29. October 2015

Communicating with Others in Shipping

For engineers the matter is rather simple because they can follow the technical process of communication in which a transmitter is sending out signals that are then picked up by a receiver. What counts is that the signal-to-noise ratio is within an acceptable range. However, people are more complicated as for them, signal and noise are just relative […]
8. October 2015

Shipping: How to work efficiently with people

What happens when a pilot with 26 years of experience, 10 Chinese crew and a newly delivered 900 TEU vessel meet the San Francisco Bay Bridge? Right – a case study in an article about how humans cooperate efficiently with each other, the closure of 27 public beaches and a US$100 million disaster.   Working with Others – […]
22. September 2015

Crew: Learning and Developing

In this section, we examine the chapter “Learning and Developing” from the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s guide “The Human Element – A Guide to Human Behavior in the Shipping Industry” and we break down the most relevant information. It helps to understand how and why human accidents and errors occur and why they are still the leading […]
3. September 2015

Human Behavior in the Shipping Industry – Getting Tired and Stressed

Dirk Gregory and Paul Shanahan of the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency developed the guide “The Human Element – A Guide to Human Behavior in the Shipping Industry”. The guide helps to identify countermeasures to avoid human errors and bad decisions, and how to manage the human element on all levels – from engine room, to bridge, to […]
24. August 2015

The Human Element – “Making Mistakes” in the Shipping Industry

In this part, we examine the “Making Mistakes” section of “The Human Element” and break down the most relevant information. Dirk Gregory and Paul Shanahan  of the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency developed the guide “The Human Element – A Guide to Human Behavior in the Shipping Industry”. It helps to understand how and why human based accidents […]