more experience at the job ad with the company may have more confidence by following their own interpretation of the regulations set out by the company. The more experience a Master has and more familiar they are with the company will result in the Master being more comfortable making decisions in turn being an effective and confident leader.

Another organizational factor in affecting a Masters leadership is his crews’ ethnic diversity. Especially on passenger vessels which can hold on average over 1000 crew, which can have 55+ different ethnicities. Luckily for the Masters on passenger vessels a department system is run so he does not have to directly deal with all 1000+ crew. He/She only has to directly deal with the Deck department and will only need to speak to his crew in any disciplinary action. Even on the bridge there can be a range of nationalities (from personal experience) To be a successful leader of multiple nationalities the Master may take a servant approach, where they provide the employee’s with everything they need so that the team stay motivated and make for effective teamwork. Maslow’s theory shows these needs in better detail. A Master as a leader can only provide so much to his crew before having to comply with the companies policies, which is also set out in the ISM code.

To conclude there are many factors on which a Master needs to balance out to be an effective leader, he/she must think about the needs of the crew (Maslow’s theory) whilst also keeping the Organisation happy by complying with their rules and procedures. In my personal experience I have found that Masters with effective leadership also like to take a step back and allow his officer to be the main part of the decision making process and have confidence in his team.

Communication is a key factor when trying to complete an operation smoothly and safely. We communicate all the time, it comes natural to us like breathing, but being able to communicate clearly and with a bit of finesse is quite difficult, especially when you may have a multinational crew onboard.

Onboard the ships I was working on we had this issue of a vast variety of nationalities. Working on cruise ships means you can have over 1000 other crew to deal with. To overcome the issue of language and communication the company set out the policy that the working language be English, and all crew must have a good understanding of the English language, this includes officers as well.

Working a lot with the deck crew who were all either Philippine or Indonesian, I experienced quite a bit of a language barrier between them and the Bosun who was Italian. The Bosun was not keen on speaking English and tried to avoid it as much as possible. In this part of the work I found that only verbal communication was used to issue the jobs to the deck crew for the day. At the best of times I could barely understand the Bosun. To improve on this it would be a good idea to have work rotors posted on a notice board in the workshop so the deck crew can easily refer to see what their jobs are for that day and who they are working with.

On the bridge the Officers consisted of British and Italian speakers. Again anything related to work i.e. collision avoidance ad emergencies had to be spoken in English. Personally I found that communication on the bridge between the team during operations and maneuvering were without fault. We used the closed loop communication method, where the person receiving the orders repeated them so the officer knew he had understood the order. Whilst the Captain had overall charge of the operation, our staff Captain took the role of Operations director. His job was to communicate with the officers down in the mooring stations, who used the same closed loop method.

As there is a hierarchy on the bridge I found that communication between the lower ranks and cadets was very minimal. I found many times that I would receive a job or an order from the staff captain that had progressed down the ranks. The problem with this was that the job would get confused and different from the original the more people it went through. This was not intentional, but would result sometimes in the job being done incorrectly. The obvious way to improve this issue is for the higher ranking officers to directly issue the work. This way questions can be asked if the task is not fully understood.

Whilst being part of mooring operations I noticed that at times there would be a lot of shouting from either the Officer or the bosun. The reason for this was that they did not know the name of individuals in the team, which would result in the words ‘hey’ or ‘you’ being shouted. This caused huge confusion between the deck crew and frustration for the Bosun or Officer. I noticed and suggested to the Officer that maybe it would be good to learn the names of all the deck team. I took the time to learn all their names and noticed how much appreciated it actually was. Not only did they respect you more, communication to an individual was far clearer as the individual knew when they were being instructed. From spending a lot of time with the deck crew I learnt that having their respect is a key factor with regards to being able to issue them jobs and keeping up motivation.

In conclusion the way I would improve communication on my vessel is for the higher ranks to be a bit more approachable and directly issue orders/work to the lower ranks. When it comes to communication between the deck crews and bosun in mooring operations, simple things like learning the deck crew’s names can prevent any confusion and any shouting.

Created by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) the International Safety Management Code (ISM) ‘’establishes safety-management objectives and requires a safety management system (SMS) to be established by the Company’’ (IMO Website). It is a set of guidelines set out for the safe operation of merchant vessels. This is achieved by a Safety Management System (SMS) which is to be created by the company who own the ship and should be specific for each vessel and its characteristics. The IMO created the ISM to ensure that international standards of safety and pollution prevention are maintained.

It achieves this by setting out 5 key objectives outlining the key purposes of the code. These are:

• To ensure safety at sea and prevent human injury and loss of life.

• Prevent damage to the environment and property.

• Provide for safe practices in ship operation and the working environment.

• Establish safeguards against all risks to the ships, personnel and environment.

• Improve safety management skills of personnel ashore and onboard.

Before a company is allowed to operate a ship, a Document of compliance must be issued for each different type of vessel. This will be issued by the flag state after an audit of the ships SMS and is valid for 5 years. An audit is carried out annually to ensure procedures described by the SMS are being complied with. Once issued with a document of compliance the administration issues a Safety management certificate which is also valid for 5 years.

It is implemented Plans and checklists form the most integral part of the implementation procedure of the ISM code on ships. Checklists for safe starting and stopping of shipboard machinery, along with plans to carry of various work procedures on board ship ensures safety of the ship and marine environment. (MarineInsight)

When analyzing the impact of the ISM code on merchant vessels the key feature is the SMS. Its main purpose is to provide safe practices in the workplace and procedures for any work or operations and emergencies. SMS is an important aspect of the International safety management (ISM) code and it details all the important policies, practices, and procedures that are to be followed in order to ensure safe functioning of ships at the sea. All commercial vessels are required to establish safe ship management procedures. SMS forms one of the important parts of the ISM code. (MarineInsight). Through the SMS the standards recommended by the IMO and classification societies ensure that every ship will comply with the mandatory safety regulations.

The SMS is created by the ship owner and implemented by the master and crew. Included in the SMS should be:

• Protection policy for safety and the environment

• Vessel details

• Guidelines on how to act in an emergency

• Procedures and guidelines for reporting incidents and non-conformities

• Information on the level of authority and lines of communication among crew members, and between shore and ship.

• Procedures for internal audits

• Vessel details (MarineInsight)

The ISM Code also affects the Masters of the vessels and their management and leadership style. They must adapt their style to smoothly implement safety and environment policies. They must also motivate the crew in accordance with the policy set out. Reviewing the SMS and reporting back to the company allows for improvement in safety management techniques onboard vessels.

As part of the ISM vessels are to have a Designated Person Ashore (DPA). The primary role of the DPA is ‘monitor the safety and pollution prevention aspect of the ship and provide adequate resources and shore base support for the ship. They also act as a link of communication to the highest management within the company’ (MarineNotes). The DPA has a big impact on the safety of ships as his main responsibility is to provide for the safe operations of the vessel.

Part of the ISM that has a big impact on safety operations and the management of the requirement for audits. An audit is an inspection where your actual performance is measured against the standards laid down. The audits can be carried out internally by either the Master or chief engineer and internally within the company. They can also be done externally. The purpose of the audit is to evaluate the efficiency of the ships SMS and to check if it is being complied with. This has an impact on the shipping industry as it allows or improvement in the SMS and can also identify any issues, possibly preventing incidents. Any gaps found in the SMS by the auditor is known as a non-compliance.

In conclusion the ISM code creates a new approach to the safety and environmental protection from pollution. The code challenges each company to take account of its safety procedures, environmental and pollution prevention aspects. It sets out its own objectives and allows for continual improvement to bring together the top management and its employees into a shared system of awareness and responsibility for achieving the safety of the vessel and the protection of the environment. The code also provides a link for ship to shore communication and again allows for improvement via the auditing of the vessels. For continuous improvement on the Safety management system, it is based on a cycle of plan, do, check and act. The ISM provides the framework to plan and review the Safety management plans and it is up to the Master to implement and maintain the plan with the help of his team and to review the plan for further improvements.

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Importance of teamwork onboard

To better understand team dynamics onboard a luxury yacht — and how to build a better team — let’s look at how most teams on boats are put together.

The larger the crew, the more likely the team is broken down into departments (deck, interior, engineering, etc.). Unfortunately, segregating crew members into departments creates a less cohesive team ship-wide. This is because everyone focuses on their department’s responsibilities and leaves the interests of the overall group to the captain.

Think about a baseball or cricket team. Like crew on a large yacht, each player covers a specific area and performs when they are called to perform. Sure, they will back each other up, but they rarely all come together to perform as a whole.

These people aren’t really a team. And the same holds true on a yacht.

Just like a cricket or baseball team, each department has its role and generally gets their tasks completed on their own, with assistance from a different department from time to time. For example, a chef may get assistance from an engineer to fix a malfunctioning appliance in the galley, but the chef is still solely responsible for the meal being prepared.

A true team is like a hockey or football team, where there is passing and blocking and team member support as the group moves toward the goal. It is within a department on a large yacht where true teamwork begins.

When a department has a job to do, there is mutual support from everyone to achieve whatever task needs to be done. If someone is less skilled, the team members teach each other what they need to know.

When the deck crew is doing the wash down, one area may get finished before another. Those who are finished move in to help where others are still working. Or they start moving equipment to a new section to carry on with the wash down. All of the members of the team are working together to reach the goal.

On a well-run smaller yacht, however, the entire crew is a team. It has to be because they help one another across departments. The mate does turndowns, the stew may help do an oil change, the captain may help cook dinner and the chef may help with the wash down. Everyone is working for the benefit of the rest of the team.

Regardless of size, there are five key things you can do to help promote better teamwork within your department or yacht.

1. Promote complementary skills among team members. These include interpersonal, technical and problem solving skills. Your team needs the ability to resolve conflict among its members, as well as the ability to come up with answers to challenges you may not have faced before. Take time to teach what you know to the rest of your team.

2. Clearly articulate performance goals. Perhaps the wash down needs to be done in one day instead of two. Or perhaps the sea strainers need to be cleaned on a more regular basis. Whatever the goal, everyone needs to clearly understand what that expectation is.

3. Clearly explain the ultimate purpose for the team. Are you there to move the boat from place to place or are you there to provide top notch service to the guests? By understanding the ultimate purpose, your team can better focus on what it needs to improve to achieve your true end result.

4. Examine and clarify the approach everyone will take to get a job done.

• How will everyone work together to accomplish the performance goals? What is the accepted behavior of team members toward each other?

• Does everyone know when to be on deck, not in the crew mess getting coffee?

• Focus on the skills that must be developed to meet upcoming needs. Are we performing busy-work projects at the detriment of improving skills in other areas? i.e. How much practice has everyone had with the new tender before the next charter arrives?

• How will the group make and modify decisions? Is it only what the team leader says that’s important or is there discussion to get ideas and input from everyone? As the saying goes, “No one is as smart as everyone.”

5. Team members must hold themselves and others accountable. If someone is sleeping late or doing only part of their required task, the team needs to come together and make sure everyone understands how one person’s slacking causes more work for everyone else.

The benefit of working as a team rather than as a group of individuals is that the end products are greater than the sum of the individual contributions. Teams amplify the benefits produced by everyone.

Being a better functioning team as a department will influence other departments to improve their teamwork. In this way you can build better teamwork among the entire crew.

Paul Ferdais is founder and owner of The Marine Leadership Group based in Ft. Lauderdale and Vancouver delivering leadership training workshops and coaching ( www.marineleadershipgroup.com ). He has a master’s degree in leadership and spent seven years working as a deckhand, mate and first officer on yachts. Comments are welcome at [email protected] .

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leadership and teamwork on board ship essay

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Team Performance Management

ISSN : 1352-7592

Article publication date: 15 July 2020

Issue publication date: 14 August 2020

Marine experts have recognised the importance of on-board teamwork for a ship’s safe operation. The purpose of the study is to develop a framework of “on-board team effectiveness” as perceived by the seafarers with the help of conceptual categories discovered from the study. It describes and explain how members of floating shipboard team operates in a global environment which is dynamic, complex and full of challenges.

Design/methodology/approach

Qualitative research design was used to study wherein the grounded theory approach was adopted for data analysis. A purposive sample of 44 Indian seafarers covering all ranks and departments of the shipboard team were selected for the study. Primary data were collected through long interviews and focused group discussions with the respondents. Secondary data were collected through industry periodicals.

Ten conceptual categories were developed, and their interplay was identified to understand various aspects of shipboard team working in different contexts.

Practical implications

The insights gained from the study can be used to enhance shipboard team’s working and safe operation of the ship.

Originality/value

The study is unique in addressing team effectiveness issues of shipboard teams. Understanding teamwork effectiveness of a culturally diversified shipboard team shall facilitate safe working practices and act as a deterrent to human errors, which causes accidents and incidents.

Team effectiveness
Team diversity
Mix-nationality
Shipboard team
Team behavior
Cultural diversity
Work atmosphere

Jha, S.K. (2020), "Framework of on-board team effectiveness: a qualitative study of shipping industry", Team Performance Management , Vol. 26 No. 5/6, pp. 265-285. https://doi.org/10.1108/TPM-02-2020-0010

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Functions, performances and perceptions of work on ships

Published: 06 March 2014
Volume 13 , pages 231–250, ( 2014 )

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Margareta Ljung 1 &
Margareta Lützhöft 2

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The demands for greater efficiency and increased profitability in shipping have increased with hardened competition. In recent years major reductions in manning have been made. When the STCW Convention was revised in 1995, this led to changes in terms of the organization of work on board. By using a functional approach, it became possible to handle current demands that all tasks on board are founded on competency-based skills. This article reports the results from an investigation of work functions performed on board ships. The aim was to investigate how these functions are performed today and how marine officers perceived this. Main questions were as follows: How do officers handle the working situation with a reduced crew? Which job functions do they have and how are these performed? How do officers experience the work situation on board? Field studies, involving participant observation and interviews on various types of vessels were conducted and issues were illuminated and analyzed from a socio-technical perspective. The results revealed some specific areas. Reduced crews highlight the need for the right kind of knowledgeable people. Not everyone can be good at everything, maybe not even within their own profession. The predominating issue is about the increased administrative work and the lack of skills development. A continuous professional development should be part of the work and a planned activity. Vessel crews are trying to create flexible solutions for performing the work on board. They are doing this in various ways, depending on the number of the crew, the leadership and the specific vessel culture.

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Acknowledgments

This paper is partly financed by the KNOWME project in the Seventh Framework Programme, Grant agreement no: 265966, and partly by the VGR, Västra Götalandsregionen in Sweden. We are also thankful to the seafarers and other maritime stakeholders who have been involved in this study.

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Ljung, M., Lützhöft, M. Functions, performances and perceptions of work on ships. WMU J Marit Affairs 13 , 231–250 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13437-014-0057-x

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Published : 06 March 2014

Issue Date : October 2014

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s13437-014-0057-x

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Leadership at sea: What makes a great Captain

Credit: Shutterstock

Leadership, as a special component of safe operations at sea, is a skill resulting from a complex combination of mindset characteristics which can be learned, argues Capt. VS Parani, naming the key features he believes to be the most critical for a great leader at sea.

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Leadership is an art, a skill, a discipline, and a mind-set, all of which can be learned, and improved with practice.

The captain, chief engineer, or a department head are not the only leaders on a ship. Every mariner is a leader! A navigator who executes a collision-avoiding manoeuvre at two in the morning when everyone else is asleep, and one who guides his subordinate through overhauling a purifier – each one of them is a leader. On a ship though, the buck usually stops with the Captain, so the expectation from their leadership skills is perhaps greater than from others.

The following characteristics illustrate the fine balance every seafarer can strive to achieve to become a great leader.

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Skilled leaders lead by expertise, not by authority

As they excel in their own area of work, good leaders share their knowledge with their team, and are keen to assist others. So even if you don’t consider yourself a ‘born’ leader, you can change your trajectory by upgrading or learning new skills.

Genuine leaders lead by example

Authentic leaders respect and reinforce the values, systems, and the code of conduct required on their ship. If you fail to lead by example, you fail to lead. It’s as simple as that.

True leaders inspire others

Leaders on a ship direct, coordinate, and supervise the activities of their team. They are also aware that they have a responsibility to create a positive atmosphere and a sense of community on board. Inspirational leaders truly care, and that’s why people care about what they say.

Effective leaders think ahead

Practical leaders know how to plan and systematically achieve their targets. They take initiative and are proactive rather than reactive. They are constantly anticipating challenges and ways in which to tackle them.

Gritty leaders have a ‘can-do’ attitude

Leaders need physical and mental stamina as well as the conviction that the toughest of tasks can be accomplished. Why? Simple. If a leader gives up, so will everyone else. After all, who wants to follow a negative, lazy person?

Dynamic leaders are passionate and committed

Shipping, like many other industries, is a stressful, hard, 24/7 business. Without passion and commitment, one cannot succeed.

Captain Iakinthi Tzanakaki won a special ‘Woman of the Sea’ Award at the Greek Shipping Awards 2014 for her action in protecting her tanker, Amphitrite , and its crew, during strong winds at an oil terminal in Beirut.

The Mooring Master had assured her that he had the situation under control and that the tugs would soon arrive to assist the ship. Very soon, the wind gusts picked up speed, the tanker’s mooring ropes started parting and the ship was pushed towards another tanker at the terminal.

Sensing that no help would arrive in time, Captain Tzanakaki took control. From a point where the two ships were only about twenty metres apart, she expertly manoeuvred the tanker out of imminent danger using the engines and the thrusters. Had she not taken the initiative, everyone else would have waited for the Mooring Master to take action, blaming him if things had gone wrong. But that is not what passionate leaders do. Instead, they channel their conviction into doing what needs to be done.

Active leaders get their hands dirty when required

Involved leaders are always willing to help with work when needed. Leaders do not ask others to do something they themselves wouldn’t do. And although they demand excellence in work, they aren’t hard taskmasters.

Influential leaders communicate well

Leaders understand that every time they communicate, it is an opportunity to influence and lead. They communicate directly and decisively, all the while striving to be understanding and respectful.

Successful leaders do not strive to get followers but want to build leaders!

Visionary leaders prepare for the future and the unexpected by creating more leaders who can take on more responsibilities and grow in their careers. Great leaders enjoy coaching, mentoring, and training others, urging others to take on more responsibility.

Leaders are humble

A good leader is humble; they respect the sea, the ship and their colleagues. Such leaders are generally approachable, and they tend to be great listeners. By listening, they ensure that they don’t miss any warning signs, and gain the admiration of their team.

Bold leaders lead with courage

As a seafarer, it takes considerable fortitude and mettle to make potentially life-altering decisions day after day. Your team relies on your decision-making process, and they also expect you to express yourself in a calm, yet decisive manner, even in times of crisis.

These eleven points summarise what I consider to be the traits of great leaders at sea, further affirmed by the role models—Captains, Chief Engineers, Pilots and Surveyors—I’ve been fortunate to work with.

Inspirational leaders truly care, and that’s why people care about what they say.

The views presented hereabove are only those of the author and not necessarily those of SAFETY4SEA and are for information sharing and discussion purposes only.

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Capt. VS Parani

Captain VS Parani, FNI, FICS, CMarTech-IMarEST is currently Vice President - Marine at Tufton Asset Management Ltd., Cyprus. He is also the author of Golden Stripes - Leadership on the High Seas and producer of the GoldenStripes Podcast. He can be reached at parani.org

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Very interesting article: I particularly liked the expression “Every mariner is a leader!” and the story about Captain Iakinthi Tzanakaki to illustrate the point about leaders being dynamic, passionate and committed. I think that story also shows that a leader needs to know their own mind and have the confidence to execute what they believe to be the right decision. Luckily for Captain Tzanakaki, her confidence, quick thinking and ability paid off!

A carefully thought and well written article. Some of them are not only good leaders in their team but many are unsung heroes. A good article for the masters and leaders at sea. HAPPY SEAFARER’S DAY 2020

Very well written article. All the points are meticulously covered..

It appears the article is contemplating to take the corporate management principles and practices to engine and deck sides of the ship. Excellent article indeed.

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Leadership Lessons From the Shackleton Expedition

By Nancy F. Koehn

Dec. 24, 2011

A HUNDRED years ago this month, the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and four teammates became the first men to reach the South Pole , arriving in triumph five weeks ahead of Robert Falcon Scott. The Amundsen crew would return safely to its base, but, heartbreakingly, Scott and his four British companions died on the return journey.

The race to the pole has long attracted leadership experts, who like to contrast the Amundsen focus on efficiency and innovation with Scott’s more deliberate dedication to scientific pursuit.

But another polar explorer — Ernest Shackleton — faced harsh conditions in a way that speaks more directly to our time. The Shackleton expedition, from 1914 to 1916, is a compelling story of leadership when disaster strikes again and again.

Consider just a handful of recent events: the financial crisis of 2008; the gulf oil spill of 2010; and the Japanese nuclear disaster, the debt-ceiling debacle and euro crisis this year. Constant turbulence seems to be the new normal, and effective leadership is crucial in containing it.

Real leaders, wrote the novelist David Foster Wallace, are people who “help us overcome the limitations of our own individual laziness and selfishness and weakness and fear and get us to do better, harder things than we can get ourselves to do on our own.”

Shackleton exemplified this kind of leadership for almost two years on the ice. What can we learn from his actions?

As a historian at the Harvard Business School , I wrote a case study about him that has drawn more interest from executives than any other I have taught.

As some talented research assistants and I worked on the study, I was struck by Shackleton’s ability to respond to constantly changing circumstances. When his expedition encountered serious trouble, he had to reinvent the team’s goals. He had begun the voyage with a mission of exploration, but it quickly became a mission of survival.

This capacity is vital in our own time, when leaders must often change course midstream — jettisoning earlier standards of success and redefining their purposes and plans.

SHACKLETON can serve as a role model even though his expedition, judged by its initial objectives, was a colossal failure. His ship, the Endurance, never reached Antarctica. None of its 28 crew members set foot on the continent. The journey strained Shackleton’s finances to the breaking point, and at the end of it, in late 1916, its fame-seeking protagonist found his accomplishments eclipsed by the horrors of World War I.

When the Endurance set sail in August 1914, Shackleton had a bold, potentially history-making goal: he and his team would be the first to walk across the continent, starting from the coast of the Weddell Sea, traversing the South Pole and ending up at the Ross Sea.

But from the beginning, the expedition encountered unfamiliar challenges. In late 1914, the ship arrived at a whaling settlement on South Georgia Island, the last southern port of call before the Antarctic Circle. Local seamen urged Shackleton to postpone his venture because of unusually thick pack ice that could trap the ship if the wind and temperatures shifted suddenly.

Impatient to get moving, Shackleton commanded the ship to continue south, navigating through the icy jigsaw puzzle. In January 1915, the vessel came within sight of the Antarctic mainland. But harsh winds and cold temperatures descended quickly, and the pack ice trapped the ship, just as the South Georgia seamen had warned.

The Endurance was immobilized, held hostage to the drifting ice floes. Shackleton realized that his men would have to wait out the coming winter in the ship’s cramped quarters until summer’s thaw.

Shackleton feared the potential effects of idleness, ennui and dissidence among his men more than he did the ice and cold. He required that each man maintain his ordinary duties as closely as possible. Sailors swabbed decks; scientists collected specimens from the ice; others were assigned to hunt for seals and penguins when fresh meat, a protection against scurvy, ran low.

He also kept a strict routine for meals and insisted that the men socialize after dinner, as a tonic for declining morale. Still, collective disappointment, and tempers, flared.

Through the routines, order and interaction, Shackleton managed the collective fear that threatened to take hold when the trip didn’t go as planned. He knew that in this environment, without traditional benchmarks and supports, his greatest enemies were high levels of anxiety and disengagement, as well as a slow-burning pessimism.

Days became weeks, and weeks became months, and still the ice held the ship. By June 1915 — the thick of winter in the Southern Hemisphere — the ship’s timbers were weakening under the pressure created by the ice, and in October water started pouring into the Endurance.

Shackleton ordered the crew to abandon the sinking ship and make camp on a nearby ice floe. The next morning, he announced a new goal: “Ship and stores have gone — so now we’ll go home.”

A day later, in the privacy of his diary, he was more candid about the gauntlet in front of him. “A man must shape himself to a new mark directly the old one goes to ground,” he wrote. “I pray God, I can manage to get the whole party to civilization.”

After the Endurance sank, leaving the men stranded on the ice with three small lifeboats, several tents and supplies, Shackleton realized that he himself had to embody the new survival mission — not only in what he said and did, but also in his physical bearing and the energy he exuded.

He knew that each day, his presence had huge impact on the men’s mind-sets. He managed his own emotional intelligence — to use a modern term — to keep his own courage and confidence high; when these flagged, he never let his men know.

Andrew Little, group managing director for the Melbourne unit of DDB, the advertising firm, has been strongly influenced by Shackleton in his own work with his team. Mr. Little read the case several years ago in a company-sponsored executive education course. “What I realized from the case is that as a leader, you have to have an unshakable faith in your mission, yourself and your abilities,” he said. “The hardest part of leadership is not just feeding your team with ideas and motivation, but feeding yourself. In the face of enormous obstacles, Shackleton found a way to do this.”

Just as important, Shackleton kept his men’s focus on the future. The ship was gone; previous plans were irrelevant. Now his goal was to bring the team home safely, and he improvised, adapted and used every resource at hand to achieve it.

When a few men expressed skepticism about his plans, he acted quickly to contain their opposition and negativity by trying to win them over and keeping close watch on them. He assigned several potential troublemakers to his own tent on the ice, proving the value of the saying, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

By April 1916, the ice began breaking up, and Shackleton ordered the men to the lifeboats, hoping to reach land along the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. After a week of stormy seas, they arrived at the deserted Elephant Island. They were exhausted, seasick and dehydrated. But they took “childish joy,” one scientist wrote in his diary, “in looking at the black rocks and picking up the stones, for we had stepped on no land since Dec. 5, 1914.”

Almost immediately, Shackleton began planning his next move. Along with five other men, he managed to guide a 22-foot lifeboat to South George Island; from there, a smaller party reached a whaling station and help. After a meal, a bath and a change of clothes, Shackleton said, “we had ceased to be savages and had become civilized men again.”

Then he began looking for a vessel capable of rescuing the rest of his crew. During the next several months, he set sail in three different ships, but none could cut through the pack ice surrounding Elephant Island. Finally, on Aug. 30, 1916, aboard the Yelcho, a Chilean steamer, Shackleton sailed within sight of the island and rescued the 22 remaining men. “I have done it,” he wrote his wife, Emily. “Not a life lost, and we have been through hell.”

Certainly, Shackleton was far from perfect, as executives and M.B.A. students often point out to me. He ordered the ship to sail south even in the face of whalers’ warnings about the pack ice. And the expedition might have fared better had he given more than sporadic attention to training his men how to manage and drive the 60-odd sled dogs on board.

Then there is the question of responsibility for the Aurora, whose crew had been charged with setting out supply depots for the Endurance party as it crossed the continent. After unloading men and supplies in early 1915, the Aurora was also trapped by pack ice and carried into open waters, stranding 10 men. Three of them perished before Shackleton and others arrived in January 1917 to rescue them.

Would the outcome have been different had Shackleton devoted more time, energy and money to preparing the Aurora and its crew? The historical record offers no definitive answers. Nonetheless, I have taught this case more than 60 times, and most participants give Shackleton low or mixed marks for planning.

SET against these mistakes is Shackleton’s behavior after the Endurance was trapped. Once he relinquished his first mission, to walk across Antarctica, and embraced the second, to bring all 28 men home safely, his leadership became much more effective.

Shackleton assumed ultimate responsibility for his team. Perhaps he recognized that he was partly to blame for the crisis that befell the Endurance. Perhaps his naval training instilled in him a deep sense of loyalty and obligation to his fellow crew members. The men themselves understood this, and most, in turn, offered him their commitment.

Shackleton devoted himself to a worthy goal. “As soon as I first read about Shackleton, I was struck by how critical a leader’s personal commitment to his or her mission is,” said Lynne Greene, global president of the beauty brands Clinique, Origins and Ojon, part of the Estée Lauder Companies. (Ms. Greene encountered the case when I spoke at a company executive leadership session.)

“Shackleton’s team knew that whatever came before them on the ice, their leader would give his all to bring them home alive,” she said. This knowledge, she added, “was crucial to achieving the mission, and this commitment is key today when so much is changing so fast.”

Shackleton’s sense of responsibility and commitment came with a great suppleness of means. To get his men home safely, he led them across ice, sea and land with all the tools he could muster. This combination — credible commitment to a larger purpose and flexible, imaginative methods to achieve a goal — is increasingly important in our tumultuous times.

Nancy F. Koehn is a historian and professor of business administration at the Harvard Business School. She is a regular contributor to the Off the Shelf book review column in Sunday Business.

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Teamwork and Leadership Essay

Various factors need to be considered when creating an effective and successful team. From diversity to team hierarchy, many factors influence the eventual output of the team, affecting the leader, team members’ performance, and client’s satisfaction. The paper aims to evaluate what factors need to be considered to create an effective team.

Factors to Consider

First, respect and communication are the primary factors that indicate the potential level of success the team is going to reach. If every team member is capable of providing clear feedback, engage in open communication, and review their own ideas and those of others, it is likely that the teamwork will also result in excellent outcomes. Thus, the leader’s first aim is to evaluate the openness of the communication between team members.

Second, the decision-making in the team also needs the leader’s attention. It is important to avoid recruiting professionals who tend to have an authoritarian approach toward leadership and might try to build a hierarchy with them on the top. A hierarchy is important but should not undermine the team’s effectiveness and cooperation. The leader also has to observe how ideas are used in the team and whether they are all equally reviewed, criticized and accepted (if appropriate).

Third, flexibility is one of the most critical team qualities nowadays because the continually changing business environment requires from professionals to understand how they can adapt to new needs or wishes of their client. If new directions are sent, the team’s responsibility is to respond adequately and efficiently, ensuring that all team members are ready to defend their opinions and are aware of their strengths and weaknesses. It should be noted that both the inability to accept a new point of view and a too-fast readiness to abandon it are bad signs and can undermine teamwork, especially in stressful conditions.

Braun, Peus, Weisweiler, and Frey (2013) examine transformational leadership and its influence on teamwork. An individualized approach toward team members expressed by a transformational leader is often supported by followers because “each individual follower is able to voice concerns through intellectually stimulating behaviour” (Braun et al., 2013, p. 271). Thus, the type of leadership that I as a leader am going to use is of utter importance because of its influence on followers’ morale, performance, and job satisfaction.

Team diversity is another factor that is often emphasized by leaders and in leadership research. Pieterse, Van Knippenberg, and Van Dierendonck (2013) point out that goal orientation is vital for diverse teams because it helps avoid issues related to discrimination and stereotyping in such teams, as well as other task-irrelevant behaviors. Although Pieterse et al. (2013) argue that diversity is a double-edged sword, remarkable results can be achieved if it is handled correctly.

Knowledge and coordination are factors that do not only influence teamwork but also can undermine its effectiveness if they are underrated by the team leader and members. As Reagans, Miron-Spektor, & Argote (2016) point out, teams that are excellent at coordination but low at knowledge will not be highly effective because they are more likely to opt for a more or less satisfactory solution rather than one that considers each team member’s skills and suggestions. Knowledge utilization will affect a team more positively if this team is capable of coordinating activities within it.

Support and trust are qualities that are equally important in private and professional life. For a business team, trust between team members is essential during any process, including product design, review, and launch. Trust is important because it supports knowledge sharing among team members, as well as assistance and commitment. To create an effective team, it is important for me as a leader to evaluate what level of trust there will be between team members and whether it can be elevated.

The readiness to acknowledge one’s mistakes is a feature of active and open leaders and followers who display a critical approach toward themselves and others. Too much critique can negatively affect teamwork, especially if this critique is off point but generally the capability of self-reflection results in more efficient problem-solving. Leaders need to be self-reflective to avoid bias during decision-making; followers need to be self-reflective to understand how their actions will affect not only them but their team too. Stubbornness is difficult to combine with flexibility, and therefore team members need to know when to abandon an idea if it is not beneficial for the team.

Team roles are sometimes omitted but essential for good results. Depending on the person and their responsibility in the team, their role might vary from coordination (a manager of dynamics) to mediation (a team member who builds up and supports relationships among other team members). It is crucial to pick professionals in accordance with team’s goals and roles prepared for it.

Teamwork is a complex and dynamic process that emphasizes the importance of equal contribution from the leader and followers. Various factors such as communication, trust, diversity, openness, leadership style, etc. need to be considered to create a successful team. Flexibility might be seen as one of the major factors that affect team performance.

Braun, S., Peus, C., Weisweiler, S., & Frey, D. (2013). Transformational leadership, job satisfaction, and team performance: A multilevel mediation model of trust. The Leadership Quarterly , 24 (1), 270-283.

Pieterse, A. N., Van Knippenberg, D., & Van Dierendonck, D. (2013). Cultural diversity and team performance: The role of team member goal orientation. Academy of Management Journal , 56 (3), 782-804.

Reagans, R., Miron-Spektor, E., & Argote, L. (2016). Knowledge utilization, coordination, and team performance. Organization Science, 27 (5), 1108-1124.

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IvyPanda. (2023, October 31). Teamwork and Leadership. https://ivypanda.com/essays/teamwork-and-leadership/

"Teamwork and Leadership." IvyPanda , 31 Oct. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/teamwork-and-leadership/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Teamwork and Leadership'. 31 October.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Teamwork and Leadership." October 31, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/teamwork-and-leadership/.

1. IvyPanda . "Teamwork and Leadership." October 31, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/teamwork-and-leadership/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Teamwork and Leadership." October 31, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/teamwork-and-leadership/.

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What Makes a Good Maritime Leader?

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The efforts to transform the maritime industry environmentally and digitise operations are showing positive results, but the consequences of deploying such changes affect everyone, especially seafarers, who handle new devices on a day-to-day basis.

The culture of an organisation is defined by the beliefs and capabilities of the leader.

In a time of accelerated change, organisations often look to leaders for guidance, as “in most companies, digital acceleration comes as a top-down ambition” (Camille Egloff, BCG) . High quality leadership and excellent change management, therefore, is crucial for the success of the environmental and digital transformations in the maritime industry.

“Leaders must manage the change or it will manage them”, Reed Deshler wrote for the AlignOrg blog .

Weak leadership provides no guidance. It confuses people, demotivates them and creates poor working environments.

To find out what makes a good maritime leader, Maritime Informa Connect asked Captain Pradeep Chawla, Managing Director of QHSE and Training for Anglo-Eastern Univan Group, and Captain Kuba Szymanski, Secretary General at InterManager, both of whom have a wealth of experience at sea and on shore.

Can you define what leadership is and why it’s important for an organisation to have strong leaders?

Chawla: “Leadership for me is the ability to motivate people to give their best for the benefit of the organisation. I think the expression ‘strong leaders’ gives an indication of ‘authoritative‘ style of leadership. In the modern world, especially dealing with millennials, a good leader needs to encourage participative management. Engagement and collaboration are the qualities most needed today. A leader is like the captain of a ship. The culture of an organisation is defined by the beliefs and capabilities of the leader. Good leaders inspire every employee to succeed. Good leaders create happy work environments, which creates positive energy and creativity in an organisation.”

Szymanski: “This is a topic I would like to see more companies asking themselves. I would like to see a workshop between shore and sea staff who could sit together and brainstorm this issue. Presently, we, as seafarers, are pretty confused. On the one hand, we hear that our management, our owners, are looking for strong leaders but in the day-to-day relationship and communication we can sense that actually we are expected to be managers. Shipping is increasingly going into the compliance industry where good followers are expected and not leaders. There are areas where leaders can really show their true colours. Everything is now very prescriptive and there is a lot of monitoring functions installed to make sure that regulations and procedures are followed. Therefore, I am not sure at what level the shipping industry really wants to have leaders. Historically, it was on board of the vessels as we wanted the ship Masters to be leaders. But today, I think we are looking more at the CEO level where we would like to see serious leaders, those individuals who would inspire and look after their subordinates – their ‘troops’.”

Numerous books have been written but there is no magic formula to create good leaders. It is a combination of qualities.

What are the consequences of weak leadership and what issues can strong leadership solve?

Chawla: “Without a good leader, organisations tend to drift towards lower standards of operations, slowly leading to lower profits and loss of reputation. Conflicts exist within every organisation. Good leaders are rational and are capable of listening to alternative view points and bringing about consensus based on respecting the different views. Weak leadership allows discontent to fester. Employees are de-motivated and the good ones will seek other opportunities or work at minimum efficiency levels.”

Szymanski: “Weak leadership provides no guidance. It confuses people, demotivates them and creates poor working environments. Strong leaders motivate people, evoke the very best in every individual, and create excellent working environments where every individual feels appreciated, respected and needed.”

Are there leadership and management styles that work better than others? What are they, and why do they work so well?

Chawla: “Psychologists have studied good and bad leaders throughout history and have found various styles of leadership. Numerous books have been written but there is no magic formula to create good leaders. It is a combination of qualities. What works and what doesn’t also depends on the time period and the circumstances existing in the organisation or society at that time. Hitler managed to convince millions about his viewpoint. Nelson Mandela had to suffer in jail for many years before his leadership style got accepted and won the freedom. In the era that we are now in, authoritative and harsh styles generally do not work in organisations, however there are present day leaders whose leadership style is abhorred by other nations.”

We believe that we need leaders, but we are not prepared to let them lead.

Szymanski: “I am definitely from the old school, where ships were allowed a certain amount of freedom and ship Masters were expected to be leaders. That was possible when ashore management was conducted by leaders too. Today, with the advent of people managing ships, who have not been in leadership positions themselves, we can see more and more micro management. My assessment of the situation is that we are in the transitional phase. We are leaving macro management in the past and getting into micro management. However, I believe that firstly we have not realised that yet and secondly, we still have false expectations of our sea staff. We believe that we need leaders, but we are not prepared to let them lead. As soon as we see independence we pull the reigns and bring those leaders back to comply with very strict rules, regulations and procedures. This situation creates a lot of friction and results in misunderstandings, frustrations and frequent errors. People like to be trusted. We work best when we are set common goals and allowed certain amount of freedom. We take pride in solving problems. We are not very good ‘monitors’. We get bored quickly when we take to the position of ‘human robots’. This is when errors, frustration, and boredom quickly sets in.”

What is the most important skill in a maritime leader and why?

Chawla: “Seafaring is like a religion. Seafarers from different countries share a common vision of leadership. I think the most important skill for a maritime leader today is to be able to convince his staff that he or she is a fair, just, caring and honest person who considers the employees as a family.”

Szymanski: “I would say it used to be quick problem solving. Also, because of the nature of our work, we were very good in multi-cultural groups. Seafarers were excellent when it came to reliability and resilience. The sea is still very demanding and unforgiving. It is commendable that we are trying to help and assist seafarers with technology, regulations and procedures but I believe we are relying on technology and procedures too much. We started ignoring people and their practical, first-hand experiences and we are starting to pay the price for it.”

What is the most important quality in a maritime leader and why?

Chawla: “Information age has put knowledge in the hands of every individual. In my opinion, the most important qualities needed are genuine empathy, honesty and transparent behaviour.”

Szymanski: “The ability not to give up, and a can-do attitude. It would be shame to see it go.”

Organisations need to genuinely empower their employees

How do you think the industry could reinforce leadership and management training?

Chawla: “The industry can reinforce leadership through mentoring and leading by example. Organisations need to genuinely empower their employees, not through slogans, but by genuinely engaging with their employees, listening to them and taking actions to solve the issues. The next generation will improve their own leadership skills when they see true leadership.”

Szymanski: “By learning from our mistakes and abandoning the blame culture, and by supporting individuals and allowing them to flourish. We should promote independence and macro management and initiatives that help seafarers’ development, which improve their lives at sea.”

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Leadership and Teamworking Skills

Course Summary:

This course is intended to provide a person with the knowledge, skill and understanding of leadership and teamwork at the operational level on board a ship. It is designed to meet STCW requirements for the application of leadership and teamworking skills, in accordance with the 2010 Manila Amendments, specifically as stated in tables A-II/1, A-III/1 and A-III/6, Function: Controlling the operation of the ship and care for persons on board at the operational level.

Course Length:

Class size:.

18 Students

Pre-Registration is Required

Prerequisites:

It is assumed that trainees undertaking this course will, through on-campus learning and onboard experience, have sufficient familiarity with shipboard operations to understand that leadership and teamworking is an essential part of their role on board at the operational level.

Course Details:

On completion of the course, the trainee should be able to demonstrate sufficient understanding and knowledge of leadership and teamworking. The trainee will have the relevant skills to competently carry out the duties of officer in charge of a navigational watch on ships of 500 gross tonnage or more, or officer in charge of an engineering watch in a manned engine-room or designated duty engineer in a periodically unmanned engine-room. The knowledge, understanding, and proficiency should include, but not be limited to, those listed in Column 2 of tables A-II/1, A-III/1, and A-III/6:

Working knowledge of shipboard personnel management and training
A knowledge of related international maritime conventions and recommendations, and national legislation
Ability to apply task and workload management
Knowledge and ability to apply effective resource management
Knowledge and ability to apply decision-making techniques

Examination:

One examination is administered at the end of the course: 10 Questions, 70% minimum score.

Mon Jul 29, 2024
Fri Sep 06, 2024
Fri Nov 15, 2024

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Essay on Leadership And Teamwork

Students are often asked to write an essay on Leadership And Teamwork in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Leadership And Teamwork

What is leadership.

Leadership is like being the captain of a ship. The leader guides everyone to work together towards a goal. A good leader is someone who cares for the team, helps everyone do their best, and makes sure everyone feels important. They are not bossy but help solve problems and make decisions that are good for everyone.

What is Teamwork?

Teamwork is when a group of people work together, like players on a soccer team passing the ball. Each person has a special job, and they must all cooperate to win the game. Good teamwork means sharing ideas, listening to others, and helping each other out.

Leadership in Teams

A leader in a team is like the coach of the soccer team. They help the team understand the plan and encourage them to work hard. The leader also praises the team when they do well and helps them learn from mistakes. This makes the team stronger and better at working together.

Teamwork and Success

When a team works well together, they can achieve big things. Like a puzzle, every piece is needed to complete the picture. Teamwork makes sure everyone’s skills are used, and no one is left out. When everyone does their part, the team can reach its goals and be successful.

250 Words Essay on Leadership And Teamwork

Leadership is like being the captain of a ship. The captain must guide the ship and crew safely through storms and calm seas. A good leader does the same with a team. They show the way, make smart choices, and help everyone work together. They are not bosses who order people around. Instead, they are role models who inspire their team to do their best.

Teamwork Makes Dreams Work

Teamwork is when a group of people work together, like players on a soccer team passing the ball to score a goal. Each person has a special role, but they all share the same aim: to win the game. In teamwork, sharing ideas and helping each other is very important. When one person is stuck, another can help. This is how teams solve problems faster and better than one person alone.

Leadership in Teamwork

In a team, the leader is the one who cheers everyone on and keeps them focused on the goal. They make sure that every team member knows what to do and feels important. A true leader also listens to the team’s ideas and feelings. This makes the team strong because when people are heard and respected, they work harder and happier.

Leadership and teamwork are like peanut butter and jelly – they are best when together. A leader without a team has no one to lead, and a team without a leader may not know where to go. But when they work together, they can achieve amazing things, just like a ship reaching new lands with a brave captain and a strong crew.

500 Words Essay on Leadership And Teamwork

Leadership is like being the captain of a ship. Just like a captain guides a ship through the sea, a leader guides a team to reach its goals. A good leader is someone who can show others the way, make smart choices, and help everyone work together. They don’t only tell people what to do, but they also join in and help get the job done. They are like a coach in a sports team, always encouraging players to do their best.

The Power of Teamwork

Teamwork is when a group of people come together to do something. Think of it like a soccer team where everyone has a position to play. If one person tries to do everything, the team won’t win. But if everyone plays their part, they can achieve great things. Teamwork is sharing ideas, helping each other, and working for a common goal. It’s like building a tower with blocks; if everyone adds their block, the tower grows tall and strong.

Leaders Bring Teams Together

A good leader knows how to bring people together. They understand that each person on the team has something special to offer. It’s like making a big fruit salad; you need different fruits to make it tasty. Leaders make sure everyone knows what they should do and how important their job is for the team’s success. They are like the glue that holds the team together.

Communication is Key

Talking and listening are super important in leadership and teamwork. Leaders need to be clear when they give instructions so that everyone knows what to do. They also need to listen to their team’s ideas and problems. It’s like when friends talk to each other to plan a game; they need to listen and share ideas to make it fun for everyone.

Problem Solving Together

Sometimes teams face problems, like a puzzle that’s hard to solve. A good leader helps the team to stay calm and think of ways to fix the problem. They know that two heads are better than one, which means that working together can help find the best solution. It’s like when you’re stuck in a video game; sometimes you need a friend to help you find the way out.

Respect and Trust

Respect and trust are like the roots of a tree that keep it standing. Leaders must respect their team and earn their trust. This means treating everyone fairly and keeping promises. When a team trusts their leader, they feel safe and work better together.

Learning from Mistakes

Nobody is perfect, and mistakes happen. A good leader doesn’t get mad about mistakes. Instead, they help the team learn from them. It’s like when you fall off your bike; you get back up and try again, and you learn how to ride better.

Leadership and teamwork are like peanut butter and jelly; they are best when they go together. A leader without a team is like a captain without a ship, and a team without a leader can be lost at sea. Together, they can sail to success, making sure everyone is happy and doing their best. So, whether you’re leading a group project or playing a team sport, remember that being a good leader and working as a team can help you achieve amazing things.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

Essay on Coping With Stress
Essay on Leader Who Inspires You Most
Essay on Corn

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

Course info

Leadership and teamwork.

This course is designed around, equip the attendees with explicit knowledge and understanding to value them to develop as leaders in their maritime profession, workshops are included to enhance decision making, techniques and team building skills. It also made for the seafarer and includes segment of safety. Leadership as per guidelines, teamwork, conflict resolution.

SHIPBOARD ORGANIZATIONAL PLAN

The ship's crew consist of all those on board with the purpose of taking the ship out to sea. From the highest to the lowest ranks, each is required to perform their respective duties to the highest standard in order to maintain a safe and efficient voyage.

The Captain (or Master) of the ship is the final authority of the ship and is the highest rank that one can achieve onboard. He shoulders total responsibility and oversees all shipboard operations. The Captain is in command of a merchant ship at all times and regulates the proper daily transactions and handles the legal affairs on maritime issues. In the unlikely event that the Master is not present on board, the Chief Mate is assumed to be interim in charge for shipboard operations.

MASTER’S RESPONSIBILITY AND AUTHORITY

Implementing the safety and environmental protection policy of the company
Motivating the crew in the observation of the policy
Issuing appropriate orders and instructions in a clear and simple manner
Verifying that specified requirements are observed
Reviewing the Safety and Management System and reporting its deficiencies to the shore based management:
In implementing safety policies on board, the master will be guided by company policies, international, national and local laws and regulations, but it is he who bears full responsibility for implementing and operating within the safety policies on board
The master should discharge his responsibilities by motivating all personnel on board and are able to contribute to the elevation of safety standards on board
The master has the overriding authority and responsibility to make decisions with respect to safety and pollution prevention and to request the company’s assistance as may be necessary

FUNCTIONS OF EACH DEPARTMENT

DECK DEPARTMENT

The deck department shall take charge of the following portion of the ship duties:

Ship’s operation and navigation
Security of hull and equipment of the deck department
Cargo and postal matters
Ship’s stores of the deck department
Flag and signal
Health supervision
Laws and regulations, circular letters, books and other important documents
Records and reports of the deck department

ENGINE DEPARTMENT

The engine department shall take charge of the following portion of the ship duties:

Ship’s machinery operation
Security of engine and equipment of the engine department
Supply of water, air and electric power
Fuel and lubricating oil
Ships stores of the engine department
Maintenance of temperature, etc. of refrigerated cargoes and liquid cargoes in deep tanks
Use of boiler water
Maintenance of all deck machineries
Records and reports of engine departments

STEWARD DEPARTMENT

The steward department shall take charge of the following portion of the ship duties:

Provision, cooking and service
Security of equipment of the steward department
Ship’s store of the steward department
Entertainment
Miscellaneous business with the master and officers
Goods or articles for welfare
Reports and records of the steward department

SPECIFIC DUTIES OF EACH CREW

THE DECK DEPARTMENT

Chief Officer/Mate
Second Officer/Mate
Third Officer/Mate
Deck Cadets

CHIEF OFFICER / CHIEF MATE

The C hief Officer occupies the second responsible position after the Captain of the vessel. He is the executive head of the deck department and executes the order of the Master at the operational level (although the rank itself is a more managerial position). He supervises the vessel’s crew and looks after the various deck operations which include, but not limited to the daily ongoings of the deck as per the work schedule as well as the cargo operations to be carried out while in port.

The Chief Mate prioritizes the security and safe functioning of the vessel and is responsible for the welfare of crew and passengers (if on a passenger ship) on board. Additionally, the correct working of the hull, the accommodation section, the cargo gearing, the security appliances and the fire prevention equipment is managed by the Chief Officer. Chief among all of his duties is the safe navigation of the ship for which he is an Officer of the Watch (OOW) for the navigational watches between 0400-0800 hrs and 1600-2000 hrs. Already burdened with a lot of work in port, the Chief Mate usually does not keep port watches as he is constantly overseeing the cargo work.

SECOND OFFICER/ SECOND MATE

The 2nd Mate is an OOW responsible for the charts & publications on board and their maintenance. Also, he is the medical officer onboard responsible for the upkeep and administering of all medically related services onboard. Being an OOW, the navigational watch timings for him are 1200-1600 hrs and 0000-0400 hrs while at sea. In port, his watches are from 1200-1800 hrs and 0000-0600 hrs

THIRD OFFICER/ THIRD MATE

The 3rd Mate is in charge of all the LSA and FFA onboard and is assigned the duty to upkeep and maintain them onboard. Apart from that, he has to handle all the port documents for use by the Master along with handling the bond store onboard. Being an OOW, the navigational watch timings for him are 0800-1200 hrs and 2000-0000 hrs while at sea. In port, his watches are from 0600-1200 hrs and 1800-0000 hrs

The deck cadet is the trainee officer onboard, fresh out of the Institute. His sole job is to learn, comprehend and apply skills for the process of becoming a skilled officer in the future. Being a fresh candidate, a cadet is assigned tasks that give him a gradual understanding of the ship and her ongoings which come to use when preparing for the “Certificate of Competency” examinations to assume responsibility as an OOW in the future. Aside from the deck work that he needs to grasp, the major chunk of a cadets learning pertains to assisting an OOW in carrying out a safe navigational watch

DECK RATING (non-officers)

Bosun (head of the rating staff)
Welder/ Fitter ( this rank onboard renders his services to both the deck as well as the engine department)
Able Bodied Seaman (AB)
Ordinary Seaman (OS)

Boatswain (specifically pronounced as bosun) is in charge of the unlicensed deck crew or he is the head of the ratings in the deck department and performs all practical seamanship work on board under the order of the chief or deck officer.

ABLE SEAMAN

According to the modern nautical terminology, an able seaman (AB) possesses a merchant mariner’s document and is eligible to assist the deck department.

ORDINARY SEAMAN

The post of an ordinary seaman, denoted by OS, serves the vessel’s deck department. An OS is usually busy with tasks such as buffing, scaling, cleaning the deck and occasionally painting the superstructure, above the main deck. An ordinary seaman can undertake activities like overhauling, splicing ropes, wiring, rigging, etc and conduct repair work on the deck. It is the Ordinary seaman’s job to ensure secure handling of cargo gears and loading or dismantling cargo as directed by the Bosun/Chief Mate. A trainee OS is like a cadet but for the ratings section.

WORK SCOPES AND JOB ASSIGNMENT – ENGINE DEPARTMENT

CHIEF ENGINEER

The Chief Engineer, under the Master’s command, is the head of the Engine Department and responsible for the maintenance and repairs of all engine, machinery and equipment in the engine room and on the deck, and must assist the Master in the appropriate utilization and maintenance of the Safety Management System. His responsibilities include:

a) Management of engine personnel and execution of operations, maintenance and repairs of all machinery and equipment on board the vessel, training and evaluation of engine personnel and regularly submitting his report of applicable results to the Master and to the Company

b) Assignment of the engineers to specific work details, such as control and management of machinery, equipment, stores, spare parts, tools and paper works

c) Upkeeping all machinery and equipment onboard, including technical instruction books and drawings in good working order, report those items for repair or replacement that are beyond his ability to perform onboard to the Master and the Company

d) Management and control of the ship’s fuel oil, lube oil, fresh water, stores, and spare parts; make regular reports as required to the Master regarding the consumption and remaining quantities; attention paid concerning economic usage of fuel, lube oil, fresh water, and spare parts immediately remedy any abnormal consumption past or present and report the result of his observation or his treatments to the company for their record and future reference

e) Preparation of inspection items to be checked for class or by surveyors in attendance onboard, in case any defects are found, immediately remedy or make adjustments to bring the item back to normal working order and to report the results to the Company through the Master.

f) Prior to the vessel’s planned docking repairs, submit repair list to the Master for the Company’s decision on repair items which includes work items to be carried out by crewhands themselves; upon completion of repairs ashore, acknowledge the contents of repair list with signature

g) In case of emergency such as fire, going around, collision, or flooding of engine room, immediately contact the master to report to the Designated Person Ashore and taking necessary measures to control, remedy, or minimize the damage as far as possible

SECOND MARINE ENGINEER/1 ST ASST. ENGINEER

Being the Chief Executive Engine Officer under the Chief Engineer’s supervision, the 1 st Assistant Engineer is to perform the following duties:

a) Control, train, and evaluate the engine crew’s performance and behavior and make regular reports to the Chief Engineer

b) Execution of operation, maintenance, and repairs of main engine, aux engine and other machinery and equipment onboard; keep records of running hours for major machinery for maintenance purpose

c) Control and management of consumable items, such as fuel, lube oils, fresh water, stores, and spare parts; regular submission of quantities of consumption and those remaining to the Chief Engineer as required by the company

d) In case of emergency, handling or treatment of urgent repairs as per the Chief Engineer’s instructions, this includes the startup and operation of the life boat engines during boat drills

e) Preparation of list for shore repairs or docking repairs; this list shall include those work items to be done by crewhands themselves

ELECTRICAL ENGINEER

If applicable is assigned mainly to take care of electric plants, motors, and other electric equipment

REEFER ENGINEER

Under the supervision of the Chief Engineer, shall be responsible for operation, monitoring and maintenance of complete cargo reefer plant, ozone generators, Co2 analyzer, humidity monitor, ventilation system, reefer containers, controlled atmosphere unit, refrigerated provision stores and air conditioning systems on board. He shall maintain inventories, order stores for above systems and prepare reports and reefer logs, is required. He is also to assist the Third Engineer to attend to electrical jobs, if required in the absence of Electrical Engineer.

OILER/MOTORMAN

Following instructions of the Chief Engineer and the 1 st Engineer (IAE) and/or the Duty Engineer. He shall be conversant with the Safety Management System and Policies. While carrying out any job, due regard must be kept to maintain the highest standards of safety and environmental protection while achieving the desired result.

a) Completely familiarize with all equipment and machinery on board which forms a part of his routine watch-keeping duties

b) To assist in carrying out routine overhauls of various equipment and machinery on board

c) To follow instructions from the Engineers for proper implementation of ship’s Waste Management Plan in the Engine Room

d) To carry out all other duties/jobs that may be required to be performed by him under the normal and routine operations of the vessel or in an unforeseen emergency event as may be required under the direction of the Master/Chief Engineer

Shall be responsible to carry out all duties assigned to him by the Second Engineer and/or the Duty Engineer. He shall be conversant with the Safety Management System and Policies. While carrying out any job, due regard must be kept to maintain the highest standards of safety and environmental protection while achieving the desired result.

d) To assist in bunkering operation as directed by the Chief Engineer

ENGINE CADET/ ENGINE TRAINEE

Their primary function is to take an active part in ship work operation and learn the job functions to enable him to serve as a capable Officer in the future. The Cadet is a trainee and is not to be assigned independent watch-keeping duties.

a) The Cadet will carry out all jobs and duties assigned to him by the Chief Engineer, 1 st Asst. Engineer or any other Engineers. He will report to the 1 st Asst. engineer or in his absence, any other Engineer delegated to him.

b) The Cadet will be responsible to maintain the Cadet Shipboard Training Book as well as maintain work diaries, journals, etc. which he will present to the Master are regular intervals for inspection.

PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT OF C/E, 2 ND ENG’R, 3 RD ENG’R, 4 TH ENG’R

The Chief Engineer is the head of the technical department of the ship. It is his duty to ensure that the engine room machinery works properly for a smooth voyage.

According to the Safety of life at sea (SOLAS) convention, it is the responsibility of the chief engineer to look after the safety of maritime professionals working in the engine room. The duties of the chief engineer are clearly mentioned in STCW 95 section A- III /2.

SOLAS states that the operation of the ship and its equipment should be properly taken care of by the chief engineer, satisfying all minimum standards of safety.

Duties of the chief engineer in both general and emergency conditions on the ship are :

Ensure that all the ship’s machinery and equipment are working in an efficient manner in order to support safe navigation of the ship.
Carry out all his duties while complying with the rules and regulations laid down by the flag state administration, IMO, and port state authorities.
Frequent inspections of equipment dealing with ship and personal safety must be carried out by him at regular intervals of time
All items used for pollution prevention should be frequently checked and tried out for proper operating condition
Lay down a set of standing orders for each crew member under his command
Standing orders should be given in accordance with the routine maintenance schedule as laid down by the Planned Maintenance System (PMS), which is prescribed by the manufactures
See that details of every operation and activity should be properly maintained in log and record books, which state the compliance of the system.
Life-saving and fire preventing equipment should be checked a regular basis for their operating condition. (Operating mechanism and linkages should be inspected and lubricated frequently)
Ensure that proper operation and maintenance of fuel and lubricating oil and purifying equipment is carried out to minimize leakage. In case there are leakages, they should be rectified at the earliest.
Make sure that the amount of waste oil that is collected should be as less as possible. The collected oil should be burnt in an incinerator or given to shore-based collecting facilities.
Ensure that the maintenance of incinerator is carried out as per the rules and regulations laid down by the management
To check that from the effluent mixture, only clean water is pumped out of the ship only through an oily water separator . (According to few company rules, only the chief engineer should handle the Oily water separator )
Must make sure the maintenance and repair procedures are carried out properly, and necessary machine spare should be made available in the ships store by filing a proper requisition at the right time.
It is the duty of the chief engineer to motivate his crew to develop a “safety first” attitude in his work.
Makes sure that his crew attends all shipboard emergency drills and safety meetings.
Must provide guidance to his crew during drills so that they know how to get out of an emergency situation safely in the minimum time possible.
Must follow the company guidelines and procedures for dealing with emergencies
At the sight of an emergency, response time matters a lot. Therefore, the chief engineer must be able to guide his crew in minimum time to attend and rectify the task.
Must have the knowledge of equipment such as fixed fire fighting installation, the operation of quick closing valve etc. in order to deal with extreme emergency situations.
He must also have the knowledge of shipboard emergency equipment response machinery panel, along with other important emergency machinery
Must maintain proper communication with the master regarding the situation of emergency, as the ship’s master is in touch with the local authorities and the shipping office.
Must be co-operative with the master so that both deck and engine departments function towards bringing the emergency situation under control in the quickest possible time
Should maintain a proper conduct with his crew members and address their queries and requirements to the best of his abilities

2 nd ENGINEER

The 2 nd engineer provides utmost assistance to the Chief engineer for running the ship efficiently. Moreover, second engineer is also in-charge of all the operational engineers and the crew of the engine room. He ensures for their personnel safety and routine duties. He also plans the overall maintenance of all the machinery present in the engine room of the ship.

Duties of 2 nd Engineer

A brief description of the duties of second engineer is as follows:

Safety of Personnel : Second engineer is responsible for risk assessment, briefing and safety training of the entire engine crew, especially for the junior engineers and fresh crew.
LSA and FFA : He is responsible for operation and maintenance of life saving appliances and fire fighting appliances.
Emergency equipment : All the emergency machinery and equipment under SOLAS are responsibility of second engineer.
Rest hours : The rest hour of all the individual working in the engine room has to be taken care of by the second engineer as per STCW .

Pollution Prevention

Pollution Prevention Machineries : He is the person in-charge of Pollution prevention equipment onboard like OWS , Sewage plant , incinerator etc.
Oil transfer : He is responsible for all oil transfer operations carried out onboard including bunkering .
Pollution prevention plan : He is responsible for implementation of SOPEP and other the equipment involved with the same.
Sludge and bilge : Second engineer has to keep the engine room bilge clean of oil and oily water. All tank parameters are to be recorded for sludge and bilge system.
Regulations : All the rules and regulation related to MARPOL has to be applied and implemented by the second engineer

Engine Room Management

Responsibility : He is the in-charge for managing the engine room staff and carrying out duties of the engine room.
Assistance : He directly reports to the chief engineer and also becomes the in-charge of the engine room on his absence/behalf.
Job distribution : He distributes and assigns duties to all the engine crew members and acts as supervisor to them.
Housekeeping : He is also the in-charge of engine room housekeeping and engine room garbage management.
Spares and inventory : Second engineer is responsible for storing all the spares properly and keeping and maintaining record of the spares’ inventory

Operation and Maintenance of Machinery

Engine room and deck machinery : The second engineer is responsible for the maintenance of all the engine room and deck machinery.
Safe operation : He is responsible to make sure all the machineries and safety systems are working safely, efficiently and within the provided parameters.
PMS and BMS : Planned maintenance system(PMS) is to be implemented by the second engineer and in case of any breakdown maintenance (BMS), should be immediately taken care of by him

Documentation

Record keeping : Different records of the engine room have to be maintained and updated regularly. This is the responsibility of the second engineer. A few examples of important records are log book, bell book, Saturday or Monday routine book etc.
Spare Inventory : All the spares for engine room machineries like pumps , auxiliary engine etc are to be stored and inventory to be maintained and updated regularly.
Oil inventory : The quantity for oil present in the tanks for machinery operation like lube oil, fuel or diesel oil etc has to be recorded in an oil record book. A track for the next bunker order also needs to be maintained.
PMS : The planned maintenance system paper work like updating the maintenance data etc. is to be completed under the second engineer supervision
He is responsible for familiarising the crew member with safety features of the ship such as emergency escape, life boat , sopep etc.
He should supervise the engine crew for training them to operate pollution prevention machineries like OWS , sewage plant etc.
He is responsible to train the crew members for various emergency situations like flooding , fire , pirates attack and abandon ship etc.

THIRD ENGINEER’S DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ON THE SHIP

The third engineer is usually in charge of boilers, fuel, auxiliary engines, condensate and feed systems, and is the third most senior engine officer on board. Depending on usage, "the Third" or "the Second" is also typically in charge of fueling (a.k.a. bunkering), granted the officer holds a valid Person In Charge (PIC) endorsement for fuel transfer operations.

The exact duties of this position will often depend upon the type of ship and arrangement of the engine department. On ships with steam propulsion plants the Second or Third is in charge of the boilers, combustion control, soot blowers , condensate and feed equipment, feed pumps , fuel, and condensers. On diesel and gas turbine propulsion plants the Second is in charge of auxiliary boilers, auxiliary engines, incinerator , air compressors, fuel, and fuel oil purifiers.

Third Engineer duties and responsibilities:

Acts as an understudy of the Second Engineer;
Performs sea and port watchkeeping;
Maintains the Boiler and performs Cooler Water Test;
Monitors all pump lines, provision reefer, emergency pump lines and ship’s spare and stores;
Reports to the upkeep of the steam boiler and associated auxiliaries, refrigerating equipment and other machinery assigned by the Chief Engineer. He shall report to the Chief Engineer any problem observed in the handling of the said equipment;
Manages fuel consumption;
Cutodian of Engine Log Book and other engineering records;
Performs such other functions as may be assigned by the Second Engineer;

FOURTH ENGINEER’S DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ON THE SHIP

According to policies of all shipping companies, seafarers joining any vessel have to be competent, qualified and experienced. Joining a ship as a fourth engineer is the first step towards a sailing career on ship. It is only after becoming a fourth engineer that a mariner experiences real responsibility on a ship.

Duties of 4 th Engineer by Default

On all types of ships, irrespective of the shipping company, a 4 th engineer shall report to the 2 nd Engineer, who shall assign the duties to him, both at sea and at port and whose orders he or she shall consider effective and binding as though emanating from the Chief Engineer. Moreover, the 4 th engineer shall also assist the 2 nd engineer when necessary in carrying out duties of the later.

Duties of 4 th Engineer upon joining a Vessel

A 4 th engineer, upon joining a vessel, should carry out the following duties.

Upon joining a vessel, the relieving 4 th engineer shall report his presence on board to the Chief Engineer or in his absence to the 2 nd Engineer.
The 4 th engineer should take a thorough round of the engine department with the signing off engineer and do a proper taking over of the duties.
He should check the inventory and location of all purifier and compressor spares.
He should check Inventory and location of pumps spares and tools.
He should check running hours and maintenance schedule of his designated machinery.
He should check general condition of machinery and special procedure for operation.
Condition and layout of bunkering system including valve operation, tanks and sounding pipe location should be checked.
Condition and layout of sludge and bilge discharge system including valves and pump operation should also be checked.
Thorough sounding of all fuel tanks, bilge and sludge tank should be taken.
Daily consumption of lube oil, fuel oil, marine diesel or gas oil and cylinder oil for daily record keeping in sounding log is to be checked.
Daily production of bilge and sludge on board for record keeping of waste water sounding log.

After completion of the engine room round together, the 4 th engineer shall report the details to the 2 nd engineer and notify discrepancies observed, if any.

The 4 th Engineer as in charge of Purifier, Compressor, and machinery other than main engine, auxiliary engine and boiler, is responsible for:

Record keeping of machinery running hours under his charge.
For carrying out planned maintenance routine under the supervision of chief or second engineer.
Taking daily tank sounding of fuel oil, diesel oil, lube and cylinder oil on board ship and record keeping of the same.
Record keeping of sludge and bilge on board.
Acting as assistant in charge to chief engineer for operation during bunker of fuel, diesel and lube oil.
Completing the month end official papers for his designated machinery.
Compliance of environment policy and MARPOL requirements under the guidance of Chief Engineer.
Maintenance and up keeping of the engine room log book and all those files on board advised by the Chief Engineer.

The above mentioned duties are the basic requirements for any 4 th engineer going on board. However, duties might be subtracted or added on the basis of the type of the ship and shipping company.

APPLY EFFECTIVE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND DECISION-MAKING

Personnel Management on board a ship is all about governing officers who have bigger responsibilities, they are the ones who make decisions. They represent the administrative and it is their role to integrate the crew with the technical aspects to that relationship between officers and crew will improve.

SHIPBOARD ORGANIZATION

A key activity in shipboard organization is behavior is to develop an environment in which the crew are motivated towards teamwork. Coordination refers to effective time and sequence in performing shipboard activities and cooperation which indicates the willingness of the crew to work together to accomplish the assigned task.

One best way of ship management regarding their job such as:

Proper way to organize the work
Proper way to delegate the work
Proper way to divide the work

STANDARD REGARDING GENERAL PROVISIONS

Standard of competence means the level of proficiency to be achieved for the proper performance of functions on board ship in accordance with the internationally agreed criteria as set forth herein and incorporating prescribed standards or level of knowledge, understanding, and demonstrated skills.
Management level means the level of responsibilities associated with:
Serving as Master, Chief Mate, Chief Engineer or Second Engineer office on board a seagoing ship.
Ensuring that all functions within the designated area of responsibility are properly performed.
Master – the person having command of a ship

Chief Mate –the officer next in rank to the Master and upon whom the command of the ship will fall in the event of incapacity of the Master.

Chief Engineer – the senior engineer officer who is responsible for the mechanical propulsion and maintenance of the mechanical and electrical installation of the ship.

Second Engineer Officer – the Engineer officer next in rank to the chief engineer and upon whom the responsibility for the mechanical propulsion and the operation and maintenance of the mechanical and electrical of the ship will fail in the event of the incapacity of the chief engineer officer

Operational level – means the level of responsibility associated with:
Serving as incharge of navigational or engineering watch or as a designated duty engineer for periodically unmanned machinery space on board seagoing ship
Maintaining area of responsibility in accordance with the proper procedures and under the direction of an individual serving in the management level for that area of responsibility.
Teacher: Capt. Benjamin Advincula

COMMENTS

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