Bridge Resource Management

[music] MARITIME TRAINING SERVICES INC. In case of any conflict between the requirements shown in the movie and the company’s safety management system (SMS), please follow the company’s SMS requirements Bridge Resource Management 13 January 2012 21:45 CET off Giglio Island, Italian Coast -- On January 13th, 2012 at approximately 21:45 local time, a passenger vessel off the Italian coast with more than 4,000 people on board collided with a rock outcropping causing a 53-meter long haul breach. Within hours, the Costa Concordia had grounded. Eventually heeling over to an angle where launching lifeboats was made increasingly difficult. Thirty two people died in the incident. The investigative report determined the master of the vessel traveled too close to the coastline for night time sailing, using charts not suited for navigation and at an unsafe speed. He was also distracted by unauthorized guests on the bridge. In addition, the board found the bridge team to be too passive, failing to give warning or advice regarding the master's unorthodox course. 25 February 2009 10:40 GMT Southampton Water, Hampshire, England On the morning of February 25th, 2009, an oil product tanker carrying 35,000 tons of jet fuel under pilotage and bound for a British fuel terminal is ordered to abort at the last moment due to confusion over customs' documentation. Sailing faster than called for in the piloting plan, the Vallermosa unassisted by tugs, attempted to turn back toward its original anchorage. The pilot overburdened with details and tasks that should have been attended to by the master and bridge team became distracted from his main task of navigating the Vallermosa through Southampton Water. The bridge team, not fully briefed by the pilot failed to communicate any concerns. All in the bridge ignored the ship's position until it was too late resulting in an allusion with two tankers stopped at an adjacent terminal. Both the Navion Fennia and the BW Orinoco along with the Vallermosa required extensive repairs. 27 June 2009 21:50 GMT off Bozcaada Island, Turkish Coast On the 27th of June 2009, a multi-registered cargo ship was sailing off the Turkish coast with at least 5 miles visibility. At 21:50 hours the master made a visit to the bridge. Once on the bridge, he observed the vessel, the Ilgaz, on his starboard bow at close range. He also observed two more vessels off the Marti Princess port bow. The master asked the officer of the watch to report the distance and speed of the Ilgaz when the master asked the officer of the watch to recheck his report of 5 miles, the vessel was in fact less than a mile away. The master ordered the Marti Princess to manual steering and to alter its course to starboard. While preoccupied, with avoiding a collision with the Ilgaz, he failed to see another vessel dead ahead and allowed the officer of the watch to return to the original course. Within five minutes, the container ship, Renate Schulte, had ripped into the ship's number two cargo hold. A joint Maltese-German accident investigation determined the officers of the watch on both vessels did not exhibit adequate situational awareness leading to a near miss with the Ilgaz. Other factors included failure to respond to radio calls and proper use of navigational equipment. All three of these examples are related. They all are cases where communication broke down, where assumptions were made by master and pilot, where watch officers fail to pay attention and where STCW rules and call regs were not observed. Most importantly, all three casualties could have been prevented had only the mariners involved followed the principles of Bridge Resource Management. In this program, you will learn: What causes maritime casualties? What is B.R.M. and its basic principles? What are “Bridge Resources?” What are the skills and behaviors that make you an effective team member? How to consistently apply the principles of B.R.M.? The requirements in order to have a successful Master-Pilot Exchange and the benefits of training to reinforce the principles of B.R.M. through simulating potential navigational casualties. What causes maritime casualties? Each accident is unique but the cause of maritime casualties whether grounding, collision or allusion is the failure of a system. Each resource available to the bridge team is a barrier or defense against a potential failure. Internal defenses include the chain of command, communication skills, situational awareness, navigation equipment and the condition of the vessel itself. Defenses outside of the vessel include the vessel traffic system, meteorology reporting, other ships and more. These barriers or layers of defense are like slices of Swiss cheese stacked one on top of the other. In most circumstances, the presence of one or more of these slices will prevent a casualty from occurring but on occasion, all the holes will align, breaching the barriers and leading to an accident. There are two types of failures: active and latent and these are the holes in our Swiss cheese. Examples of active failures can be the sudden loss of navigational radar or an engine breakdown. They also include human element failures such as the loss of situational awareness, a failure to communicate or becoming complacent. Latent failures in management practices, poorly administered procedures or faulty designs and equipment can lay dormant for months or even years, then suddenly break down. Try to recall incidents you were involved in and ask yourself, “Was everyone communicating clearly and effectively?” “Was fatigue or stress an issue?” “Were operating procedures efficient, adherent to regulatory guidelines and understood by all crew?” “Was there a clear chain of command?” “Were any crew members under the influence of any substance rendering them impaired?” Attitude also plays an important role. “Were crew members engaged with their tasks or were they inattentive or complacent?” What is BRM? Good BRM helps maintain the defensive barriers that prevent maritime casualties. But, what are the principles of B.R.M.? STCW divides the core principles of Bridge Resource Management into eight categories: Sufficient Manning, Fitness for Duty, Qualifications, Communications, Assign Tasks, Prioritize Tasks, Equipment Status and Remove Distractions. A ship's bridge must be sufficiently manned with crew on board to perform the necessary duties. The crew must also be fit for duty. This means physically fit and free of any limitations that may affect their ability to perform their tasks. It also means their tasks and their roles on board must be understood. All officers assigned duties and watches should have the appropriate rating and experience. Communications should be clear, immediate and relevant. Essential information should be collected and made available to all who may need it. The person talking has a responsibility to other crew on the bridge. When assigning tasks, personnel should be stationed in the place where they can most effectively complete their tasks. They should not be reassigned or relocated until the officer-in-charge has granted approval. Tasks should be completed in order of priority and no members of the bridge team should be overloaded with more tasks than they can safely and effectively complete. Make sure all bridge equipment is working properly. If it isn't, the crew must be made aware of this and it should be factored into the planning process. Lastly, any non-essential activity, material or other distractions should be removed from the bridge. What constitutes a “Bridge Resource?” To the bridge team, resources are anything that can be used to help safely complete a voyage. Specifically, people, information and things. There are a wide range of resources available to the bridge team. They can be grouped into four different categories: Internal resources, external resources, environmental resources and informational resources. Internal resources include all of the people and equipment on the bridge. As well as a pilot, if required. And also, off the bridge, such as a lookout, supervisors at anchor and mooring stations. If these resources are briefed as to what is required of them, they can provide useful information to the bridge team. External resources include the Vessel Traffic Information System or V.T.S., other ships, tugs, terminal operators and meteorological services. Your environment including winds, currents and visibility, as well as geography, all affect the progress of passage. A good bridge team takes advantage of all available resources whenever possible and plans for contingencies in the event of different watch conditions. Lastly, if you or other members of your bridge team are uncertain of a certain regulation or guideline, there are informational resources available to you on board your ship such as the company S.M.S. or port and flag state regulations. What are BRM skills and behaviors? An effective bridge team is exactly as it's described, a team. Just as sports teams have players and coaches with different leadership styles. It's the same with the bridge team led by the master and the officer of the watch. The best leaders encourage active participation from all team members in a manner that is neither too authoritarian nor too lax. One of the goals of B.R.M. is to build an efficient and cohesive team. To manage resources and work together effectively, a team must understand necessary B.R.M. skills and behaviors including communication, situational awareness, risk assessment, error detection, decision making and teamwork. Communication isn't just verbal. It can also be non-verbal or even symbolic. It's about making sure you've been heard and understood. It's also about listening. There are three stages of situational awareness: perception, comprehension and projection. At the core of situational awareness is being attentive and psychologically present. When assessing risk, think of it as a basic equation. Risk equals the potential consequences, multiplied by the probability that a given event will occur. As we saw earlier, errors are caused by a series of failures. Being able to recognize where a failure can occur and bringing that to the attention of the master or officer of the watch can preserve that layer of defense and prevent the error from taking place. Members of the bridge team must be good decision makers. A good decision maker seeks input, asks, “What is right?” not “Who is right?” and continually re-evaluate and remains open to change. Effective teamwork requires leadership, communication, a shared understanding of risk, goals, procedures, information and the ability to adapt as changes occur. How to consistently apply principles of BRM? Good habits become regular habits when we consistently perform them. Making sure the principles of B.R.M. are routinely followed on board requires the entire team to make it standard procedure. A bias is a predisposition toward a particular way of thinking or behaving often at the expense of maintaining teamwork. Many times, performing the same procedure over and over will lead to a familiarity bias. We think because we've done it many times, we'll always do it correctly. Knowing a process well can lead to an efficiency bias where you know where and how to cut corners to save time. Following formal guidelines helps prevent us from falling into these traps. Your company's safety management system will contain a series of checklists and procedures which need to be followed while planning a passage. Flag or port state regulations may also dictate the planning process. This is the place where the teamwork begins, where each member of the bridge team is assigned duties and responsibilities and where discussion needs to occur. This is also the venue to plan for contingencies when the unexpected but not unusual occur. This does not include unlikely situations such as a propeller falling off or a mine splitting the ship in half but a more practical situation. For example, you are unable to berth due to a delay and only find out at the last minute. However, you are still half way up the river and there are no tugs available. To make matters worse, the wind is gusting and you are too far to the east to enter breakwater. In a situation like this, you would come together to deal with this in the planning stage. Creating contingency plans allows the bridge team the ability to move to an alternate passage or procedure without loss of situational awareness because the crew is expecting the unexpected. The Master-Pilot Exchange Port state regulations or navigational constraints will often require engaging the services of a pilot. Making sure the pilot and the bridge team understand the passage plan and what is required of each team member is crucial. The expectation is that the Master-Pilot Exchange will set the tone for passage under pilotage and establish roles, responsibilities and how information will be communicated across the team throughout the passage. STCW regulations govern the MPX. It will include defining the intended route. If there are any special or unusual local conditions which will affect passage such as winds or drafts, as well as the vessel speed. The roles and responsibilities of each member of the crew on the bridge including the pilot, the conditions under which passage can occur and when and how it would be aborted should conditions change. Specific information regarding the vessel itself such as length, draft and beam, unusual control equipment or handling characteristics. And, any exceptional conditions such as missing or in operative equipment or limitations of the bridge team and the crew. The pilot should provide the master with any information that pertains to the ship's passage and manpower needed to do it. -- So, we have two tugs, Captain. The first tug on the bow will take one line center line -- The stern type. The center lead on the stern. -- The [inaudible] 67 tons. -- Both? -- Both. -- Very good, Captain. [inaudible] When we come off to here, I'd like to make sure your men standby, the tug lines until we are clear the waterway. And then, have men standby on the bow until we’re clear the harbor. Then, the current, like we talked about before, will not be a factor for your ship between [unintelligible]. -- Okay. -- We’ll talk about lookout. You decide, Captain, when we come out the harbor. Where’s the best position for your lookout. -- It’s not up to me. -- Okay. The bridge team should be prepared when the pilot comes aboard. Time or navigational constraints may limit the amount of time available for the MPX, especially on arrival. Many port authorities and pilotage organizations will transmit port and passage information electronically. This information is also available via websites. Having the bridge team briefed on this information prior to the MPX, helps increase familiarization with details, improves awareness and allows for notes to be made that can be discussed with the pilot once he or she boards. Training and Simulation Training is also an important part of reinforcing B.R.M. principles, as well as developing team skills. Requirements for how often B.R.M. instruction is required vary from country to country. Many only require it to be taught once but technology changes, as well as the natural human tendency toward bias and complacency. These are the best arguments for regular B.R.M. refresher courses. There is also the need for training to include emergencies that don't occur during day-to-day navigation. Simulation training can recreate situations you may face on the bridge and learn information that you can use in a real situation later. [man speaking from the radio] -- Is that where we’re going? -- We’re going to go through here. [man speaking from the radio] -- Would you like to get ahead of us or follow behind us? -- We prefer to go ahead of you. You can chase our stern and follow in behind us. Hey, how’s it going? I see you’re cutting behind us. I just wanted to know where your intentions were and where you’re headed. -- We are [inaudible] 14 knots via the [inaudible] channel. -- So, he’s going up and round. -- About the same as where we are. What We Learned In this program, we learned about: What events combine to create a failure of a system resulting in maritime casualties? How Bridge Resource Management is defined and what are its guiding principles? How people, equipment and information are used as bridge resources? What skills and behaviors are required to build an effective bridge team? How to consistently apply the principles of B.R.M. through effective leadership and communication? We also saw an example of the Master-Pilot Exchange and how a prepared and briefed bridge team can work with the pilot to ensure a safe and successful arrival or departure and we learned how a commitment to regular training continues to reinforce good B.R.M. as well as preparing for emergencies through simulator training. Observing the principles of good Bridge Resource Management at all times not just when a pilot is aboard and making a commitment that all bridge officers and mates practice it on a daily basis allows it to be the effective barrier to maritime casualties. Saving lives property and preventing environmental disasters.