International Journal

on Marine Navigation

and Safety of Sea Transportation

Volume 6

Number 2

June 2012

243

1 HYPOTHESIZING OF PROBLEM

Taking under investigation the main problems and

bottlenecks in field of providing of navigation safety

during last 20-30 years, we may detect the paradox

situation: the rate of accidents at sea doesn’t show a

tendency for decreasing, so that annual ratio module

of ships totally lost related to number of ships in

whole world merchant fleet is today more or less the

same as 20-30 years ago. By first look, it seems to

be at least strange because the technical and techno-

logical level of nowadays ships is much higher than

some decades ago. The devices, appliances and ap-

paratus that complete the modern ship bridge and

engine rooms are in general relatively easy-going in

exploitation and user-friendly. The professional

preparation of seafarers is regulated by world-wide

acknowledged international regulations, first at all

by STCW 1978 Convention. The majority of mari-

time schools and academies have consistently been

evaluated by competent authorities and their pro-

grammes and courses are recognized as meeting the

requirements. But why we have no today the signifi-

cant improving in statistics of marine accidents in

whole or, at least, speed and scope of dynamic of

their decrease don’t satisfy us?

Author of present paper has disserted subject in

question more than once, for example by presenta-

tion on the 13

International Conference on Mari-

time Education and Training IMLA 13 “Safety at

Sea through Quality Assurance in MET Institutions.

Quality Assurance in Action”. In paper presented on

conference author tried to carry through some initial

analyses and to bring forward the point of view that

the main factors bringing on the high accident rate at

sea are not the technical once but rather lay in sphere

of human nature and personality (Alop, 2004).

Some developments during period from 2004 up

to date affected author’s positions and viewpoints on

matters under discussion. First of such developments

is “The Manila amendments to the STCW Conven-

tion and Code” adopted at a Diplomatic Conference

in Manila, the Philippines in June 2010 and set to

enter into force on 1 January 2012 (www.imo.org).

According to amendments there will be changes to

each chapter of Convention and Code, among these

new requirements for marine environment awareness

training and training in leadership and teamwork.

Needs and Importance of Master Studies for

Navigators in XXI Century and Connectivity to

STCW 78/95

A. Alop

Estonian Maritime Academy, Tallinn, Estonia

ABSTRACT: The high-level technology and equipment of modern ships from one side and the constant

growth of high stress and psychological pressure to ship officers, especially on management level, from other

side pose a number of important questions relating to optimal combination of professional knowledge and

skills and personal characteristics of seafarers. What may be the best combination of different subjects and

courses in training programmes? What may be the role and place of master studies in evolving of high quali-

fied specialists from one side and strong and self-confident personality from other side? What should be the

most important difference of master study programmes for ship officers from those for land-based personal?

The author of this presentation tries to discuss these questions relying to his long-time experience in field of

maritime education and training and in organisation and carrying out of master studies in maritime academy.

244

This fact shows growth of understanding of deci-

sion-makers on the highest level that promotion of

technical knowledge and skills of seafarers is not

enough for breakthrough in problem of improving of

marine safety but so-called “soft values” will play

significant or may be even crucial role in achieving

of that. But, at the same time, the author’s numerous

discussions with seafarers and instructors in MET

institutions allow supposing that it’s not very clear

what kind of teaching and training methods as well

as teaching materials might provide the effective re-

sults in training of leadership and teamwork of sea-

farers. And how to measure and evaluate properly

results of that?

Secondly, the curriculum for master studies with

speciality for navigators has worked out and

launched since 2006 in Estonian Maritime Academy

(EMA). Author of this paper was directly involved

in process of development and improving of this

curriculum during all the last 5 years and is the Head

of Master Studies in EMA at the present time. The

experience and knowledge in field accumulated dur-

ing this period afford him to make a presumption

that master studies are very suitable stage of training

for development of personal characteristics of sea-

farers. How and by what schemes of organization of

training it is achievable in the best way is the ques-

tion for what author tries to find some answers here-

after.

2 THE ANALYSES OF TRAINING SCHEMES

2.1 Training triad today

It’s clear that ship officers, first at all navigators are

the key persons in providing of safety on board.

High level and good quality of their professional

knowledge and skills, good seafaring experience and

great personality play a crucial role in achieving of

high level safety of vessel, people and environment

at sea.

Let’s examine this triad [ i) knowledge and skills,

ii) experience and iii) personality] from assimilation

and trainability point of view. Obtaining of all the

necessary for seafarers professional knowledge and

skills is more or less wholly the result of well orga-

nized training (incl. training on board), simulation

and assessment processes. The STCW 78/95 Con-

vention gives by its Code enough good and effective

instruments for achieving of professional training

goals erected. The personal characteristics of stu-

dents have importance on this stage only as assisting

means making training process easier or, in opposite,

more difficult for each person. More sluggish brain

just need more time for understanding and adopting

of lessons; indecision and undiscerning have not

crucial importance for passing of occupational tests

and exams although may lead to poorer grade.

Speaking about seagoing experience it’s clear

that experience may not be obtained faster by some

accelerated training lessons. The figure of speech “to

share experience” seems to be a little wrong and ac-

tually is misleading because experience is not pro-

fessional knowledge that really may be shared. Ex-

perience is extremely personal and very valuable

exclusive kind of knowledge and skills that may be

obtained only by going through real life situations.

In this case the personal characteristics play much

more important role and they determine what the

“life lessons” will be given to actor and how useful

this lessons will be for him in possible substandard

situations in future. Question is: how is it possible to

obtain an experience of optimal acting in critical sit-

uations by training? Whether is it possible at all?

Third “pillar” personality is not something spon-

taneous but it is tightly connected to all processes

incl. training and especially working life. As was

showed above, the personal characteristics such as

discretion and decision-making ability, self-

determined intellectual power, presence of mind and

courage to take upon responsibility or to hand it out

to other persons are not really important in process

of traditional professional training, carried out in big

part applying the “teaching methods” “do like me”

or “do according to instructions”. Unfortunately, this

approach is favoured up to present day by the STCW

1978 Convention and its Code. Adoption of “The

Manila amendments to the STCW Convention and

Code” gives us the hope for changing these attitudes

in the near future.

The personal characteristics are much more im-

portant in process of obtaining of seagoing experi-

ence. What higher position in ship hierarchy than

more important to have the good certain personal

characteristics. For officer in charge of a navigation

watch the ability for good teamwork is the most im-

portant, for chief mate and especially for captain it is

important to be a leader and to have ability to man-

age and direct the people. Actually, all these quali-

ties and mutual relationships manifest themselves

mainly during job life on board. Trainees on board

may keep an eye on these developments but they

may not be real actors in them.

Having of great personal characteristic like listed

above or lack of them gains the crucial importance

in critical situations. In fact, a lot of human lives and

huge material values may be saved or lost depending

of them. Are the great personalities always inborn or

they may be partly or even in whole obtained? Is it

possible to acquire them only by method of “exper-

iments and errors” in real life or there are some

methods for training them?

245

It is complicated to give some definite and com-

plete answers to these questions. The STCW Code

foresees two courses what are intended to certain ex-

tent for development of personal characteristics.

First is Bridge Resource Management course

(BRM), this is also called Bridge Teamwork Man-

agement. Normally it is a three day course of in-

struction. Second one is Crowd and Crisis Manage-

ment (CCM) and it may be one to four days long

depending on training organization.

Unfortunately, in author opinion, these courses

giving in usual learning environment of maritime

schools and academies can’t solve to needful extent

problem of training out the students’ personality and

obtaining of essential personal characteristic in pro-

cess of curriculum studies, i.e. in maritime schools

and academies. The students don’t have some signif-

icant sea-going experience or their experience is lim-

ited to trainee’s seagoing training on-board. Above-

mentioned courses, as rule, are theoretical for them

and come by well known method “do like me” or

even “think like me”.

2.2 The Bologna process implementation

The aforesaid is related to so-called one-step training

system for deck officers, being in use in EMA dur-

ing last two decades. EMA as educational institution

may be identified as so-called Professional Higher

Education Institution (according to Estonian educa-

tion system) or as the University of Applied Scienc-

es. Students of navigation faculty obtain theoretical

knowledge and skills according to STCW 1978 re-

quirements for both operational and management

level during four years and they have additionally

one year sea-going training on-board what officially

is not included into duration of curriculum. These

studies allow obtaining the qualification of officer in

charge of a navigation watch after graduating on

bachelor level. Formally, for achieving of captain

position the graduates don’t need coming back to

school for additional training (of course, except the

obligatory refreshing courses envisaged by STCW).

It is only the matter of their seagoing career and

practical experience. But, in author opinion, they,

having good professional knowledge and skills at the

end of their studies in school, have not enough good

preparation in field of teamwork, leadership, team

management, acting in substandard and critical sit-

uations and so on.

In year 2006 the 1,5 year long curriculum of mas-

ter studies was worked out and implemented in

EMA. The name of curriculum is Maritime Studies

and one of three specialisations is Ship Maintenance

and Navigation (SMN). In fact, this is a joint curric-

ulum of EMA and Tallinn University of Technology

(TUT) and it is oriented to giving to students wider

knowledge in so-called academic subjects (subjects

of TUT) as well as in professional subjects on higher

than bachelor level (EMA subjects).

List of main EMA and TUT subjects see Table 1.

Regarding to Bologna system this is 4+1.5 (330

ECTS) long higher education studies for obtaining

of master degree (one year of sea-going on-board

training on bachelor level is not accountable for aca-

demic duration of curriculum).

All the students of master studies in EMA are

working people. This is why a big part of learning is

a distance learning and contact hours take place in

the evening time. The most part of SMN speciality

students are active seafarers (both navigators and

engineers). Despite to that the curriculum is highly

popular amongst graduates of EMA.

Table 1. Some subjects of master studies programme Maritime

Studies

___________________________________________________

Subjects of EMA Subjects of TUT

___________________________________________________

1 Research methodology 1 Foreign language for

2 International public science and research

maritime law 2 Financial management

3 Risk management in shipping 3 Introduction to

4 Hydrodynamics and seagoing information systems

characteristics of vessels 4 Investment analysis

5 Optimization of navigation 5 Quality and productivity

6 Shipping company management management

7 Safety and security 6 Project management

management in shipping

8 Merchant shipping law

9 Ship chartering and agency

10 Organizing of work and

shipping economics

11 Environmental pollution

prevention and pollution control

12 Automated control systems

of ship

13 Ship design and architecture

14 Navigation safety control

systems

___________________________________________________

Looking at list of subjects in Table 1 one can see

that students whether deepen and expand their occu-

pational knowledge (EMA subjects 3, 4, 5, 8, 12, 13,

14) or prepare for themselves “springboard” for

jump into future onshore working life (EMA sub-

jects 1, 2, 6, 7, 9, 10 and all the TUT subjects). Tak-

ing into account the fact that for majority of them

the main part of their seagoing career still ahead, it

seems to be reasonable to bring to studies more sub-

jects and courses that may assist them in developing

of not only occupational competence but also the

personal qualities essential for solving of complicat-

ed situations arising in management and administra-

tion of ship or in critical situations. The question is

not only what courses and subjects should they be

but also how to build them up and conduct them in

such way and by such methods that result will be the

most productive and efficiency?

246

3 THE COMPLEXITY APPROACH

3.1 Tests for entrants

First at all it seems to be essential to carry out the

psychological test for youngsters wishing to en-

trance to maritime schools for navigation studies.

Although the number of personal characteristics may

be developed during studies and working life period,

there are some of them what may be only congenital.

The duty of such psychological test would be to

check out persons who are improper for seagoing ca-

reer by reason of their personality. In this case we

have to deal with so to say total career-unfitness.

The ratio module of such cases that may be re-

vealed on the very early stage with high extent of

certitude is definitely not big, probably less or even

more less than 1%, but it seems to be very important

to detect such youngsters before entrance to school

because in course of professional studies an expo-

sure of such problems is not real. There are known

the cases when students were enough successful in

their theoretical studies and hadn’t any problems be-

fore going to first long-time seagoing on-board train-

ing. But after some weeks on board of vessel they

had a serious depression and other psychological

problems and were evacuated from ship before end

of practice and had to say good-by to seagoing ca-

reer at all.

3.2 “Sandwich” type studies?

From point of view of development and assurance of

personality of seafarers the two-step or so-called

“sandwich” training system for navigators seems to

be more appropriate and effective that one-step or

continuous system.

This last mentioned system is applied now in ma-

jority of MET institutions and it has undoubtedly a

lot of advantages. For instance, training institutions

may build up the learning process in the most opti-

mal way economically and methodically giving con-

tinuously students the professional knowledge and

skills (at least theoretical part) on both operational

and management level (Põldma, 2010). Problems

with bringing people back to school for management

level studies are not to take place as well as seafarers

problems with taking up such studies. However, stu-

dents having some seagoing experience by on-board

training during studies have no to good an extent ex-

perience in management and administrative job on

board as well as in human relationship and team-

work. It seems to be quite ineffective to teach theo-

retically leadership to people who didn’t have any

possibility to try to be leader in real situations.

In author opinion, the “sandwich” system seems

to be more effective for achieving of good results in

leadership and teamwork as well as in development

of personal characteristic that essential for success-

ful acting as team leader and strong person.

Taking as example the training system of the

EMA it may look as following. Period of training on

bachelor level should be shortened up to three years

(180 ECTS) of theoretical studies plus one year of

seagoing practice and this will cover only training

for operational level. Professional output will be as

before the officer in charge of a navigation watch

having the bachelor academic degree. Studies can be

made one year shorter thinking to transfer of some

management level subjects and courses to master

studies stage and to reducing of capacity of so-called

academic subjects to minimum (the criterion is that

graduates obtain the academic grade as bachelor ac-

cording to provisions of education system). The

stress of first stage studies should be placed on good

professional preparation.

The second stage of studies will be the master

studies with two years duration. The master studies

will contain some high level professional training

needed for essential competence on management

level and a lot of academic subjects. It’s necessary to

work out and implement to curriculum the block of

“personality studies” that will allow developing

properly personality of future captains and chief ma-

tes. But this block shouldn’t consist of theoretical

subjects only and teaching tools and methods apply-

ing for these studies should be something different

taking into account specificity of audience.

3.3 Teaching methods and tools

The most advantage of students’ audience on stage

of master studies from point of view of psychologi-

cal and personality training is their seagoing experi-

ence. This includes undoubtedly to less or more ex-

tent experience in ship management and

administration and, of course, good teamwork expe-

rience. It’s very probably that some of students got

together with their ship into more or less difficult or

even critical situations, so they have such kind of

experience as well.

Because students will have very different job po-

sitions on their ships and very different seagoing ex-

perience, it will possible to apply for “personality

studies” some teaching methods what are the most

suitable for specific audience of experienced seafar-

ers.

Author of this paper have had lucky to take in pe-

riod of 2004-2008 part in projects “Securitas Mare”

and “Securitas Mare II”, main task of which was

working out and implementation of CCM course for

seafarers on European level

(www.tg4transparency.com). Such 3.5 days long

course was successfully worked out, tested by num-

ber of trial courses in different European countries

247

and got a full approval from DNV. In author opin-

ion, the most important and valuable result of these

projects was the successful approbation of the ad-

vanced teaching and learning methods used in trial

and demo courses. As the main goal of CCM course

is to learn how the people crowd may be restrained

in critical situations, this course is very strongly

about personality and personal characteristics of sea-

farers, especially on top-management level as well

as deal with psychological problems, leadership, and

teamwork and so on. So, all the know-how and ex-

perience obtained during running of these projects

are very suitable for applying in abovementioned

block of “personality studies”.

Let’s name these methods what, in author opin-

ion, may be successfully used in organisation of

“personality studies” for active seafarers.

Firstly, this is so-called “dual-instructor” method.

The core of this method is that the course is carried

out from beginning to end by two instructors, who

work in tandem and run course in regime of dialog

with students and one with another. They have to

have a different background and very good experi-

ence (to be experts in field). In our case one has to

be well experienced captain and other high-level

psychologist. The professionalism of such persons as

teachers, and their personality and ability to work

together has a crucial importance for success of

studies.

Secondly, it’s reasonable to take in use experi-

ence based learning (EBL) method. This method

based mainly on skilful using by instructors the cas-

es bringing by students and their experience. In fact,

the students enhance each another by presentation

and discussion of situations they had in their seago-

ing career so far. The main task of instructors is to

mould these discussions and to solve didactic prob-

lems by comments from different points of view and

making of conclusions. Effective using of this meth-

od is possible only if audience consists of persons

who have more or less experience in field of studies.

As it was shown above students of master studies

will have as rule to certain extent such experience,

so EBL method should be suitable for “personality

studies”.

Thirdly, the method of learning by doing (LBD)

shall be used maximally. Lectures are not typical for

such type of studies; the main learning tools are dis-

cussions, practical exercises, group works. As in

abovementioned CCM course, the very importance

instrument for achieving of course goals is a practi-

cal drill on board of real vessel, in course of what

the students will get into complicated and unex-

pected situations and will be obliged to find optimal

solutions.

Courses curried out in such way must have the

maximum effect for development and training of es-

sential personal characteristics of seafarers. Fur-

thermore, this block of “personality studies” may be

offered successfully not only for students of master

studies but be one of refreshing courses for active

seafarers in whole.

By author experience, the crucial factor for suc-

cess of such “personality studies” is the quality of

abovementioned tandem of instructors. Their profes-

sional and personal background is so different that

the creation of such high professional level tandems

is not very easy. There may be some other problems

with approving and financing of such schemes by

authorities of maritime schools, so it may be reason-

able for MET institutions to find some common so-

lutions.

CONCLUSIONS

The personality of seafarers is not less important

than professional knowledge and skills. Moreover,

in critical situations the personal characteristics of

captain and/or other decision-makers on-board may

become even more important taking into account the

crucial importance of right and effective acting for

saving of human lives and material values.

The using of traditional teaching and training

methods may supposed to be enough good for

achieving of professional training goals. As accord-

ing to “The Manila amendments to the STCW Con-

vention and Code” these methods are at least insuf-

ficient and shall be overestimated and more effective

and non-traditional methods should be found out.

It is necessary to discuss and find out the appro-

priable answers for important question: how to build

up the system of MET for seafarers providing the

achieving of the most effective results not only in

professional preparation and training but in devel-

opment of the great personality as well.

REFERENCES

Alop, A. 2004. Education and Training or Training contra Edu-

cation? Proceedings. 5-12. Safety at Sea through Quality

Assurance in MET Institutions. Quality Assurance in Ac-

tion. 13

International Conference on Maritime Education

and Training IMLA 13. St. Petersburg, 14-17 September

2004.

http://www.imo.org/MediaCentre/PressBriefings/Pages/STCW

-revised-adopted.aspx, ch. 09.03.2011

Põldma, K. 2010. Merendusvaldkonna magistriõppe

õppekavade arendamisest ja kvaliteedi tagamisest. Master

Thesis, unpublished.

http://www.tg4transparency.com/Events_files/Securitas%20Ma

re.pdf, ch. 09.03.2011