Techniques For Ship Handling And Bridge Team Management

Hiroaki Kobayashi has trained 1500 mariners in ship handling over twenty years and he has systematized the methods of safe navigation into nine elemental techniques. Taking a rigorous and scientific look at good practice and attitudes, good seamanship can be viewed as a series of concrete technical functions, which can be in terms of competencies. By giving proper attention to human factors the conditions for maintaining system safety can be defined, and the interaction of human competencies and environmental conditions and their effects on system safety can be recognised. System safety in turn depends on good bridge team management, with particular emphasis on communication, cooperation and leadership – communication for the exchange of information, cooperation to smooth team activities, and leadership to ensure that each member of the team performs successfully.

Hiroaki Kobayashi has trained 1500 mariners in ship handling over twenty years and he has systematized the methods of safe navigation into nine elemental techniques. Taking a rigorous and scientific look at good practice and attitudes, good seamanship can be viewed as a series of concrete technical functions, which can be in terms of competencies. By giving proper attention to human factors the conditions for maintaining system safety can be defined, and the interaction of human competencies and environmental conditions and their effects on system safety can be recognised. System safety in turn depends on good bridge team management, with particular emphasis on communication, cooperation and leadership – communication for the exchange of information, cooperation to smooth team activities, and leadership to ensure that each member of the team performs successfully.

This publication on Bridge Resource Management - Teamwork and Leadership (BRM-TL) covers the non-technical skill requirements of a bridge-team as specified in the IMO's STCW Tables A-II/1 and A-II/2 for both operational and management levels (including 2010 Manila Amendments). The book is meant to support a simulator-based course covering these requirements. On completion of the BRM-TL course, as detailed in this book, participants are expected to gain enhanced knowledge in the areas of effective management and optimum utilisation of all resources, required for the safe and successful conduct of a ship's voyage. BRM-TL course emphasises the non-technical skills of the bridge-team, which include managing human factors, effective communications, processes of team-building and leadership. To manage bridge processes, the book provides guidance on situational awareness, including team situational awareness, decision-making, contingency planning, as well as task management covering fatigue and workload planning. Additionally, this book introduces the concept of behavioural markers for assessing these soft skills to establish performance levels during a simulated exercise. Examples of behavioural markers applicable in a full-mission simulator-based exercise are also included.

This book assesses the state of practice and use of ship-bridge simulators in the professional development and licensing of deck officers and marine pilots. It focuses on full-mission computer-based simulators and manned models. It analyzes their use in instruction, evaluation and licensing and gives information and practical guidance on the establishment of training and licensing program standards, and on simulator and simulation validation.

Your vessel may be equipped with the most advanced technology and the most powerful engines, but the failure to apply the basic principles of bridge resource management can still prevent you from getting where you are going. Satellite systems, ARPA, electronic charts, AIS, sophisticated communication equipment and integrated navigational systems—all these advanced technologies provide valuable capabilities. But accidents still happen, and they usually involve human error. This simple fact has made Bridge Resource Management (BRM) training a requirement for watchkeepers worldwide. Bridge Resource Management for Small Ships: The Watchkeeper’s Manual for Limited-Tonnage Vessels is the first book to address the unique needs of operators of small ships (limited-tonnage vessels) including tugs, ferries, yachts, and other passenger-carrying vessels. Features: Case histories to illustrate important points A complete course in BRM, suited for studying on your own as well as a complement to your classwork Topics include: Introduction to BRM, Standard Operating Procedures, Passage Planning, Implementing the Passage Plan, Building a Passage Plan, Situational Awareness and Human Factors, including: Overreliance, Distraction, Stress, Fatigue, Complacency, and Transition; and Human Interactions, including Communications, Teams and Teamwork, Decision Making and Leadership, and Human Error

First published: IMO, 1991.