Moving the Merchant Navy on with the times.

[MonkeyIslander]

Before you read anything further, this post is long and probably going to sound blasphemous to some people. It's no way intended to provoke, nor is it a rubbish attempt at "trolling". I also understand that it'll probably sound a bit presumptions coming from just a cadet with barely one year of seatime under his belt, but I believe fresh opinions are a good thing, and this is just my opinion gathered from my time at sea. Take it for what you will, but I'd be interested in hearing where everyone might stand on the matter.

I think we can all agree to an extent that the MN as a whole isn't overly great at "keeping up with the times" in some regards, and I want to address that. The industry as a whole in my eyes seems to resist change; take chartwork as an obvious example. Computer technology has been at a stage now to facilitate equipment like the ECDIS for at least a decade, and it's used mainly as a secondary means of gathering information over paper charts. This is in spite of the fact that paper charts are far more susceptible to damage, either by circumstance (tearing, spillage) or incorrect input (someone entering a chart correction poorly, or in some cases not at all).

This sort of inconsistency is not present in an ENC. Updates are provided and completed by the companies supplying the charts and are pretty much certain to be done correctly. Electronic data can also be backed up whenever you like, so there's no danger of a chart you need being damaged.

In spite of this, the powers that be are only now slowly warming to the idea of an ECDIS being used as a primary means of navigation. The technology has been there for a long time now, yet the vast majority of companies pay exorbitant amounts for charts and corrections on a flimsy, easily ruinable paper copy when the electronic option should have been embraced years ago.

The same goes with publications. On how many ships is there everything from generic publications like the IMDG code, to ship specific information like the stability book, even log books been done on paper. A ship's office is stacked with files where anything can get lost/damaged and never be recovered. All of this could be avoid by transferring all of this into digital data. In the event of an emergency this makes even more sense. If a ship is in a position where it may sink, and you need as much data as you can for legal purposes. Surly it's better to grab one hard drive and have every piece of documentation on the ship, than it is to get as much as you can grab and hope the water isn't going to ruin it all.

At this point you might think it's authorities like the MCA and IMO I'm blaming. But it's not. The problem goes deeper than that to the mindset of the average seafarer, and there's one thing more than any other that I think affects it, and this is prevalent in the young and old.

Usually when people talk about this word, they're positive connotations, in both the MN and in the wider world. But I believe that this, more than anything else is what's holding the industry back. Tradition.

On the ships I've been on I've asked a number of people, young and old why they would prefer to have something one way when there exists the potential to replace it with a newer, more efficient system. The answer is unanimously "because this is the way it's always been done". There may be an element of if it ain't broke don't fix it. But that isn't a sentiment that we apply to the real world. There was nothing fundamentally wrong with the typewriter, but the computer and word processor was a better option that came along in time, and we as a society embraced that.

The Merchant Navy however clings to its traditions to a rather glaring fault. And this is going right the way to the top:

Why do we use paper charts when we can use an ECDIS?
Why can I not read my ships SMS from my cabin on my iPad?
Why do I still have to see a ship's Nav staus by looking at what lights it's showing and not purely rely on the AIS?
Why do we say "starboard" instead of "right"?
I'm not even joking about that last one. What possible benefit is there to saying something is off the "port bow", when you could say off the "left bow"? How is saying "abaft" better than saying "behind"?

It's all tradition, that we cling to with no real sense of purpose, it's just the way thing have been done for centuries

Again, this is just my opinion, but the whole thing is symptomatic of the problems why the Merchant Navy as a cohesive whole seems only begrudgingly to move with the times.

Don't get me wrong. I love going to sea, and this whole post really does read like me slagging off the industry as a whole, and for that I apologise because its not my intent. It's just that small part of the whole which seems to plant it's heals into the floor and hang on to obsolete methods and terminology all in the sake of "tradition".

I have absolutely no doubt that throughout my career things will modernise to some degree, after all we are finally starting to see it now. But to me at least to me, as long as we're tying up "starboard side to" and not "right side to" the industry as a whole will be stuck in this mindset of accepting new and improved ways of doing things which takes away aspects that have been a part of life at sea since life at sea was a thing, begrudgingly.

That's quite enough from me, though. I would however, be interested to hear what others think on the matter.

[Clanky]

The answers to your questions are not just about tradition, they are about practicality, some of them are changing, but when you look at the cost of getting it wrong then you can see why any technology has to be tried and tested before it can be implemented at sea.

Why do we use paper charts when we can use an ECDIS?

This is changing as you pointed out, personally I believe that ECDIS is the way forward, however, it is not as clear cut as you might see it. ECDIS is great for people who understand the principals of chartwork, who have learnt how to use charts and understand what they are looking at, it's not so great for learning and gaining experience on. It's the same with automated systems in the engine room, they are great when people understand the principal of operation of the basic system, but I have been on ship's where I have asked qualified engineers how the jacket water temperature is controlled and they have pointed to the digital controller on the ECR controller, some of them knew where the control valve was and very few knew what it actually did to control the temperature.

We work in an environment where we need to have the knowledge of what to do when the sh1t hits the fan, I know that ECDIS systems have redundancy etc, but I do not believe that sticking a USB stick into the chart to update it gives the same understanding of chartwork as the much maligned tracing paper and magenta pen.

Why can I not read my ships SMS from my cabin on my iPad?

Partly because the SMS is a commercial document and companies do not want visitors downloading it and selling it to their competitors. However, you are entirely correct in that digital (searchable) access to the SMS for all crew would be a massive step forward for those companies who do not already have such a system.

Why do I still have to see a ship's Nav staus by looking at what lights it's showing and not purely rely on the AIS?

Think about what rule 1 says, "all vessels" little ahmed in his fishing dhow isn't going to have AIS, so lights are still the most effective way to show nav status for all vessels.

Why do we say "starboard" instead of "right"?

Seriously?

I'm not even joking about that last one. What possible benefit is there to saying something is off the "port bow", when you could say off the "left bow"? How is saying "abaft" better than saying "behind"?

I would have hoped that this would have been taught on the first day of college. Starboard is the right hand side of the ship when looking forward, if you talk about the right hand engine it might mean the one on the right hand side as you go out of the control room door, if you talk about the ship overtaking on the right while you are looking aft, which one do you mean?

[Chiefy]

really?

You mean you avent got a searchable electronic SMS? Pfffft had that for (literally) years, though not from the comfort of your cabin as it's the ships net and not a public net, but still very networked pc has access to it. Ditto all the forms we have to use.

Clanky covers the Port Stbd debate nicely, having seen captains have to be told " the other Stbd" when manouvering on an AHTS, it can happen to the bestof us/them ;-)

To be fair Iam suprised while modernising you didnt want to throw out the rank structure too, I mean how old fashioned it that?

[Clanky]

Clanky covers the Port Stbd debate nicely, having seen captains have to be told " the other Stbd" when manouvering on an AHTS, it can happen to the bestof us/them ;-)

After 3 trips on AHTS I still have to stop and think about which engine control panel I am looking at in the ECR. (All the boats I have been on have had the control console facing aft so that the left hand panel as you look at it is for the starboard engine. I am presently on an accommodation barge with no engines, second day onboard and still not entirely sure which way is forward or aft let alone port or starboard.

[ralphie2449]

really?

You mean you avent got a searchable electronic SMS? Pfffft had that for (literally) years, though not from the comfort of your cabin as it's the ships net and not a public net, but still very networked pc has access to it. Ditto all the forms we have to use.
To be fair Iam suprised while modernising you didnt want to throw out the rank structure too, I mean how old fashioned it that?

Electronic sms?
Well depends on the company really, and the culture of the people in the company. Here for example unless there is a regulation forcing them to spent money on something good for the crew, they wont do it, because MUH PROFIT!! Pretty short sighted like politics in greece xD

What about the rank structure? I dont like ranks much either but how would you change that?

In my opinion one thing that i see and consider scary is the division of the crew to "higher" thus superior and "lower" thus inferior. Ships still have two different mess rooms and two different smoking rooms.
Such divisions in my opinion could sometimes make the officers feel well, superior, and thus act all high and mighty which definitely doesnt help the "inferior" crew feel much better.

And i am not going to even bother much with some captains being all high and mighty on the cube that makes them insufferable. Power can definitely make some people insufferable if they really need to feel better about themselves through power and control, and i assume this behavior still hasnt completely disapeared due to the whole "being a tough boss" thing. Which i assume originated from the past where from what i heard the inferior crew consisted of convicts(not sure if that happened everywhere), which pretty much led to a very bossy and commanding attitude from superior officers which also allowed abuse since abusing "convicts" wasnt considered so "bad" by them since they considered convicts "subhuman" as well...

I mean how exactly do you expect someone to work well for you if you treat him like a subhuman? And honestly, why create a vast number of laws and regulations? To go back to acting like a cave men?

Another issue i see is racism(or nationalism) that could potentially be a reason certain nationalities arent that good at their job. If you dont help them during their starting phases they might need to learn everything by themselves which obviously isnt so easy as learning with the help of some officer.

[Steve]

Why do we use paper charts when we can use an ECDIS?

I work in an all-ECDIS fleet that got its first paperless ship in 2007-ish. One reason some companies have stuck with or reverted to paper is the type-specific training requirements combined with a high personnel turnover make it impractical/expensive for them to go paperless.

Why can I not read my ships SMS from my cabin on my iPad?

I can read it in my cabin on my networked ship's computer and have been able to do so since I first went to sea. Not on my iPad for fairly sensible security reasons, though we could be issued approved tablet computers it isn't really necessary.

Why do I still have to see a ship's Nav staus by looking at what lights it's showing and not purely rely on the AIS?

Nicely covered by Clanky. If you think relying on AIS or any other aid to navigation over the evidence of your own eyes is sensible, you are totally nuts.

Why do we say "starboard" instead of "right"?

Blasphemy!!! :-D

I don't know which sector of the industry you are training in, but it seems to have fallen far behind the government owned, civil-service manned, early 20th century backwater that I inhabit. You need to get out more and get around more.

[chris]

@Monkeyislander - Why not got the whole way and let ships drive themselves?

[GuinnessMan]

@Monkeyislander - Why not got the whole way and let ships drive themselves?

Working on that just now actually....

[YoungMariner]

ECDIS if or all is coming (mandatory under SOLAS from 2014), electronic SMS has been around for years (I've worked with a fully electronic SMS, all forms filled in electronically), iPads, digital publications etc.

Likelihood is that as a cadet you've probably been sent on the low budget/crap companies who are taking advantage of the tonnage tax and employing cheapest possible crew who probably have no idea how ECDIS.

Understanding ECDIS and it's limitations is incredibly complex, and needs a sharp mind to appreciate and embrace it properly. Some people will never understand it and and are dangerous on a bridge using it.

[YoungMariner]

Also to note, ECDIS has been in use in the offshore and cruise industry for years.....

[Chiefy]

I recall the bay boats (Jarvis Class) had a form of electronic chart table years ago, you still need the paper chart on top and the mouse thingy had to be calibrated by placing it on 3 points on the chart, then as you moved it around the chart the leds went green / red ass you approach your position, when all 4 where green......mark the spot

As for ranks, yes some capatain belive they are better or above everyone else, but then thats senior management the world over.

[Clanky]

The company that I work for has decided not to have ECDIS on any of its vessels, even the new builds. Seems like a strange choice to me but the cost of training was apparently the reason.