HINDUSTAN INSTITUTE OF MARITIME TRAINING (HIMT)

EXTRA FIRSTCLASS ENGINEERING COURSE

SEMESTER TWO

SUBJECT : B6: Human Element

Assignment 3

Set by: G.Sekhar

gs@himtmarine.com

1. Answer all the questions

2. Each answer should be about 1500 words
3. All assignments are to be sent only to
assignefcb02@himtmarine.com .
Hindustan Institute of maritime Training
Extra First Class Engineer Course: Part A Assignments
Subject Code
B6 :Human Element
and Name
Student Name Mugilrajan D
Module no:
3
Student ID
35442
Date
23/11/2016
submitted:

1. Elucidate the challenges and benefits of a multicultural crew on board with

reference to communication, values and any other aspect

A major concern of the shipping industry tends to focus on multinational seafarers, because
several companies man their fleets with cross-cultural crews. The merchant fleet is an
international workplace and has a long tradition sailing with crews that represent many different
nationalities; two thirds of the world merchant marine vessels have crews that are multinational
and multilingual
The challenges concerning multinational and multicultural seafarers in global shipping are
highlighted in, as follows:
Communication problems
Diversity challenge (multicultural challenge).
Reducing interest of a seafaring career
Cultural education challenges in MET institutions and in shipping companies.

Benefits of manning the ship with multinational crew members can be recognized, as follows:
Crewmembers from different cultures may tend to use different intellectual processes
and patterns, providing a diverse range of responses and input.
By ensuring a broad mixture of nationalities, the captains authority is unlikely to be
challenged by strong national groupings.
By working in a multicultural crew, each members knowledge of the world will be
improved. This may be of advantage to the company later, if a seafarer transfers to a
shore-based job where such knowledge can translate directly into a business advantage.
Recruiting seafarers from developing countries often provides support to those countries
from remittances sent home to families. The impact on the economy can improve
maritime training in those countries, which in turn again improves the candidates from
which ship owners may recruit.
Ship owners and shipping companies search for seafarers to man their ships in low-cost crewing
countries. Mixed-crews from developing countries are cheap. Consequently, multinational
officers and ratings give an advantage to the world shipping fleet from an economic point-ofview.
Besides benefits, the disadvantages of recruiting multinational seafarers are:
Multicultural crews have become a critical issue in the development of ship manning. The
shipping companies do not take full advantage of this situation and even find problems. Many
owners have difficulties in managing crews from different nationalities. Moreover, several
remarks on multicultural crews have been made, as follows:

Language was found to be a critical issue for multinational crews. The use of mother tongue
rather than a common language (English) fostered suspicion amongst multilingual crews so
that this could result in frustration.

Faith was a fundamental part of many seafarers lives. Some seafarers regretted that only
Western religious holidays were marked aboard many vessels.

Stereotyping is apparently diminished with contact. Thus, seafarers were less likely to have
stereotyped understandings with whom they had sailed regularly and were more likely to
generalize about national groups with whom they had little contact

The most challenging issue regarding multicultural and multilingual crews is the human element
onboard ship. This concerns how to work together and cooperate within mixed-crews onboard
ships. Various nationalities represent different cultures with different languages. The barriers
which tend to affect the human element include a lack of cultural awareness and communication
failure. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has reported that by far the majority of
accidents at sea are caused by human error, and one of the main causes of these accidents and
incidents is due to the poor standards of Maritime English. A lack of cultural awareness has
become an important issue due to the cultural differences onboard ships.

Moreover, cultural differences brought by mixed-crews bring complexity when they find
disharmony caused by miscommunication and misunderstanding. This becomes a vital problem
in social interaction within the multicultural and multilingual environment. There should be
appropriate solutions to be discovered to solve the phenomenon to avoid further risks.
The impact of multinational and multilingual crews in global shipping on MET institutions is
how to provide the appropriate education of soft skills. There is still no national policy provided
by flag states regarding cultural awareness unless the communication requirement becomes part
of the ISM Code. In order to be able to work in a culturally diversified environment, each
crewmember needs to have the technical skills and non-technical skills.
Communication skills
Good communication contributes to good cooperation and less misunderstanding onboard ships.
Multinational shipping is a unique maritime industry because of the variety of people speaking
different languages. Such a mixture is an interesting part of the maritime industry. It is said to
realize the fact that accidents and incidents at sea show that human error increases. Within the
multicultural and multilingual environment, effective communication ship to ship and between
ship and shore is vitally important for seafarers from many countries who are sailing in
international ships to all parts of the world.
Many investigated accidents are caused by operational issues such as improper procedure,
maintenance and design, although communication difficulties also often occur in circumstances
that are due to cultural differences and language barriers. Poor skills in the English language are
a significant factor in the human errors that lead to about 80 percent of accidents at sea .
IMO states that about 80 percent of accidents at sea are caused by human error, and one of the
main causes of these accidents and incidents, some involving loss of life, a large number of
injuries and extensive financial loss, is the crews poor standard of Maritime English . Therefore,
seafarers must better apply the English language as a standard communication at sea and as
required by IMO.
Example of ship accidents caused by communication failure:
Tanker mooring accident: A 56,000 GT Bahamian flag tanker berthed at an oil terminal in the
UK when a mooring line parted and struck a crew member of a mooring boat. The mooring line
causes serious crew injuries. The pilot intended to run the breast line ashore but not to make it
fast until the ship was alongside and had believed that the master understood his intention.
However, the master thought that the line should be heaved tight and instructed the mate
accordingly. Communications between the master and the crew were in Korean, in which the
Pilot had not understood that language until the accident happened. The accident was identified
to be caused because of the failure in communications between the pilot and the ships master.

Human relationships and social interactions:

Relationships and interactions are two domain parts in social community that both are
interconnected with human beings. Different cultures involve different styles of interaction.
Multicultural crews can create more constraints in comparison with monoculture crews.
In fact, social isolation has been found as a significant problem for seafarers. Hierarchy and
power distance can result in social pressures in a cross-cultural environment. In addition,
communication also affects lack of interpersonal relationships that possibly will address the
risks. Apart from the human element, therefore, human relationships and social interactions are
important to be considered as they help crews to avoid being isolated.
Furthermore, crewmembers can be exposed to mental and psychological constraints which can
create disharmony. As an instance, living in a hierarchical structure for long periods of time at
sea possibly may create opportunities for psychological pressure. The Torrey Canyon is a typical
example of hierarchy working environment leading to miscommunication. The officers were
afraid of communicating with the master.
This reason can be a considered to be direct or indirect root cause of accidents and incidents of
shipping casualties. Regarding working conditions onboard, harmonization and cooperation
among multicultural crews should be considered. Being tolerant to cultural differences can make
better working condition. It should be considered that every society has a unique culture.
Behavior:
Attitudes are the established ways of responding to people and situations that we have learned,
based on the beliefs, values and assumptions we hold. Therefore attitudes become manifested
through our behavior. The need of human beings to express themselves cannot be separated from
their social existence through their individual lives.
In terms of cultural diversity with mixed-crews, the challenge tends to be mostly differences of
attitude and behavior. Human characteristics can be recognized within the interaction among
crews with their own root culture. Humor is another element of social interaction and integration.
However, a poor working language onboard could lead to frustration.
Although various casualties are caused by human error, this element is still not treated as a
major priority of investigation. A deeper inter-personal reason for maritime accidents is seldom
reported. Even the casualties investigation reported in the International Maritime Organization
(IMO) resolutions, it appears that the casualty investigators rarely ask about the social relations
between the persons involved in an accident or before an accident.
Cultural intelligence:
Cultural intelligence concerns the ability to make adjustments within diversified cultures. It is
about cultural strategical thinking.

In multinational and multicultural environments, the phrase cultural intelligence can be

described as a soft skill. Attitude and behavior are naturally reflected by people own culture.
Cultural intelligence is referred to the ability to be flexible and open minded in a cross-cultural
environment.
As a result, psychological constraints and culture shock can be prevented. It is necessary to
manage the stress and confusion that can cause frustration and clash. In this regards, adjustment
from culture shock needs to be considered in a cross-cultural environment. Motivation is also
another important aspect. Personal knowledge of people is not enough. The importance of
motivation leads people to learn and to know the differences between people who have different
cultures and different perspectives. Motivation and spirit derive advantages to create mutual
conditions.
2. Write in detail on the situational leadership with reference to different styles of
leadership giving shipboard examples.

Leadership skills:
Leadership skills in operational conditions ensure effective fulfillment of the ship's operation,
requirements of the Safety Management System, watchkeeping, help to prevent panic in an
emergency, organize all the activities of damage control, rescue of people and ensuring cargo
safety.
At sea, leadership is not only measured by seafarer competence in navigating and engineering;
technical skills on a professional perspective.
Leadership is one part of the human element, a non-technical skill. This element is vital since its
function is aimed at managing and organizing a ships crews by using human intelligence, such
as cultural behavior and patience dealing with crews from different cultures.
Situational Leadership:
Instead of using just one leadership style, leaders should use different styles for different
situations, with the Managerial Grid; leadership behavior is evaluated along two dimensions:
directiveness and supportiveness.
The type of leadership that is relatively nonsupportive and nondirective is termed a delegating
style of leadership.
The type that is supportive but nondirective is termed a supporting style of leadership.
Leadership behavior that is highly supportive and highly directive constitutes coaching, and
leadership behavior that is highly supportive and highly directive is called directing.
It is clear that leaders must use different strategies for different employees. Leadership occurs in
a social context in which values and norms cannot help but influence the process of leading. One

leadership approach will not work for every individual in an agency. Unfortunately, some public
health leaders are inflexible and use one style predominantly. For instance, one local public
health administrator believed it was necessary for him to use an authoritarian approach for
managing his staff. Years later, he moved to a new public health agency that he discovered to be
more democratic in form. He changed his leadership style but did not seem to learn that
leadership style needs to be tied to the situation at hand and not to the agency
A leader should perform functions of:
a group's behavior coordinator (distributes roles, duties and tasks);
a supervisor of each group member's behavior (monitors fulfillment of assigned roles,
duties and tasks);
A planner of actions and means, with the help of which the group achieves its goals.
An expert (almost in all cases when group members depend on a person whose technical
knowledge and qualification are essential for fulfilling group's goals. Polarization of
power, which can be used for strengthening a leader's role, takes place around this
person);
Different Leader ship Styles:

Autocratic Leadership
Bureaucratic Leadership
Democratic Leadership
Laissez Faire Leadership
Transformational Leadership
Creative Leadership
Corrective Leadership
Change Leadership
Intelligence Leadership
Multicultural Leadership
Servant Leadership
Purposeful Leadership

Autocratic Leadership Style

The classical approach
Manager retains as much power and decision making authority as possible
Does not consult staff, nor allowed to give any input
Staff expected to obey orders without receiving any explanations
Structured set of rewards and punishments
Autocratic leaders rely on threats and punishment to influence staff , Do not trust staff , Do not
allow for employee input.

Should be used when:

New, untrained staffs do not know which tasks to perform or which procedures to follow
Effective supervision provided only through detailed orders and instructions
Staffs do not respond to any other leadership style
Limited time in which to make a decision
A managers power challenged by staff
Work needs to be coordinated with another department or organization

Should not be used when:

Staff becomes tense, fearful, or resentful

Staff expects their opinions heard
Staffs depend on their manager to make all their decisions
Low staff morale, high turnover and absenteeism and work stoppage

Bureaucratic Leadership Style

Manages by the book
Everything done according to procedure or policy
If not covered by the book, referred to the next level above
A police officer not a leader
Enforces the rules
Most Effective When:

Staff performing routine tasks over and over

Staffs need to understand certain standards or procedures.
Safety or security training conducted
Staff performing tasks that require handling cash

Ineffective When:

Work habits forms that are hard to break, especially if they are no longer useful
Staff loses their interest in their jobs and in their co-workers
Staff do only what is expected of them and no more

Democratic Leadership styles:

Also known as participative style

Encourages staff to be a part of the decision making
Keeps staff informed about everything that affects their work and shares decision making
and problem solving responsibilities

The democratic leader develops plans to help staff evaluate their own performance , Allows
staff to establish goals , Encourages staff to grow on the job and be promoted; Recognizes and
encourages achievement.
Not always appropriate - Most successful when used with highly skilled or experienced staff or
when implementing operational changes or resolving individual or group problems.
Most effective When:

Wants to keep his staff informed about matters that affect them.
Wants staff to share in decision-making and problem-solving duties.
Wants to provide opportunities for staff to develop a personal growth and job satisfaction.
A large or complex problem that requires lots of input to solve
Changes must be made or problems solved that affect staff
Want to encourage team building and participation

Democratic leadership should not be used when:

Not enough time to get everyones input

Easier and more cost-effective for the manager to make the decision
Cant afford mistakes
Manager feels threatened by this type of leadership
Staff safety is a critical concern

Laissez-Faire Leadership Style

Also known as the hands-off style
The manager provides little or no direction and gives staff as much freedom as possible
All authority or power given to the staff and they determine goals, make decisions, and resolve
problems on their own
Laissez-Faire Leadership Style is an effective style to use when:
Staff highly skilled, experienced, and educated
Staff has pride in their work and the drive to do it successfully on their own
Outside experts, such as staff specialists or consultants used
Staff trustworthy and experienced
Should not be used when:
Staff feels insecure at the unavailability of a manager
The manager cannot provide regular feedback to staff on how well they are doing
Managers unable to thank staff for their good work
The manager doesnt understand his or her responsibilities and hoping the staff covers for him
or her
Transformational Leadership
Creates and sustains a context that maximizes human and organizational capabilities;

 Facilitate multiple levels of transformation; and

Align them with core values and a unified purpose
The Transformational Leadership Make change happen in:
Self, Others, Groups, and Organizations
Charisma a special leadership style commonly associated with transformational leadership;
extremely powerful, extremely hard to teach
Transactional Leadership
Emphasizes getting things done within the umbrella of the status quo
In opposition to transformational leadership
By the book" approach - the person works within the rules
Commonly seen in large, bureaucratic Organizations
Creative Leadership:

Ability to uniquely inspire people,

To complex and readily changing situations
To generate shared innovative responses and solutions

Corrective Leadership:

Empowers staff to facilitate collaborative and synergism

Working with and through other people instead of bowing to authoritarianism

Change Leadership:

Endorses alteration
Beyond thinking about individuals and individual organization, single problems and
single solutions
Rethinking systems to introduce change on parts of the whole and their relationship to
one another

Intelligence Leadership:

To navigate the future by embracing ambiguity and reframing problems as opportunities

A proactive stance in taking their organizations into uncharted territory

Multicultural Leadership
Fosters team and individual effectiveness
Drives for innovation by leveraging multicultural differences
Teams work harder in an atmosphere of understanding and mutual respect

Servant Leadership:

A practical philosophy focusing on people who choose to serve first and then lead as a way
Of expanding service Servant leaders are "servants first" with the object of making sure that
other people's highest priority needs are being served.
Leaders put the needs of their followers first; these leaders rare in business

Purposeful Leadership
Leader and the community share a common purpose to develop or provide the drive, authority
and commitment to undertake projects
3. What are the potential problems that can happen due to differences in age, gender,
language, nationality and culture? What are the steps to be taken to reduce possible
discrimination?

In the 20th century the shipping industry was challenged with multicultural ships crews.
In fact, it is not a new phenomenon in shipping; an industry that in many hundred years has been
operating in a global setting. Most probably the roots of this new challenge can be found in the
fact that many shipowners (in the following: owners) take full advantage of a minimum crew
complement.
The Potential problems that can happen due to difference in Age, gender, Language, nationality
and culture are as follows:
COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES
The Convention on Standards of Training Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW 95) in
Regulation I/4a stresses that effective communication must prevail onboard at all times.
Often, too often, the messages sent are not the same as the message received. People working in
shipping certainly cannot afford to make mistakes and take wrong decisions because of misscommunication, neither onboard or in company board rooms. If the crew cannot communicate it
can become fatal. Miscommunication is costly and it can destroy ones reputation as a quality
operator. If people do not understand the meaning of what is said due to weak English and
cultural differences prejudice, power distance and stereotyping, the entire industry will continue
to have a bad reputation.
Many pointless maritime accidents happen in port areas like at the anchorage, in fairways, along
the quays etc. The reason for such accidents cannot only be the ships officers but possibly also
the pilots, the vessel traffic services operators, the terminal operators etc.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY CHALLENGES:

Cultural diversity is when differences in race, ethnicity, language, nationality, religion and sexual
orientation are represented within a community.
Cultural diversity can affect the workplace in numerous ways. Negative effects can include
Miscommunication, creation of barriers, and dysfunctional adaptation behaviors. Positive effects
can include building a sound knowledge base with in-house talent, which can make for smoother
integration of the organization into foreign cultures.
One negative effect of cultural diversity in the workplace is the increased tendency of
organizational Personnel to indulge in interpersonal conflicts. Culturally diverse workers have
different opinions, thoughts, beliefs, norms, customs, values, trends, and traditions. The analogy
of an iceberg comes to mind in the face of these potentially endless dimensions; the obvious
characteristics of race, ethnicity, gender, age, and disability relate to the small, visible portion of
the iceberg and are the basis of much anti-discrimination legislation around the world Not so
obvious dimensions, such as culture, religion, and politics, only show up with the passage of
time.
The phenomenon of diversity-fear is not unusual or something that deviates from the behaviour
of a normal human being, individual or group. Still the action is not coherent and healthy. There
are other preventive measures that can be introduced education.
Gender Challenges in General:
To combat todays shortage of crew the owners seriously have to consider mustering women, as
both ratings and officers.
When women were discovered they were often abused, put down and told that they are Useless.
With time eventually women were hired as Masters and today they are told to run their ships as if
it was their home. Their ships are neat and tidy and usually handled all according to the book and
a bit more.
By tradition male seafarers have considered women contribute to bad luck onboard. But, in spite
of this, when women in any case are onboard it can be assured that men and women have the
same work conditions , they have for instance equal salaries for equal work .
On ships, women strive for a collegial belonging on equal terms. But there are a number of
female and male characteristics that makes the onboard job roles different in relation to gender
characteristics, physical strengths, technical competence, social competence etc. In order to
survive in life, with evident differences and prerequisites, a first solution by the woman coming
onboard is to strife for alikeness with the majority i.e. to live up to a gender neutral identification
of reality onboard.
Onboard ships it is generally accepted for people to be different as long as one has the ability to
be able to agree with others. The difference does not include gender. Probably, this is why, after
some time onboard, a woman for survival reasons has to settle in to male norms.

Usually and as officers, the women do not wish to show their full capacity and competence and
often they are not even allowed to show their capacity; you are a woman and I am a man so let
me do it instead.
Today, many owners find crew retention a problem. To become a teacher is a good prospect for
the person who decides to drop the anchor ashore and dedicate time to family or other work.
Seafaring has always been a thorough job. One can note that today it is politically
correct/appropriate to employ females. For some women it is also a fashion to be in shipping.
The sea side of the shipping industry can be proud that women, in most countries, work on same
conditions as men. Shore jobs in shipping seem not as unequal as in many other high qualified
shore employments but to some extent it is still unequal.
The STCW 95, in Resolution 14, promotes women to work in the shipping industry.
Affirmative action is another solution to redress wrongful discrimination and make it possible for
women to work in traditional male jobs. This is commonly achieved through target recruitment
programs by preferential treatment; in some cases with the use of quotas.
When a woman has become a leader she becomes more visual than a man. The reason being that
if she does something wrong it is more noticed. A consequence of this is that women strictly
follow the book, the rules, to be assured not to do wrong. Women are known to be able to handle
more than one thing at the time. Therefore, they have a good presumption to be successful
leaders: they can handle many decisions at the same time and be able to make quick decisions.
The last criterion is not considered to be very feminine. This causes a conflict of opinion. A
common male stereotyped opinion is that women should be able to discuss, only men are
allowed to make quick subjective decisions. There are several such issues where people in
general expect something from a woman and then she does the opposite in order to be alike. The
men get confused.
4. Discuss how the provisions of 2010 amendments to STCW convention intend to
improve the technical and interpersonal competence of seafarers

Major components of the STCW conventions were modified during the last revision in June of
2010. These amendments will bring the training requirements up to date for modern operational
situations and technologies.
Some of the changes from the Manila Amendments are:
Revised requirements on hours of work and rest and new requirements for the prevention of
drug and alcohol abuse, as well as updated standards relating to medical fitness standards for
seafarers
New requirements relating to training in modern technology such as electronic charts and
information systems
New requirements for marine environment awareness training and training in leadership
and teamwork
Updating of competence requirements for personnel serving on board all types of tankers,
including new requirements for personnel serving on liquefied gas tankers

New requirements for security training, as well as provisions to ensure that seafarers are
properly trained to cope if their ship comes under attack by pirates
New training guidance for personnel serving on board ships operating in polar waters
New training guidance for personnel operating Dynamic Positioning Systems

Technical competence of Seafarers:

Educational objectives are divided into three major domains: the cognitive, the psychomotor and
affective domain. When it comes to educational objectives within the mariners area, the
cognitive area is the most relevant. The cognitive area constitutes, among other things, skill
objectives of knowledge, comprehension and application. These objectives correlate very closely
to those of the STCW Code: knowledge, understanding and proficiency.
Knowledge:
When it comes to cognitive levels, knowledge is considered to be the lowest. In this sense
knowledge only requires that the student can recall previously learned material like facts, basic
concepts and terminology. For Leadership and Teamwork course module this can be knowledge
of the standard representational symbols used by different cultures. Test of such knowledge can
easily be achieved through written exams.
Understanding:
The level of understanding or comprehension requires a deeper understanding of facts and ideas,
which can be shown by interpretation and description. For Leadership and Teamwork course
module, a trainee might be shown a picture for situation awareness and be asked to describe how
the cultural differences operate: Group-Individual, Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance,
Feminine-Masculine, and Short-Long term. Testing of comprehension can also be achieved in
written format but would require more elaborate answers than just short ones.
Proficiency:
Proficiency is the highest of the skill objectives in the STCW Code. To demonstrate proficiency
you have to apply acquired knowledge. To do this for example for Leadership and Teamwork
course module a student can be asked to describe the importance of closed loop
communication and how you achieve a good communication climate. The best way to assess
application of acquired knowledge would be to demonstrate proficiency through practical
examination.
NON-TECHNICAL SKILLS, LEADERSHIP AND TEAMWORK:
During everyday operation onboard a ship, technical and non-technical skills are integrated into
each other and both skills need to perform tasks as safely and efficiently as possible. But there
are important differences between them. The technical skills are related to a specific department,
function or rank while non-technical skills are applicable to all. Most technical training has to be
carried out with groups kept apart, divided into, for example, deck and engine. The non technical
training may be carried out with no separation of people at all.
The assessment of technical and non-technical training also differs. Technical training can most
often be assessed by means of a test. The assessment of nontechnical training requires different

methods. Students can learn about leadership and teamwork theory. Trainees may even
demonstrate specific behavioral objectives of the training in a simulator in connection with the
course. The challenge is to make safe and sound leadership and teamwork principles become part
of a permanent behavior onboard after training. The trainees must understand the importance of
the training. To succeed, trainers need encouragement and support for the desired behavior from
the companies they work for. If the willingness to apply the theories would be related to the
attitudes of people, the company support would be related to the culture of the company. The
attitudes of people and the culture of the company are two important issues for the training to be
effective and show intended results.
The STCW sections that contain requirements related to non-technical skills are:
Reg. A-II/I for Bridge Resource Management
Reg. A-III/I for Engine-room Resource Management
Reg. A-II/2 and A-III/2 for Use Leadership and Managerial Skills
Reg. A-II/I, A-III/I and A-III/6 for Application of Leadership and Team Working Skills.
Ways to Improve Interpersonal relationship among Seafarers onboard Ships:
Working on ships is a team effort. A one-man-show cannot run the whole ship. In order to
perform operations smoothly and safety on board ships, good interpersonal relationship among
seafarers is a must.
As the number of people on board ships is limited, there are high chances of ego clashes and
dissatisfaction among crew members. As important it is to avoid politics on ships, equally
important it is to enhance interpersonal relationship between people on board to ensure that all
jobs are done smoothly and safety.
Working on ships is not an easy task and dissatisfaction and demotivation can easily be
developed among seafarers as a result of various kinds of stresses.
During such situation, it is the job of chief-engineer/chief officer/captain to get rid of
discontentment among people on ship and instill the importance of interpersonal relationship.
As the number of people working on board is limited, everyone should try to know each other in
order to understand the values, knowledge and skills each one has. This is the first step towards
developing interpersonal relationship on board ships.
However, chief engineer/captain/chief officer should take additional steps as mentioned below to
ensure that all team members are comfortable with each other both on and off work.
1. Morning meetings (Tool box meeting): The morning meeting, which is conducted to assign
work to team members, is the best time to get all the crew members together. It is necessary that
crew members talk to each other during such meetings and discuss their views and opinions.
Each member should be given a chance to provide suggestions regarding improvement of work
process and safety precautions to be taken. This activity gives members a sense of responsibility

and importance and also works a great deal in enhancing their performance and interpersonal
relationship.
2. Tea-Breaks: Tea breaks if used efficiently can work wonders towards enhancing team
effort. It should be made compulsory to get all crew members together during tea breaks to
discuss the work in progress and other important things that they feel are necessary.
3. On board training sessions: On board training session is yet another important opportunity to
get crew members together to impart important working knowledge or conduct safety committee
meetings. Captain and chief engineer should arrange the meeting in such a way that maximum
crew members are able to participate. Learn more about team meeting on board ships here.
4. Spending free time together: It is often seen that post working hours, officers and crew
members spend time in their own rooms instead of getting together in officer or crew lounge.
Watching movies and playing games in free time is a solid way to know each other and build
great relationships both on and off work.
5. Arranging events/sports days: It is necessary to arrange recreational events or sports days
which require crew members to participate in teams. This is a great way to inculcate the
importance of team spirit and building interpersonal relationship among crew members. Find out
more about sports played on board ships here.
6. Parties and Get-together: Everyone likes to party and unwind once in a while. Party is a
great method to bond people together and improve scarred relationships on board ships.
However, it is necessary that they are arranged in such a way that maximum crew is able to
participate. Festival celebrations are also a great way to enhance interpersonal relationships
between people onboard.
The above mentioned methods are some of the main ones that are used onboard to enhance
relationships on board ships. Doing this would not only ensure smooth and safe operations of the
ship but would also improve productivity and employment satisfaction.
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