SSG No 20 - Shipgaz

TOVE SVENSSON
roundings from our own assumptions
and points of references from religion,
history, climate and so on. The decoded
message is then transferred to our way of
being with regard to working methods,
conflict solving, gender roles, games and
food.
– A culture clash is often the result of a
misinterpreted decoding of the signal. And
unfortunately, we often decode the signals
as being negative, or perhaps neutral. Only
rarely do we decode them in a positive way,
says Erik Hemming.
The difference in socio-material conditions
for the crew, for instance working
hours, cabin standard and other hygiene
factors can sometimes act as a barrier to
good communication.
To avoid the sense of “us and them”
onboard, Erik Hemming says it is important
to do things together and communicate
beyond the work-related order giving.
In his opinion, this should come from
higher ranks and down, since it is not as
A.P. MøllER-MæRSk
easy for the lower rank AB to knock on
the chief mate’s cabin door and propose a
mutual cup of coffee, as it would be the
other way around.
– By spending time together you learn
to decode each other’s signals in a correct
way. It is a matter of give and take. Anyway,
it must be boring to spend a long time
together on a ship and not communicate,
says Erik Hemming.
A door opener
Another good example is learning at least
a few phrases in the other language or languages
spoken onboard. Just a few words
can be a door opener and a source of many
laughs.
Poor communication between crew
members from the same culture and
speaking the same language can be a safety
threat through misunderstandings and
mistakes. It is only natural that the odds
on miscommunication are increased when
crew members are further hampered by
cultural differences and speak English as
a second language. According to a paper
written by Robyn Pyne at the University
of Plymouth and Thomas Koester at Force
Technology in Denmark, failures in effective
crew communication have played a
central role in a number of maritime accidents.
On the Sally Maersk a Polish repairman
died from pneumonia when he was unable
to communicate with the officer who was
trying to treat him. His shipmates thought
he was suffering from back pain after an
earlier injury.
Extreme example
The bulk carrier Bright Field, which ran
into a shopping complex in New Orleans
in 1996, leaving 66 people injured,
illustrates an extreme situation with a
crew and a pilot from different cultures:
American and Chinese. The word “no”
is a very impolite word to the Chinese,
A crewmember of the Sally Maersk died
tragically due to problems of communication
onboard.
especially to an authority such as a pilot.
Since the pilot was not able to understand
the communication in Chinese between
the engine room and the bridge, he was
left unaware of the engine problems and
could take no preventive action to mitigate
the accident.
It is no doubt difficult for seafarers that
communicate in their native languages
and perhaps simplified
English in their day-today
communication to
suddenly muster a good
command of a standard
marine vocabulary
according to the
STCW convention,
when an emergency
situation occurs. Erik Hemming.
What you can do is decide,
if you want to be limiting
or non-limiting in your
communication, listening
or non-listening.
Pyne and Koester believe improved crew
communication through training and education
can reduce the risk of accidents as
long as it is based on fundamental knowledge
of the dynamics of crew interaction
and communication.
Leadership onboard necessitates crosscultural
competency to revoke cultural
differences in order to get the best out of
a multicultural team. Less than ten per
cent of our communication is verbal, the
rest is non-verbal like in the quality of our
voice, gestures, facial expressions and body
language. It is the non-verbal communication
that reflects a person’s thoughts and
wishes.
– We are mentally unaware of a large
part of our communication and control
may be two per cent. The rest is done without
us thinking of it, says Erik Hemming
and continues:
– But what you can do is decide, if you
want to be limiting or non-limiting in
your communication, listening or nonlistening.
You have the choice to open up
professional communication.
cecilia österman
SCANDINAVIAN SHIPPING GAZETTE • OCTOBER 26, 2007 13