Crew Size and Maritime Safety (1990) / Chapter Skim
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1. Introduction
1. Introduction
Pages 1-14
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From page 1... ...
With the advent of diesel propulsion, automation, and other labor-saving measures in the late 1960s, labor-management contracts began to settle on the COI requirements as minimum manning scales. Thus, Coast Guard manning decisions are taking on ever greater significance.
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From page 2... ...
Instead, they specify manning practices based on outmoded shipboard divisions of labor (such as the increasingly obsolescent distinction between deck and engine departments) and watch-keeping practices (such as the requirement to employ enough personnel to keep three watches in traditional watch-keeping positions, even though most engine department personnel no longer stand watches)
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From page 3... ...
To protect the environment and the safety of ships and seafarers, the Coast Guard should be authorized by law to update its regulatory practices. A regulatory framework that enforces half-century-old practices on a rapidly evolving industry can support neither safety nor competitiveness.
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From page 4... ...
The engine department on such a ship was typically manned by a chief engineer, a first assistant engineer, a second assistant engineer, three third assistant engineers, two electricians, three fire/watertenders, three oilers, and three wipers each standing three watches. Three licensed engineers, the fire/watertenders, and the oilers stood watches, four hours on and eight off, round the clock.
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From page 5... ...
These developments culminated in the so-called "unattended engine room," which can be monitored from the bridge or other remote locations, and requires no watch-standing crew members in the engine room itself. Automated Boiler Controls The first engine department crew reduction in the postwar United States, in 1964, was enabled by installing automatic controls on propulsion
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From page 6... ...
It let operators design machinery spaces for "periodically unattended" operation, with computers to monitor and control vital systems. Periodically unattended machinery spaces could be unmanned for prolonged periods of time, and therefore did not require round-the-clock attendance by a licensed engineer.
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From page 7... ...
Steward's departments aboard U.S.-flag vessels now are typically staffed by three or four persons, and often fewer. The Maintenance Department Aboard U.S.-Flag Vessels: Response to a Regulatory Impasse In many foreign countries, advancing technology and accompanying reductions in manning have prompted shipping companies, with the support of safety regulators and unions, to break down some of the traditional departmental boundaries and eliminate the division of crews into watches.
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From page 8... ...
The department may be directed at different times by the master, the chief mate, and the chief engineer, but the master retains ultimate authority in allocating crew members' efforts. The result of the Coast Guard's authorization of maintenance departments was to facilitate the distribution of labor more evenly between deck and engine personnel.
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From page 9... ...
Since 1987, the West German shipping industry has provided only general-purpose training for its unlicensed personnel, eliminating separate deck and engine specialties. These personnel are known as ship's mechanics and can advance to the position of ship's foreman.
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From page 10... ...
In 1981, the first phase of these experiments began aboard several new vessels whose bridges were fitted with monitoring and control systems for propulsion machinery and safety systems; remote controls for mooring winches, cargo-handling equipment, and ballast; and satellite position location and communication systems. The distinction between deck and engine departments was removed for unlicensed personnel, and junior officers' positions (third officer and third engineer)
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From page 11... ...
The main technical innovations were the placement of auxiliary engine and navigation controls on the wing of the bridge, a labor-saving galley, and "labor-saving oil processing devices with sufficient disposal facility" (Anonymous, 1989~. The Netherlands Dutch shipping companies pioneered the use of general-purpose ratings and dual-qualified officers, beginning as much as 20 years ago.
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From page 12... ...
For example, the European-built C-10 container ships recently put into service by American President Linescomprehensively automated ships of the future with all control systems centralized on the bridge—are designed to operate with 11-member crews. Under current laws, regulatory policies, and labor-management contracts, however, they sail with crews of 21.
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From page 13... ...
Crew reductions in the United States should build on this experience, with appropriate attention to the unique features of the U.S.-flag fleet. Although the most fundamental question continues to be whether the move toward smaller crews in U.S.-flag fleets has tended to degrade safety, an important directly related issue is whether the current statutory framework adequately protects workers, vessels, and the environment, and whether it unduly restricts the adoption of new technology.
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From page 14... ...
1987. Coast Guard merchant vessel manning.
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