What is Maritime Resource Management?

What is Maritime Resource Management?

Maritime Resource Management (MRM) is a training program built on the most advanced research in human factors and resource management.

It helps prevent accidents at sea caused due to human and organisational mistakes. It began in 1993 as Bridge Resource Management.

It can be defined as using and coordinating skills, knowledge, resources, and experience available to a team to achieve efficiency and safety goals on a sea voyage.

The program seeks to encourage a team to make major changes in behaviour during daily onboard operations to establish safe attitudes and safe organisational cultures, including good management, teamwork and the ability to accept personal responsibility to bring about desired changes.

The goal is to enhance safety, efficiency and job satisfaction and establish a just culture in the maritime industry.

History of Maritime Resource Management

Bridge Resource Management originated from the advent of safety training in the aviation industry.

NASA investigators examined the causes of aircraft crashes in 1979 and after the deadliest aviation disaster, the Tenerife airport accident in 1977 in which 583 died, NASA developed a new training method for flight crews focussing on self and situational awareness, interpersonal communication and decision-making.

This was necessary as the accident was a result of bad weather coupled with stress, miscommunication, lack of monitoring and other errors on the part of the flight crew.

The training became an intrinsic part of aviation safety and due to its success in enhancing flight safety, the aviation sector’s cockpit resource management was brought into maritime as bridge resource management, called Maritime Resource Management from 2003 onwards.

Advantages of Maritime Resource Management

It has been proven that most shipboard accidents or dangerous situations arise due to poor communication, lack of coordination, misunderstandings, etc, rather than technical failures or inexperience.

This is why MRM tries to foster a positive attitude, good communication, leadership and compliance with the established processes. The knowledge from MRM helps know the root cause of accidents and how to prevent them from happening in the future.

MRM does not promise a sudden or overnight change as attitudes and behaviours are the most difficult to change in people but offers long-term benefits.

Some benefits of MRM include:

• Reduction in accidents
• Increased situation awareness
• Effective management of available resources
• Improves communication
• Provides tools to perform successful briefings and clear planning
• Minimise complacency
• Ensure effective implementation of operating procedures

How does MRM Work?

An MRM program has a long-lasting impact on the participants beyond the training session such as fostering improved communication skills, better stress and work pressure management.

Hence, a workforce with a sharper focus helps prevent minor errors that could lead to catastrophic events.

MRM Training

MRM training focuses on the development of soft skills or non-technical knowledge. So people in different positions or ranks take part in the same training, covering the same course and its objectives.

The goal is to remove obstacles between people, departments and ships and foster effective and clear communication to establish a culture of safety in the workplace.

MRM training also states that there is a correlation between the attitudes and behaviours of seafarers and their respective cultures.

The training focusses on changing attitudes. It also sees crew members as a team and not a collection of individuals. The objective of the training is to make participants understand why errors happen and how to avoid them.

It helps participants identify safety and productivity issues and reduce the risk of accidents by encouraging responsible behaviours.

The training in the MRM course happens through workshops, usually one workshop per course module in which trainees work in groups of 8 to 12 or in smaller teams.

Case Studies of accidents are shared and analysed using MRM terminology and a situation analysis is done to compare one’s attitudes and opinions with those of others.

In the Computer Based Training, examples of good and worse management situations are provided.

MRM Training Techniques

Facilitation is the main technique used in MRM Training. The other technique is instruction, which is mainly demonstration.

Facilitation allows participants to discover what is effective and appropriate. Both methods are useful however instruction as a technique is not very useful as adults do not like being instructed on how to behave or what to think as just or appropriate.

Refresher training is important for long-term results from resource management training. In the maritime industry, this is often done through short courses that summarise the main MRM modules.

It deals with recent developments and analyses recent cases of accidents. Shipping companies refresh MRM contents during officer and crew conferences as well.

MRM Course Content

The MRM course has modules on :

• Situation Awareness
• Automation Awareness
• Multicultural awareness
• Attitudes
• Communication and Briefings
• Authority and Assertiveness
• Workload
• Challenges and Response
• Management and Leadership
• Decision Making
• Team Building and Conflict Management
• Understanding Self
• Contingency and Crisis Management
• Stress and Fatigue Management
• Time Management and Delegation

Who should take MRM Training?

As MRM focuses on human factor problems and not technical tasks, it is ideal for all levels, both deck, engine and also onshore personnel including:

• Masters and chief engineers
• Ship officers and crew members
• Ratings
• Pilots

• Shore-based personnel
• VTS operators
• managers
• Designated persons
• Accident investigators

STCW 2010 (Manila Amendments)

The MRM course meets the requirements in the IMO International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as amended by the 2010 Manila Amendments, in the following areas:

• Table A-II/1 for Bridge resource management
• Table A-III/1 for Engine-room resource management
• Table A-II/2 and A-III/2 for use of leadership and managerial skills
• Table A-II/1, A-III/1 and A-III/6 for Application of leadership and teamworking skills

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About Author

Zahra is an alumna of Miranda House, University of Delhi. She is an avid writer, possessing immaculate research and editing skills. Author of several academic papers, she has also worked as a freelance writer, producing many technical, creative and marketing pieces. A true aesthete at heart, she loves books a little more than anything else.

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