FEATURES OF THE SHIP’S HANDLING DURING NAVIGATION IN PORT WATERS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE SEAFARERS' TRAINING AND COMPETENCY VERIFICATION

Abstract

Establishment of the appropriate communication with the pilot, exchange of all the necessary information for the safe passage of the vessel, awareness by all responsible parties of their duties and the correspondence of their competency to the positions held, as well as knowledge and understanding, among other aspects, of the elements of bridge resource management theory, not only do not lose but even acquire greater relevance today. This fact is confirmed not only in practice but is also reflected in the relevant statistical materials. This partially appears in the following: despite the recommendations of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), other sources and the requirements of the relevant regulatory documents, many ship captains put too much trust in pilots when maneuvering the ship in port waters or channels. This paper examines the issue of sailing in port and inland waters from the perspective of the human factor's influence when using pilot services. The effectiveness of training for seafarers in the first approach has been evaluated with the aim of increasing the level of navigational safety and promoting responsibility awareness for all parties involved with regard to their duties, as well as assessment of their competency. In accordance with the obtained results, only 9.7% of seafarers out of the total number of participants were able to complete the set task of exiting the port water area in the Bay of Haydarpaşa (Istanbul, Turkey) and the Bosporus Strait in a safe and successful way on the first attempt and without pilot’s and/or tugs’ assistance. At the same time, this task did not cause difficulties for the respondents who undergo regular training in their companies and increase their level of competence. The experiment was conducted using a navigational simulator by means of simulation modelling methods. Keywords: ship handling, pilotage, certification and training, competence assessment.