415
1 INTRODUCTION
In recent decades, cruise industry has experienced a
significant growth rate [9, 21, 22]. The afore-
mentioned growth is the result of continuous
shipbuilding and the increase of traffic in the area of
Arctic and Antarctic. Despite technological
development followed by new legal regulations,
maritime accidents on cruise ships are still happening
which means that challenges, as far as increasing the
safety level on them is concerned, still exist. In other
words, safety level can be improved [14, 20, 24].
Maritime accidents on cruise ships are fatal with more
deaths than on any other type of ships [23]. Therefore,
a special attention has to be given to safety, i.e. to
accident prevention. Maritime accidents jeopardize
maritime safety, and consequently have negative
effect not only on economic performance of the
shipping industry [6] but also on other sectors closely
connected to shipping industry [4].
Reducing a Human Factor in Cruise Ships Accidents by
Improving Crew Competences
A. Gundić
1
, S. Vujičić
2
, L. Maglić
3
& L. Grbić
1
1
University of Zadar, Zadar, Croatia
2
University of Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik, Croatia
3
University of Rijeka, Rijeka, Croatia
ABSTRACT: In recent decades, there has been noticed a continuous growth of passengers on cruise ships.
Technical as well as technological development follow this growth side to side as far as construction, transport
of passengers and strict legal regulations are concerned. However, recent maritime accidents, such as the Costa
Concordia’s accident, question the level of maritime safety on cruise ships.
Maritime accidents on cruise ships are almost entirely linked to human factor, directly or indirectly. Apart from
the parameters affecting human factor, the literature mentions very frequently the importance of education,
training and crew competences in the process of reducing the number of maritime accidents. However, very few
researches have been done on competences that can affect strongly the level of maritime safety on cruise ships,
i.e., that can reduce the effects of human factor on it.
The purpose of this study was to find a connection between reducing the effects of human factor on accidents
and the crew competences on cruise ships. The research lasted for two years and consisted of two phases.
Qualitative as well as quantitative methods of analysis were used in both phases. Competences that are the
essential part of obligatory programmes the crew members on cruise ships have to master, and that are
prescribed by the STCW Convention were analysed in the first part of the research. The second part of the
research analysed competences that are essential part of programmes resulting from the cruise companies’
demands. Cruise companies have defined and determined additional programmes and competences that
seafarers, navigating on their ships, have to complete and develop. The aim of the research was to determine
what type of competences the cruise companies look for through additional education programmes and to
determine the amount of time needed to develop them.
http://www.transnav.eu
the International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 15
Number 2
June 2021
DOI: 10.12716/1001.15.02.20
416
Human factor is one of the main causes of
maritime accidents on all types of ships [10, 11, 13],
cruise ships included [14]. Therefore, the goal of all
actions intended to reduce as well as to prevent
maritime accidents, should be focused on how to
reduce the effects of human factor on them [2]. The
effects of human factor can be noticed in the lack of
organisation on board, inadequate training, lack of
team working, lack of communication, lack of
situation awareness, poor information exchange, poor
decision making, poor crew competence, lack of
proper maintenance, lack of application of safety
procedures, poor judgement of the situation, poor
problem solving, lack of general technical knowledge,
misunderstanding of multicultural difference, etc. [2,
3, 6, 8, 14, 16]. The literature also mentions very
frequently, poor crew competence, whereas MAIB,
ATSB and TSB Canada report also on insufficient
knowledge, skills and abilities [5], which is, basically,
the lack of crew competences.
As far as crew competences on cruise ships are
concerned, cruise industry must comply with the
safety standards set by the International Maritime
Organization (IMO) enforced through the
International Convention on Standards of Training,
Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers
(hereinafter, the STCW Convention). According to the
STCW Convention [17], every member of the crew on
cruise ships has to develop not only competences
prescribed operational and management level for all
types of ships (Table II/1 and II/2 of the Convention),
but also competences prescribed for cruise ships
(Table A-V/2 of the STCW Convention).
Competences needed for all types of vessels are, as
a rule, developed through formal education
programmes. Today however, formal education
provides general knowledge on the total industrial
environment [12] and very frequently does not
comprise all the competences needed at the job
market [7]. Consequently, additional education
programmes have been developing, and are oriented
towards obtaining competences needed in working
environment [1], e.g. short course for on board job.
For cruise ships, in STCW Convention, these
programmes are based on Table A-V/2.
The reason for developing such programmes
results from the fact that development of new
technologies and their implementation on ships effect
significantly competences needed by crew members.
The companies have noticed lack of competences,
because crew’s understanding of the system has a key
role when applying a new technology. Therefore, the
implementation of new technologies implies the
development of new competences for the crew or/and
the upgrade of the already existing ones. Shipping
companies try to solve this problem with additional
education programmes that comprise all the
competences not included in the formal education.
In maritime industry, these programmes can be
divided into the ones, already mentioned and
prescribed by the STCW Convention, and, the ones
prescribed by shipping companies. Competences
prescribed by the STCW Convention for cruise ships
refer to Training in Crowd Management, Safety
Training, Training in Passenger Safety, Cargo Safety
and Hull Integrity and Training in Crisis Management
and Human Behaviour. However, competences that
are a part of programmes prescribed by cruise
companies are not elaborated in detail. In other
words, we are still not familiar with the competences
the companies think the crew is lacking or with the
ones, they are spending their resources on.
Based on the analysed literature, it can be
concluded that most of the parameters, referring to
human factor, are, in a way, associated with crew
competences whereas a proper education and training
are one of the most important measures that can be
used to reduce their effect on maritime accidents [15,
18, 19, 22]. Most of the parameters referring to human
factor are associated with generic competences (e.g.
lack of communication, lack of situation awareness,
poor information exchange, poor decision making
etc.). Therefore, a question whether it is possible to
enhance the security level on cruise ships by
developing additional generic competences or to
reduce the effect of human factor on maritime
accidents, arises. In order to answer the above-
mentioned question, it is of utmost importance to
analyse not only the types of competences prescribed
by the STCW Convention for cruise ships, but also
those, the cruise industry, i.e. cruise companies, think
the crew has to develop.
2 METHODOLOGY
The research on this topic lasted for two years. It was
divided in two parts:
1. analysis of the programmes prescribed by the
STCW Convention for the crew on cruise ships;
2. analysis of the additional programmes of education
required by the cruise industry for the crew on
cruise ships.
The goal of the first phase of the research was to
determine to what extent certain types of competences
make part of the obligatory programmes. In order to
ensure uniform implementation of STCW Convention,
IMO has developed numerous Model Courses which
offers a more detailed explanation of the subjects,
requirements and delivery methods required for each
position on board. Model Courses includes: a course
framework (detailing the scope, objective, entry
standards, and other information about the course), a
course outline (timetable), a detailed teaching syllabus
(including the learning objectives that should have
been achieved when the course has been completed by
students), guidance notes for the instructor, and a
summary of how students should be evaluated.
Therefore, in this phase of the research, the
following topics, part of the following IMO Model
Courses, were analysed:
1. IMO Model Course 1.28 - Crowd Management,
Passenger Safety & Training for Personnel 1.28 and
2. IMO Model Course 1.29 - Proficiency in Crisis
Management and Human Behaviour Training.
IMO Model Course 1.28 comprises 158 topics
divided into the following categories: Crowd
Management training; Familiarization training, Safety
training for personnel providing direct Service to
Passengers in Passenger Spaces. IMO Model Course
1.29 comprises 286 topics divided into the following
417
categories: Passenger Safety, Cargo Safety and Hull
Integrity Training; Crisis Management and Human
Behaviour Training. To conclude, 444 topics, divided
into three categories were analysed: topics needed to
develop professional competences, topics needed to
develop generic competences and topics needed to
develop other competences. Topics needed to develop
professional competences refer to acquiring
knowledge and skills needed for tasks on board.
Topics needed to develop generic competences refer
to acquiring knowledge and skills that can be used in
different environments and for various jobs. Topics
needed to develop other competences refer to
acquiring knowledge and skills that can be used in
different sectors. The example of competence
classification is shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Example of competence classification
_______________________________________________
Competence classification
_______________________________________________
Topic PC GC OC
_______________________________________________
Loading and discharging vehicles, rail x
cars and other transport units
Communications during an emergency x
situations
Stowage compatibility with adjacent x
dangerous goods
_______________________________________________
The goal of the second phase of the research was to
analyse 41 additional programmes of education
prescribed by cruise companies that manage crew on
161 cruise ships. The ships with predetermined
itinerary, with capacity of more than 1500 passengers
on several-days lasting voyage, that do not visit one
port more than once (apart from the home port) for
the scope of having fun and relaxation, were analysed
in this part of the research. Ships with the capacity of
less than 1500 passengers were not part of the
research.
In this phase the research consisted of five parts:
1. gathering SMS documentation from cruise
companies,
2. forming the base of masters on cruise ships,
3. gathering the certificates of masters on cruise ships,
4. gathering the contents of every programme of
education the masters are having a certificate of
and interviewing the masters on the programmes
whose contents were not available,
5. analysing the contents of every programme of
education.
Additional programmes of education were divided
into four categories: Voyage Planning, Safety and
Environmental Protection, Communication and
People Management and Other. This classification
was made on the basis of their contents and topics. A
total of 354 topics were analysed: Voyage Planning –
154 topics, Safety and Environmental Protection – 106
topics, Communication and People Management – 67
topics and Other – 27 topics.
After determining types of competences in every
category, it was necessary to calculate time needed to
develop different types of competences in every
category. Time was calculated as follows:
Total amount of time needed to develop
competences = ratio of the type of competence x total
number of hours.
Limitations of the research:
1. In the category Voyage Planning, contents of three
additional education programmes were not
available for the analysis. Their duration and
topics were determined on the basis of interviews
with masters who have attended them.
2. In the category Safety and Environmental
Protection, contents of three out of nine additional
education programmes were not available for the
analysis (Advanced Environmental Training, T/M
Master Maintenance course and Avoiding Whale
Strikes). Duration and topics of these programmes
could not have been determined, not even after
interviewing the masters who have attended them.
Therefore, they were not included in the analysis.
3. In the category Communication and People
Management, contents of three out of eight
programmes of additional education were not
available for the analysis (Annual Bridge Resource
Management Proficiency Training & Assessment,
Executive Shipboard Leadership and Proficiency
Training and Assessment Series A – Bridge
Resource Management Skills). Duration and topics
of these three programmes could not have been
determined, not even after interviewing the
masters who have attended them. Therefore, they
were not included in the analysis.
4. In the category Other, contents of one out of four
programmes of additional education were not
available for the analysis (United States Public
Health). Duration and topics of this programme
could not have been determined, not even after
interviewing the masters who have attended it.
Therefore, it was not included in the analysis.
3 RESULTS OF THE RESEARCH
The results of the research were also divided in two
parts. The first part refers to IMO Model Course 1.28
and IMO Model Course 1.29 (Figure 1 and Figure 2).
The results of the research show that only professional
and generic competences are represented in the IMO
Model Course 1.28 and IMO Model Course 1.29.
Topics needed to develop other competences were not
registered (Figure 1 and Figure 2).
Figure 1. IMO Model Course 1.28
Figure 2. IMO Model Course 1.29
418
The results of the second part of the research show
that 45% of the total number of additional education
programmes belong to the category Voyage Planning.
25% of the total number of additional education
programmes belong to the category Safety and
Environmental Protection. 20% of the total number of
additional education programmes belong to the
category Communication and People Management
and 10% of the total number of additional education
programmes belong to the category Other.
In the text that follows, a representation of
different types of competences and time needed to
develop various competences in every category was
analysed.
Figure 3. Types of competences in the category Voyage
Planning
Figure 4. Total amount of time needed to develop
competences in the category Voyage Planning (h)
The results show that planned number of hours
needed to master the topics in the category Voyage
planning on cruise ships is 536, whereas, during the
second year of undergraduate studies, planned
number of hours is 705. In other words, additional
education programmes comprise, for this category,
the number of hours that correspond to the number of
hours of one and a half semester of a study
programme.
In this category, additional education programmes
are oriented mostly towards developing professional
competences. Time needed to develop other
competences is insignificant.
Figure 5. Types of competences in the category Safety and
the Environmental Protection
Figure 6. Total amount of time needed to develop
competences in the category Safety and Environmental
Protection (h)
The results reveal that, only professional and other
competences are represented in the category Safety
and Environmental Protection. Generic competences
are not represented in this category.
The results also show that planned number of
hours for topics in this category is 124. Additional
education programmes are oriented mostly towards
developing professional competences.
Figure 7. Types of competences in the category
Communication and People Management
Figure 8. Total amount of time needed to develop
competences in the category Communication and People
Management (h)
The results of the research show that, only
professional and other competences are represented in
the category Communication and People
419
Management. Other competences are not represented
in this category.
The results also show that planned number of
hours for topics in this category is 112. However, this
figure does not correspond to the actual situation
because contents of three programmes were not
analysed. That is, this number of hours is significantly
higher than shown in the results. In this category,
additional education programmes are oriented mostly
towards developing generic competences. Time
needed to develop professional competences is
irrelevant. Topics needed to develop sectoral and
cross-sectoral competences are not determined.
Figure 9. Types of competences in the category Other
Figure 10. Total amount of time needed to develop
competences in the category Other (h)
The analysis show that planned number of hours
for topics in the category Other, on cruise ships, is 88.
In this category, additional education programmes are
oriented almost equally to acquiring generic,
professional and sectoral competences. Acquiring
cross-sectoral competences through these
programmes is not prescribed.
The results of the research show that, only
professional and other competences are represented in
the category in the category Other. Generic
competences are not represented in this category.
The research has shown that a significant amount
of time is used to develop other competences through
additional education programmes. Planned number of
hours, for all categories on cruise ships, is 1632. That
means that, hours planned for additional education
programmes correspond to hours of five semesters of
a study programme.
4 DISCUSSION
The analysis of the available documentation, of the
contents of additional education programmes as well
as personal contacts with people employed in cruise
industry, has shown that additional programmes are
focused mostly on developing professional
competences and in smaller percentage on developing
generic and other competences. This situation is very
pronounced in the category Voyage Planning.
The research has shown that the highest
percentage of additional programmes of education,
for cruise ships, belongs to the category Voyage
Planning. Perhaps, some of the reasons for such a
situation are:
1. Navigation through the area of restricted waters,
2. DP system usage,
3. Constructional characteristics.
Ad 1) As far as navigation through areas of
restricted waters is concerned, ports are of a great
importance because of the very dense traffic. They are
located in town centres with many tourist ships,
leisure boats and yachts, fishing vessels etc.
navigating the area, which can have a strong impact
on the safety of a cruise ship when entering/leaving
the port.
Ad 2) Cruise ships use DP system when holding a
position without the anchor in the close vicinity of a
port. The STCW Convention does not prescribe
competences for management level needed for
managing a DP system. They are a part of the
recommendation for the education of the crew written
in the Part B of the STCW Convention.
Ad 3) Cruise ships are very fragile when exposed
to strong winds and waves. Therefore, their
manoeuvring is more complex since the proportion
between the above-water and underwater parts of the
ship differs from other ships.
Topics referring to manoeuvring make the largest
part of topics in the category Voyage Planning.
Possible reason for such a situation are
underequipped institutions. Due to limited resources,
these institutions very frequently cannot follow
technological development on cruise ships (e.g.
NACOS system). Therefore, cruise companies have
started their own additional education programmes
that can be carried out on board or ashore. When such
programmes are carried out ashore, companies choose
ship personnel to take on the role of instructors.
Another option is to carry out additional education
programmes in institutions that possess the
equipment needed and have personnel trained on it.
Generic competences have the highest
representation in the category Communication and
People Management. Topics that refer to teamwork,
managing a team and decision-making make the
largest part of topics in this category. Despite the
obligatory programms based on STCW Convention,
additional education programmes in the category
Communication and People Management can still be
improved. Generic competences that can be partially
or entirely developed through formal education
programmes have the highest percentage of
representation (92%) in the above-mentioned
category. It is important to emphasize that the
International Maritime Organisation has recognised
this problem and has improved the existing additional
programmes on cruise ships with the:
1. IMO Model Course 1.40 – Use of Leadership and
Managerial Skills,
420
2. IMO Model Course 1.44 (2018) – Safety Training for
Personnel Providing Direct Service to Passengers
in Passenger Spaces,
3. IMO Model Course 1.39 – Leadership and
Teamwork.
Also, cruise companies have realised the importance
of generic competences (for example competences that
refer to teamwork and work in multicultural
environment). However, the experience has shown
that changes in STCW Convention and additional
programmes of education prescribed by companies
are not enough. The best example of such a situation
is Costa Concordia’s stranding. That is, the bridge
crew has attended the above-mentioned programmes
of education; however, the main cause of the accident
were communication and crew management. In other
words, teamwork on the bridge.
Other competences, sectoral and cross-sectoral
ones, have a minimum representation in additional
programmes defined by shipping companies. Since
these programmes are the result of companies’
requirements for competences needed on board, such
results are expected.
5 CONCLUSION
The results of the research show that programmes
prescribed by the STCW Convention are oriented
mostly towards developing professional competences.
On the other hand, programmes, results of the
companies’ demands, are slightly more oriented
towards developing generic competences. Such a
programmes are oriented towards acquiring technical
knowledge, i.e. knowledge of new technologies that
are being installed on sips.
Formal education programmes do not comprise all
the competences needed for jobs on board because of
the rapid growth of technologies and modifications of
the functional organisation of a ship. That is the
reason why additional education programmes have
been developing. They ensure acquiring special
knowledge for jobs on board. The example of cruise
ships has shown that there is a significant number of
additional education programmes developed as the
answer to the requirements of companies or/and the
industry. The number of additional education
programmes needed for navigation of cruise ships
shows that not all the necessary competences are
being developed through programmes defined by the
STCW Convention.
This research has shown that, the highest amount
of time, in additional education programmes
requested by companies, is spent on developing
professional competences. Due to rapid development
of technology, it is almost impossible to expect all the
professional competences needed on board to be
included in formal education. Therefore, a part of
professional competences will always be developed
through additional education programmes. Unlike
professional competences, the implementation of
additional, generic competences needed on board,
should not be that frequent. That means that, generic
competences, needed for jobs on cruise ships, should
be mostly included in formal education programmes.
Considering that it is possible to reduce the effect of
human factor on maritime accidents through the
development of generic competences, the following is
suggested:
− All human factor parameters having effect on
cruise ships’ maritime accidents should be
analysed.
− Generic competences that can have an effect on
reducing the impact of each parameter have to be
identified.
− Types and models of evaluating generic
competences, which should become an essential
part of the STCW Convention, should be proposed.
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