ASSIGNMENT 11

NAME: PELINGON CARLO F

COURSE, YR & SECTION: BSMT 3 BRAVO

PROF/INSTRUCTOR : CAPT. EDWARD GONZAGA MM

DATE SUBMITTED: 05 DECEMBER 2023

1. Make an in depth research on Bridge Resource Manangement (BRM)

 BRM (Bridge Resource Management) addresses the management of

operational tasks, as well as stress, attitudes and risk. BRM
recognizes there are many elements of job effectiveness and safety,
such as individual, organizational and regulatory factors, and they
must be anticipated and planned for.
 BRM enables the bridge team to mark the abort points and various
contingencies (anchorage and berth).
 BRM begins before the voyage with the passage plan and continues
through the end of the voyage with the passage debrief, debriefing
or evaluation helps in improvement.

Situational awareness:

 Present state of weather, wind, sea state, swell and visibility and the
meterological forecast.
 Present draft and depth of water, proximity of hazards and effect
of squat.
 State of tide and current and effect of the same.
 Communications with VTS and any safety related communication
with all the stations.
 All the displays on bridge – tachometer, rudder angle
indicator, ROTI, UKC, anemometer, inclinometer etc, also displays
for course steered and course made good, speed through water and
speed over ground.
 Awareness of own ship’s configuration, maneuvering characteristics
(turning circle, stopping distance etc).
  Awareness of the equipment and systems and the limitations.
These include bridge equipment, communication equipment,
propulsion and steering.
 Adjustment of various setting for example radar, auto pilot etc.

Many factors can cause you to lose situational awareness, data not observed,
either because it is difficult to observe or your scanning of the environment is
deficient due to:

 Passive, complacent behavior.

 Lack of training, lack of familiarization, lack of experience, lack of
competency.
 Lack of interest, lack of motivation, fear, lack of communication
skill.
 Over reliance on a person, system or equipment.
 Inability to understand change in traffic/ weather conditions.
 High work load, stress and fatigue.
 Ambiguity, confusion, distraction and interruptions etc.

Principles of Bridge Resource Management (BRM):

 Shared view of goals.
 Delegation of responsibilities
 Effective organization and sense of team owner ship in achieving
goals.
 Bridge Resource Management (BRM), or as it is called Bridge Team
Management (BTM), is the effective management and utilization of
all resources, human and technical, available to the Bridge Team to
ensure the safe completion of the vessel’s voyage.
 BRM focuses on bridge officer’s skills such as teamwork, team
building, communication, leadership, decision making and
resource management and incorporate this into the larger picture
of organizational and regulatory management.
 BRM addresses the management of operational tasks, as well as
stress, attitudes and risk. BRM recognizes there are many elements
of job effectiveness and safety, such as individual, organizational
and regulatory factors and they must be anticipated and planned
for.
  BRM enables the bridge team to mark the abort points and various
contingencies (anchorage and berth).
 BRM begins before the voyage with the passage plan and continues
through the end of the voyage with the passage debrief, debriefing
or evaluation helps in improvement.

Importance of Bridge Resource Management on board &

factors that affect the effective use of BRM with onboard
situation:
 When BRM is practiced correctly onboard the result should be a
Bridge Team that.
 Maintain its situational awareness hence avoids accidents.
 Continually monitors the progress of the vessel making appropriate
adjustments and corrections as necessary to maintain a safe
passage.
 Acquires relevant information early.
 Appropriately delegates workload and authority.
 Anticipates dangerous situations.
 Avoid becoming pre-occupied with minor technical problems and
losing sight of the big picture.
 Decides on met warnings/ navigational warnings applicable to own
vessel.
 Undertakes appropriate contingency plans when called for.
 Can be beneficial to make the short term strategy if required.
 Recognizes the development of an error chain; and
 Takes appropriate action to break the error-chain sequence.
 Debriefing can help in improvement of future passage plan and
possible suggestion to improve SMS checklists / procedures.

BRM tends to develop confidence in each individual, as it focuses on the human

factor so hence enables to fulfill the various requirements of charter party
without compromising with ship’s safety.

How to effectively use the various resources such as

Navigational Equipment on the bridge and available man
power for safe keeping a safe navigational watch at sea
based on the principle of Bridge Resource Management:
Effectively use of Various resources with respect to Navigational Equipment: A
mariner has many resources available to him for safe passage planning and
execution and monitoring. Some examples include:

 Electronic equipment (i.e. radar, echo sounder, GPS / DGPS,

ARPA, gyro compass, AIS etc).
 Charts and nautical publications, including electronic publications.
 Environmental factors (i.e. visibility, tide, wind, sea, swell &
currents).
 Electronic Charting and Display information Systems (ECDIS).
 Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) and usage of IMO ship’s routeing.
 All the displays on bridge tachometer, rudder angle indicator, ROTI,
UKC, anemometer, inclinometer etc, also displays for course
steered and course made good, speed through water and speed
over ground.
 Internal and external communication equipment.
 Met warnings and navigational warning through ECG, Navtex etc.
 Bridge Personnel (i.e. Master, Officer on Watch (OOW), helmsman,
lookout etc.)
 Persons with local knowledge (i.e. Pilot).

Implementing Bridge Resource Management on my vessel:- The Master can

implement BRM by considering and addressing the following:

 Passage Planning:- covering ocean, coastal and pilotage waters.

Particular attention is paid to high traffic areas, shallow waters, or
pilotage waters where the plan incorporates appropriate margins of
safety and contingency plans for unexpected (abort points and
contingency anchorages).
 Passage Plan Briefing:- all bridge team members are briefed on the
passage plan and understand the intended route and procedures to
transit the route.
 Bridge Manning:- Master uses passage plan to anticipate areas of
high workload and risk and sets manning levels appropriately.
 Bridge Team Training (ashore and on-the-job) – is given all bridge
members and they are sure of their roles and responsibilities, both
for their routine duties and their duties in the event of an incident /
emergency.
  Master’s Standing Orders- are read and signed before the
commencement on the voyage. Orders are clear on the chain of
command, how decision and instructions are given on the bridge
and responded to, and how bridge team members bring safety
concerns to the notice of the Master. Master’s standing orders must
not in conflict with company’s standing orders/ procedures.
 Master / Pilot Exchange – the passage plan is discussed by the
Master and the pilot and changes made as necessary. Any new
information is communicated to the rest of the bridge team. When
the pilot is onboard he/she should be supported as a temporary
bridge team member, relevant checklists to be complied with, pilot
advice can be challenged as and when required.
 End of Voyage Debriefing – provides the opportunity for the bridge
team to review the passage plan’s strengths and weaknesses, make
suggestions for improved safety or communications, and improve
team problem solving skills.

2. Determine the allocation of assigned resources as needed in correct priority to perform

necessary tasks with regards to BRM.

Bridge resource management or BRM was adopted in the early 1990s by the maritime industry as a
safety and error management tool and has now become an integral part of crew’s training. BRM
makes use of all available resources including equipment and information and human resources to
achieve safe operation. BRM plays an important role in environments where human error can have
devastating effects. It has proven to be an important tool for improving safety in the maritime
industry and thus prevent the recurrence of incidents. It can thus help to support a safer and more
efficient execution of operations by blending technical skills and human skills.

BRM can be termed as the effective management and utilisation of all resources, human and
technical, available to the bridge team, to ensure the safe completion of the vessel’s voyage.

Critical Elements Of BRM

Communication: The first cluster of BRM skills includes those related to effective communication.
Good communication between the crew members is the key to successful BRM. The effective
transfer of information is a complex process. It requires information be conveyed when needed,
understood and acknowledged by the receiver and clarified if needed. In many cases it has been
seen that the information needed always existed but it was not made available to those who needed
it at the right time. The message was either not received or misunderstood. Another common cause
of major incidents was inaccurate, incomplete, ambiguous or garbled messages. It is important for
crew members to acknowledge and repeat orders to ensure that they are well understood.
Continuous interaction between humans and equipment leads to the vessel being navigated in a safe
and efficient manner. It is the duty of all officers and crew members to cross check and cross
question. Only then effective communication can be achieved. It is also important to maintain a
common language on board the vessel so that communication can become easier and quicker.

Teamwork: BRM focuses on team building and team work. Working in a team helps to address
challenges together faced by crew members on a daily basis. A team approach ensures that all crew
members are involved in problem solving and are not just mere spectators. We should borne in mind
the famous proverb by Henry Ford, ‘Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress and
working together is success. Team discussions are essential for learning and refining BRM. A good
team should anticipate dangerous situations and recognise the development of an error chain. On
the bridge the watch officer and lookout personnel should work as a team to ensure safe navigation.
Safe and effective navigation is not one man’s job as there are many aspects to be looked into. It is
important that the bridge team share a common view of the intended passage. If in any doubt the
lookout personnel should speak up. Every individual can contribute in his/her best possible way and
come up with better ideas when working as a team.

Decision making: This is a key skill in effective BRM. Decision making seems to be an individual
matter. We all agree that captain is the final authority on board the ship. However it is quite
important for the decision maker to take valuable inputs from officers and crew members. Before
taking any decision it is vital to gather relevant and pertinent information. A wrong decision taken
can led to many unwanted situations on-board ships. It is therefore important to conduct regular
meetings, interact with officers and crew members and take opinions that can help to produce a final
choice from several available options and thus make a more deliberate and thoughtful decision . Due
to busy schedule and frequent port calls it is often not possible to gather all the information in little
time or to evaluate alternative solutions. In these cases decision taken is mostly based on past
experiences. Captain being the most experienced person onboard is therefore regarded as the sole
decision maker. Reviewing the consequences of the decision taken is an integral part of decision
making.

Situational awareness: Every mariner should think and plan well ahead of time. Officers as well as
crew members should be aware of the external and internal conditions that can affect ship safety.
Mariners should keep their eyes and ears open and active at all times and be prepared for the
unexpected. It is always important to correlate what is going on in the present to what has gone on
in the past and what may go on in the future.
Overlooking critical details or being indifferent to what is going on around, both can lower situational
awareness. We always need to be alert to avert accidents. Paying attention to the on-going situation
increases the response time to safely handle an unexpected event. It is a common problem of getting
preoccupied with minor problems and losing sight of the big picture. Breakdown of situational
awareness can result in incidents and accidents. Officers often tend to sit in front of the radar or
stand in one position than strolling from one side of the bridge wing to the other. They are not aware
of what exactly is happening outside the bridge windows in a highly frequented sailing area.
Anticipating and responding correctly to the vessel’s changing situation can reduce near misses to a
great extent. Situational awareness is always important when conducting manoeuvres in a restricted
area in poor weather where risks ought to be obvious. With awareness, one cannot do wrong and
without awareness, one cannot do good. Hence what is required is to keep the thread of awareness
running through all our actions.

Fatigue: Fatigue is a major issue among seafarers. Even though lot of automation has been brought
in to reduce the level of manning, the level of automation and level of complexity people have to
deal with can be very fatiguing in itself. Many accident investigating report these days have fatigue as
one of the main causes. A grounding or collision for example caused by lack of attention by fatigued
officer. The ability to analyse is severely impaired due to tiredness. Seafarers often work extra hours
to meet the job orders on time so as not to upset their ship owners. Seafarers always do not have the
luxury to delay port arrivals or departure to compensate with their rest hours. They generally work
long hours and even work at night as there is more demand in meeting time schedules. Thus we see
it is very important to manage crew’s duty schedule to preserve their energy to the extent possible
so that they have their clarity of mind. Things can get lot smoother if proper work and rest hours are
maintained on-board the ships. Irregular sleep and poor rest causes distraction of mind leading to
poor performance. In turn awareness regarding the hazards of the task is reduced. Accidents often
occur when workload demands exceed crew capabilities.

The need to emphasise bridge resou”ce management continues to be a long standing effort. Good
BRM is a culture that needs to be embraced and practiced. Bridge Resource management is
important to all seafarers in helping them to work effectively in all situations. It is an attempt to
improve human’s ability to perform work using complex machinery while simultaneously creating a
safe environment. Human factors contribute to a vast majority of shipping related accidents. No one
is immune. Bad things can happen to anyone. One must recognise the risks and avoid taking chances.
Safety is not something we have but we create it every day.

3. What is clear communication and unambiguous as to transmission and reception of

information in line with BRM? (Prepare for actual demonstration)

Effective Communication with the respect to Bridge

Resource Management Principles:
Effective Communication: Communication is at the heart of any relationship, be
it familial, business, romantic, or friendly.

 Communication is not a one-way street.

 To have others open up to you, you must open up yourself first.
 By overcoming these barriers to communication, you can ensure
that the statement you are making is not just heard, but also
understood, by the person you are speaking with.
 In this way, you can be confident that your point has been
expressed and understood.

Types of Communication:

Verbal Communication:

 Verbal communication continues to be the most important aspect

of our interaction with other people.
 It’s important to understand both the benefits and shortcomings of
this most basic communication.

Non-verbal Communication:

 It is any kind of communication not involving words.

 When the term is used, most people think of facial expressions and
gestures, but while these are important elements of non-verbal
communication, they are not the only ones.
 Non-verbal communication can include vocal sounds that are not
words such as grunts, sighs and whimpers.
 Even when actual words are being used, there are non-verbal
sound elements such as voice tone, pacing of speed and so forth.

Effective Verbal Communication:

 It has more to do with listening than it does with speaking because

you are always dealing with an audience.
 This is true no matter whether you are speaking to a crowd of
thousands or to a party of one.
 Listening is key because when you address an audience, no matter
the size, you have to meet its needs to communicate effectively,
and to know the needs of your audience, you have to listen.
Formal Communication:

 It can be considered as communication efforts that are “dressed

up” to fit customary rules and ceremony e.g. in a written letter, the
formal communication style will demand that the layout of the
piece of written communication follow a specific format that
includes the date, header, salutation, body of the letter, close,
signature lines and any indicators of enclosures all placed neatly
upon company letterhead or personal stationery.
 By contrast, an informal piece of written communication can be as
simple as a jotted note to a friend on a torn slip of paper.

Informal Communication:

 If formal communication is viewed like dressing for a black tie

affair, informal communication is like dressing casually and wearing
slippers around the house.
 Much informal communication occurs on a person to person basis,
in a face-to-face manner, without ceremony or fanfare.
 Other ways to communicate in an informal manner may include
texting, post-it notes, an informal drop in visit to another person, or
a quick and spontaneous meeting.

Communication through Body Language:

 Communication is how human beings interact with the world that

surrounds them.
 There are many forms of communication, some being more
effective at conveying the intent or feelings of the individual
expressing than others.
 Many people have a hard time with communication, and can find it
difficult to tell others what they think or to give them bad news.
 Sometimes, they can’t find the right words to express the things
they want to say.
 There are also those people who are not to be believed due to a
history of dishonesty or embellishing the truth.
 One form of communication, however, is always honest and can
always be counted on.
Bridge Team Management:
The OOW is in charge of the Bridge Team, until properly relieved, in compliance
with the SMS and Master’s Standing Orders. This responsibility extends to
ensuring that bridge watch manning levels are at all times maintained at a safe
level for the prevailing circumstances and conditions. An OOW should be on
watch on the bridge at all times at sea or at anchor. All members of the Bridge
Team including look-outs and any helmsmen should be fit for duty.

Importance of Communication in Bridge Team

Management:

IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION
Verbal Communication:

 Is either spoken or written

 Helps to build relationships
 Helps in task completion
 On its own can hinder effective communications
 The “how” it is said may be more important than “what” is said
 Written communications must be clear, precise and informative

Non – Verbal Communication:

Complements verbal communication by:

 Repeating what is being said

 Reinforces verbal communications
 Enables emphasis to be placed on certain words
 Contradicts the verbal message
 Substitutes for verbal behaviour

Debriefs – An Aid to Effective Communication:

Debriefs should be held as they:

 Enable learning
 Prevent repetition of errors
 Enable improvement
 Reinforce correct behaviour with positive feedback
 Emphasise positives

Dis-advantages of Ineffective Communication:

 Miscommunication
 Poor team performance
 Increase in the risk of an incident
 Threatens the safety of the vessel

Guidelines for Effective Bridge Communication:

 Give Respect
 Generate good body language
 Speak slowly and clearly
 Listen actively
 Simplicity
 Use pictures and diagrams
 Use standardised words and phrases (IMO SMCP)
 Never assume
 Be happy (smile)