Bridge Resource Management
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[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.