Risk Assessment Video from Walport

High and Heavy (Photo by K.C.)

Like most mariners I like to keep things as simple as possible. But  today's ships are big, relatively complex and  have lots of systems.

A big PCTC for example has 12 cargo decks. The cargo equipment includes hydraulic powered movable decks and ramps as well as a 150 ton capacity, computer controlled, hydraulic powered (with a separate cooling system) cargo elevator. Not to mention the engine room, the house, mooring systems and so on.

Crews on ships like this can not take a simple approach to complex tasks and  expect to get the job done effectively and safely.

Risk assessment training and tools can help crews evaluate the risks involved in shipboard tasks.

The Walport video below is from Marine Cafe Blog -  Risk assessment: the how and why




K.C.

Reducing Information overload in heavy Ship traffic

ARPA display

Information overload is often  a big problem for new third mates when they encounter heavy traffic.  A typical difficult situation might involve  two or three large ships, a few fishing boats and maybe a tug and tow all moving a different speeds
 

Finding a solution to traffic problems can be done  by the bridge watch either entirely by visual means,entirely with electronic aids such as ARPA (radar) or along the  spectrum between the two. When the ship is in zero visibility there is no visual information available the bridge watch must work entirely at the radar end of the radar/visual spectrum. In clear weather  an experienced deck watch officer or pilots might  maneuver in  traffic without the use of radar at all.

Most commonly however in clear weather, in heavy traffic most bridge watch officers will find themselves relying mostly on visual information but using the radar/ARPA as an aid to verify or confirm what they see out the window. 

Not so however for the new third mate.

 From a  gcaptain post Technology on Ships Can be Dangerous, Warns P&I Club 

In another case cited by the club, the OOW decided to use the Automatic Radar Plotting Aid to track 99 different ships whilst transiting a congested anchorage and to overlay the radar image with Automatic Identification System data. With so much information being displayed, he failed to notice that one of the targets had both a minimal closest point of approach (CPA) and time to CPA and, ultimately, there was a collision.

This doesn't surprise me. When a new third mate attempts to solve a difficult traffic situation, most new watch officers  do not trust solutions "by eye" but prefer instead the precision provided by radar/ARPA almost as if they were in zero visibility.

I've gone up to the bridge in traffic to find the mate switching from radar to radar each one with different mix of features trying to solve a problem that can be solved by a more experienced mate in just seconds by eye.

In aviation new pilots must first learn to fly a plane using visual flight rules and then later gaining an instrument rating.

The key to improving the ability of  a new mate to deal with traffic is to increase his/her confidence in solutions found by eye with radar/ARPA confirmation. That sometimes means prying them away from the radar and demonstrating to them how traffic problems can be solved by looking out the window.


K.C.

Moneyball and Safety Management Systems

Nick Swisher (from Wikipedia)

In this post I  connect the book Moneyball with shipboard SMS (Safety Management Systems).

Moneyball, (stealing from Wikipedia) "is a book about the Oakland Athletics baseball team and its general manager Billy Beane The premise of the books is that the collected wisdom of baseball insiders  is subjective and often flawed."

The conventional wisdom was, that to win ball games you need good players, and to get good players you used traditional scouts and you paid top dollar. But, in the case of the Oakland A's, with a low budget, they couldn't  pay top dollar. The key, as my old port engineer used to say is, "ya gotta be smart".  Being smart in this case meant measuring the right thing, player performance and scoring metrics, the right way. To measure is to know.

The link to SMS  comes from a line in the book: "it's looking at the process rather then the outcomes". The key to winning games was, stick with the program,  follow the process.  

During the game, general manager Billy Beane,  based on what he knew from objective measures, (sabermetrics), focused on the process. For instance he wanted the player at bat to get on base. The surest,  safest  way to get on base is to get a  walk. Players on the other hand, focused on the outcome,  tended  to swing at pitches they shouldn't, trying for the home run.(more here  Moneyball at Slate .)

Shipboard, the process is the Safety Management System which  are: "instructions and procedures to ensure safe operation of ships" -  there's more to it of course but that's the heart of it.

Many mariners tend to be  impatient with forms and paperwork. Often these "git er done"  mariners consider SMS to  have little relationship to the actual  work but view it instead as a separate set of  tasks  that have to be done  in addition to the job.

That's the wrong approach. A good SMS  provides the process to arrive safely at the intended outcome.

This is from Capt.Ben Dinsmore at The Maritime Site, the  post Increased Safety Measures and Performance Are Not Counter Productive. 

"I believe there is a misconception in the maritime industry (or any industrial environment for that matter) when it comes to operational safety and performance. While most people agree that safety takes priority EVERYTIME, there are a few people who suggest an increased safety focus is often at the expense of performance (productivity, downtime, etc.).  This is simply not the case."

 That's right. Stick with the program, follow the process.

There is  git er done and there is being safe but to do both you have to follow the process, ya gotta be smart.

K.C.

Piracy Update 13 Nov 2011

Piracy tactics in the Gulf of Aden (GOA) and Horn of Africa (HOA) areas continue to evolve in response to increased effectiveness of shipboard defenses.

First, from MarineLink.com - The Changing Face of Piracy.

Of interest is the 12 skiffs each with 5 to 8 pirates. This article has the security team firing warning shots as opposed to the more dramatic reports I noted in  my previous post: Will Somalia based pirates seize a ship with armed guards? - I still think that it is only a matter of time before pirates seize a ship with armed guards.

The first incident, on August 7, according to the report filed with the IMB’s Live Piracy Reporting Center3, saw 12 skiffs containing between five to eight pirates per skiff pursue and attack a bulk carrier approximately 20nm off the coast of Eritrea. As the skiffs approached to within 300m of the carrier, the Master ordered the armed security guards onboard to fire warning shots at the pirates’ skiffs. While this show of force saw the majority of pirate vessels break off their attack, two skiffs continued in their pursuit for some 30 minutes, returning fire at the armed guards until they, too, aborted their attack.  If one believes the report – and there is no reason to doubt the legitimacy of reports filed with the IMB – then even underestimating the number of pirates to just 60 still leaves us with evidence of a worrying trend in pirate tactics.

Secondly, from Jay Bahadur's blog The Pirates of Puntland a post The beginning of the end?

Though no vessel employing armed security has yet been hijacked, I am not quite as sanguine as Pelton about the impending end of piracy off Somalia. The pirates have demonstrated an uncanny penchant for adapting to the measures that shipping companies and the naval forces have thrown at them, and the hitherto quiet start to Pirate Season 2011-12 could simply be an ebb before the next torrent. The next evolution of pirate tactics could very well be to come out guns blazing, armed guards be damned.

Finally, found at gcaptain, at the post U.S. Goes Public with Support for Hired Guns Against Piracy I thought this, from Andrew J. Shapiro, current United States Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs was very interesting - a shift of focus ashore:

We have also shifted our efforts to focus on the pirate leaders and organizers ashore. The focus ashore is essential, as piracy has evolved into an organized transnational criminal enterprise conducted for profit. It is increasingly clear that the arrest and prosecution of pirates captured at sea – often the low-level operatives involved in piracy – is insufficient, on its own, to meet our longer term counter-piracy goals. To maintain the momentum and space for action gained by naval operations, we have begun an effort to identify ways to disrupt these criminal networks and to determine the means to dismantle their financial networks.”

 This strikes me as a big deal, don't know what it means exactly. I wonder if there is link between this new focus ashore and this, also from gcaptain:


Fighting Pirates On Solid Ground: Puntland Foils Hijacking Plans

Local officials and police of Gara’ad district of Mudug region in Somalia’s semi-autonomous state of Puntland, with the help of residents and elders, successfully removed pirates from the district and surrounding areas........“We captured many vehicles from the pirates as well as nine speed boats they were going to use to hijack other ships,” he explained.

We shall see....

K.C.

Will Somalia based pirates seize a ship with armed guards?

Reported at Eagle Speak at the post Somali Pirates: End of October Brings out the Pirates.

WARNING: ATTACK A Vessel came under fire from an unknown number of skiffs in position 0810S 04606E at 2028Z on 31/10/11. Vessel was fired upon aft of bridge bulkhead, port and starboard side accommodation and portholes. On board security team returned fire and after 30 mins pirates left the vicinity of the vessel.

If this is correct pirates persisted for half an hour with an attack against a ship while an onboard armed security team returned fire. As far as I know this is a new development as in the past pirates have broken off attacks as soon as fired upon.

It is my view that it is only a matter of time before pirates seize a ship with armed guards. Ship masters should put BMP into place even with an embarked armed security team.

K.C.

Note: I have edited this post changing the source from  OCEANUSLive.org   Greek Tanker, Liquid Velvet, Hijacked in the Gulf of Aden to Eagle Speak