In commemoration of the sailing of the first Indian flagged Merchant ship from Bombay to the UK on April 5, 1919, the first National Maritime Day was celebrated on April 5, 1964. This year as we celebrate the 61st National Maritime Day, it is an opportunity for us to introspect on the role of the Merchant Navy and the huge responsibility that lies on the shoulders of the seafarers that keep over 90% of world trade moving seamlessly in all circumstances.
The theme for this year is “Sustainable shipping: challenges and opportunities.” While this may comprise technical, environmental and human elements, in view of the recent major disaster that took place at Baltimore, it would be appropriate to delve on some aspects of the human aspects at this stage.
On March 23, 2021, the grounding of the M V Ever Given at the Suez Canal caused over 300 ships to be stranded for about a week affecting trade worth around 10 billion USD. Now, on March 26, 2024, the M V Dali had an allusion with the Francis Scott Bridge at Baltimore, USA, resulting in a major disaster for the port of Baltimore in particular and for world trade at large.
To most this will be another maritime disaster. Various parties such as the exporters, importers, ship owners, charterers, port authority, underwriters and P & I clubs, will be affected in a big way. Sadly, the loss suffered by families of the deceased can never be sufficiently compensated. Each mishap in the annals of maritime history has its own lessons to be learnt.
To begin with any mariner’s heart will go out to the ship’s Master (Captain) and the crew of the ship. Some may go all out to find a scapegoat – be it the Captain, the Chief Engineer, the harbour pilot, the ship’s surveyors and inspectors, the ship’s management system or even the people at the management level for their shortcomings. The purpose of this short article is to highlight some of the factors that may be contributory to the many accidents that the maritime world encounters today.
Unlike Pre and Post WWII ships, the vessels today have grown tremendously in size. From an average 25,000 tonnes vessel, we have ships that carry close to 500,000 tonnes. From a 150 M long ship to over 450 metres. From earlier crew of 50-60 who grew with the shipping companies, to 15-20 crew today, at times of various nationalities, manning mammoth sized ships. Short port stays, 24 hour working periods in ports, no shore-leave in many ports, are the other factors that could be hampering the morale of the crew.
The most affected person on board the ship today is the ship’s Captain. Pre 1980s in most standard companies, he had the facility of a personal steward, a purser, the radio officer a chief steward while the chief officer and the chief engineer dealt with their respective departments. Today, almost all the duties of the purser, radio officer, chief steward and anyone else who is not capable of doing his job well are dumped on the ship’s captain making him a person who is “TOO BUSY WITH TRIVIALTIES AND TOO TIRED FOR EMERGENCIES.” Despite many rules the senior officers could be working for over 18 hours a day affecting the efficiency and reaction time of an important person like the ship’s captain.
The question is, do we need such large ships? Do we need ports to work day and night? Is turn around time and higher profitability more important?
It’s time the marine fraternity looks into the human element of the shipping industry with more empathy and develop ships and operational systems that are more user friendly and less risky.
