IALACOLREG
Academy

Maritime law, rules and watchkeeping · Level P4 · 4 parts · about 12 min

Leadership, crew management and training on board

4 short parts: Managing · Crew · Training · Master's authority. Each part explains the idea, then gives the points to remember, the common mistakes, a worked case and a practice question; the Academy unit adds all 23 check questions.

1 · Managing

Leadership and managerial skills at management level (STCW A-II/2)

As chief mate or master you no longer lead one watch: you organise the whole department, plan its work, decide under pressure and set its procedures.

Leadership and managerial skills at management level (STCW A-II/2)

The competence

STCW table A-II/2, for masters and chief mates, includes use leadership and managerial skills. It builds on the operational-level skills in Law: human factors and adds scale. You must know shipboard personnel management and training, and the conventions, recommendations and national law that apply. You apply task and workload management, effective resource management and decision-making techniques. You also develop, implement and oversee standard operating procedures.

Organising the crew

At management level you organise people across watches, departments and days. Match each task to a competent person, plan around rest hours, port calls and drills, and keep a reserve for the unexpected. The chief mate typically runs deck work, cargo and stability, safety equipment and the deck crew. The master holds overall command and coordinates with the chief engineer and the company.

Workload and resources

Plan the voyage workload before it arrives: arrival, cargo operations, inspections and departure often fall on the same day. Spread them where you can; ask the company or charterer for time when you cannot. Resource allocation includes people, equipment, time and money. Use the team's experience when assigning tasks, and say clearly who leads each job.

Deciding across departments

When cargo work, maintenance and departure compete, ask each department head for constraints and options. Compare the safety risks, crew rest, equipment availability and timing. Choose a workable plan, name who controls each task and set a review point. Tell the company early if safe options require more time or resources. Reassess when conditions change.

Procedures

The company's safety management system (SMS) contains procedures for key shipboard operations. Management-level officers help write ship-specific instructions, make sure the crew follow them and report where they do not work. If nobody follows a procedure, the operation may be unsafe. Change it through the SMS, not by informal shortcuts.

Remember

  • STCW A-II/2: use leadership and managerial skills for masters and chief mates.
  • Organise people across watches and departments around rest, ports and drills.
  • Plan the voyage workload early; ask for time when tasks collide.
  • Coordinate departments, compare risks and resources, assign responsibilities and review the plan.
  • Develop and oversee procedures; fix bad ones through the SMS.

Common mistakes

  • Wrong: A good chief mate does the critical jobs personally.

    Right: At management level you plan, delegate and supervise. Doing every job yourself overloads you and stops others learning.

  • Wrong: If a procedure does not work, the crew may use their own shortcut.

    Right: Report it and change it through the SMS. Informal shortcuts become routine violations.

Worked case

You are chief mate. Tomorrow the ship arrives at 0600, starts cargo at 0800, has a port state inspection at 1000 and an abandon-ship drill required before departure at 2200. Two ratings have just signed on. How do you plan the day?

Show the answer

List tasks, competence and rest limits. Familiarise the new ratings before assigning duties, then pair them with experienced crew. Delegate cargo, inspection preparation and the drill to named officers. Check that the plan is workable without fatigue. If it is not, ask the master to reschedule work or delay departure. Brief everyone and review the plan as the day develops.

Practice question

Which action shows the added management-level responsibility?

  1. Brief your own watch on the tasks it has been assigned
  2. Develop a ship-specific procedure and check its use
  3. Report an equipment defect to your immediate supervisor
  4. Follow the existing procedure throughout your own watch
Show the answer

Answer: B. STCW A-II/2 adds developing, implementing and overseeing standard operating procedures to operational-level leadership skills.

2 · Crew

Managing the crew: delegation, appraisal, conflict and welfare

A crew is people far from home for months. Delegate clearly, give fair feedback, handle conflict early and look after welfare and culture.

Managing the crew: delegation, appraisal, conflict and welfare

Delegation

Delegation gives a task and the authority to do it, but you keep the accountability. Delegate well: choose a competent person, state the goal, the limits and the deadline, give the resources and say when to report back. Check progress without taking the job back. Delegation trains your officers and frees you to manage.

Appraisal

Most companies use an appraisal, a written evaluation of each seafarer's performance, at the end of the contract. Base it on facts you saw, not on rumour. Discuss it with the person and let them comment. Praise in public, correct in private. A fair appraisal guides training and promotion; an unfair one destroys trust.

Conflict

Conflicts on board grow fast in a small, closed space. Act early. Meet the people involved privately, listen to each side, separate facts from feelings and focus on the behaviour, not the person. Agree a solution and follow it up. If behaviour breaks the rules, use the company's disciplinary procedure and record it fairly. Never let a conflict reach the bridge or the engine room during critical work.

Multicultural crews

Crews often mix many nationalities. Cultures differ in power distance: how readily juniors question seniors. In high power-distance cultures, juniors may not speak up even when they see danger. Invite challenges openly and by name. Use the ship's working language for all work. Use plain words and avoid slang. Ask the receiver to repeat key instructions: this is read-back. Respect religious and dietary needs.

Welfare

Isolation, fatigue, family worries and limited contact affect mental health. Watch for changes in behaviour. Encourage recreation, shore leave and contact with home. Seafarer welfare services and helplines offer confidential support. Seafarers' rights are covered in Law: human factors; as a manager, you make them real on board.

Remember

  • Delegate the task and the authority; keep the accountability.
  • Appraise from observed facts, discuss it, let the person comment.
  • Handle conflict early, privately, on behaviour not personality.
  • In multicultural crews, invite challenges and check understanding.
  • Welfare and mental health are part of safe crew management.

Common mistakes

  • Wrong: Delegating a task removes your accountability for its result.

    Right: You delegate authority to act, but you remain accountable. Check progress and support.

  • Wrong: Silence from junior crew means they agree with the plan.

    Right: In many cultures juniors avoid questioning seniors. Ask directly and by name for their views.

  • Wrong: Personal conflicts are private and not the officer's concern.

    Right: Conflict harms teamwork and safety. Deal with it early before it reaches critical operations.

Worked case

As chief mate you notice that the bosun and an able seafarer of different nationalities no longer speak, and work orders now go through a third person. Yesterday a hatch cover nearly closed on a rating because nobody passed a warning. What do you do?

Show the answer

Pause affected work until safe communication is restored. Meet each person privately, then together if appropriate. Hear both accounts and agree direct warnings in the working language, with read-back. Report the near miss through the SMS and tell the master. Confirm the arrangement works before restarting, then follow up within days. Use the company procedure if either refuses.

Practice question

After delegating a task, what must you still do?

  1. Check progress and remain accountable
  2. Perform every step for the delegate
  3. Avoid intervening if risks develop
  4. Approve every minor working detail
Show the answer

Answer: A. You remain accountable: check progress and provide support while the delegate carries out the task.

3 · Training

Training on board: familiarisation, drills, cadets and assessment

Every officer is also a trainer. Familiarise newcomers before they work, run drills that teach, coach cadets and assess competence fairly.

Training on board: familiarisation, drills, cadets and assessment

Familiarisation

STCW regulation I/14 makes the company ensure that seafarers newly joining a ship are familiarised with their duties, equipment, procedures and the ship's arrangements before taking up duties. STCW regulation VI/1 also requires safety familiarisation before shipboard duties start. The ISM Code (section 6) requires proper familiarisation for new and transferred personnel. In practice, use the company's checklist, show rather than tell, and sign only when the person can actually do it.

Drills that teach

SOLAS sets drill frequencies. Every crew member takes part in at least one abandon-ship drill and one fire drill each month. Hold both drills within 24 hours of leaving port if more than 25% of the crew have not taken part in both on that ship during the previous month. Make drills realistic: vary the scenario and location, brief before, debrief after and record lessons. The drill programme itself is in Emergencies: emergency drills.

Cadets

For a first watchkeeping certificate, STCW A-II/1 requires at least 12 months of approved seagoing service as part of an approved training programme. Onboard training follows A-II/1 and is documented in an approved training record book (TRB); otherwise 36 months of service is required. Usually a shipboard training officer supervises the cadet, under the master. A company training officer ashore oversees the programme. Give cadets real tasks, explain why, and sign the book only for tasks they have done.

Mentoring

Mentoring is long-term guidance from an experienced colleague: sharing judgement, not just procedures. Give a mentee your time, let them try under supervision, and give honest feedback. Model the behaviour you want: rest, safety, respect. Most officers learn their standards from the first masters and chief mates they sail with.

Assessing competence

Under STCW A-I/6, assessors must understand the competence and criteria, be qualified in the task, have guidance in assessment methods and practice, and have practical assessment experience. Trainers must understand the programme and its objectives and be qualified in the task taught. Assess against the STCW standard, not personal habits. Observe performance, ask questions and record evidence. Sign only tasks you have seen performed.

Key figures

SOLAS drills
Abandon-ship and fire drill: each crew member monthly
Drill after port
Within 24 h if >25% lack participation on this ship in previous month
Cadet route to OOW (II/1)
≥ 12 months' approved service with an approved TRB
Route without approved programme
≥ 36 months' approved seagoing service

Remember

  • Familiarise newcomers before they take up duties (STCW I/14, VI/1; ISM 6).
  • Run drills that teach: varied scenarios, briefing, debriefing, records.
  • Cadet route: 12 months' approved service with an approved training record book.
  • Mentor by example and honest feedback.
  • Assess against the STCW standard; sign only what you saw done.

Common mistakes

  • Wrong: A familiarisation checklist is complete when the newcomer has signed it.

    Right: It is complete when the person can actually find and use the equipment and knows the procedures.

  • Wrong: Signing a cadet's record book for tasks they will 'pick up later' helps them.

    Right: It creates a false record of competence. Sign only for tasks you have seen them perform.

  • Wrong: The same drill scenario every month is most efficient.

    Right: Vary scenarios and locations so the crew learn to think, not just repeat.

Worked case

A deck cadet has three weeks left on board. Ten TRB tasks are unsigned, including steering and anchor work. The master asks you, the second officer and shipboard training officer, to 'sign them off so she can go to college'. What do you do?

Show the answer

Do not sign tasks you have not seen. Make a plan for the three weeks: schedule steering under supervision in open water, anchor work at the next anchorage, and short sessions for the rest. Explain to the master that false signatures break STCW standards and would put an unqualified officer on a bridge. Tasks that cannot be done stay unsigned for her next ship.

Practice question

When must a newly joined seafarer be familiarised with their duties and equipment?

  1. Within one month of joining
  2. At the first safety meeting
  3. Before taking up duties
  4. At the first port call
Show the answer

Answer: C. STCW regulation I/14 and VI/1, and ISM section 6, require familiarisation before new seafarers take up their duties.

4 · Master's authority

The master's overriding authority (SOLAS V/34-1, ISM section 5)

No owner, charterer or company may stop the master from a decision needed for safety or the environment. The master uses that authority with judgement.

The master's overriding authority (SOLAS V/34-1, ISM section 5)

SOLAS V/34-1

SOLAS regulation V/34-1 protects the master's professional judgement. The owner, charterer, operating company or anyone else must not prevent the master from making or carrying out a decision needed for safety of life at sea and protection of the marine environment. Commercial pressure must not override that decision.

ISM section 5

ISM Code section 5 defines the master's responsibilities: implementing the company's safety and environmental policy, motivating the crew to follow it, issuing clear orders and instructions, verifying that requirements are observed, and reviewing the SMS and reporting its deficiencies ashore. The company must state clearly in the SMS that the master has overriding authority and responsibility for safety and pollution prevention. The master may request the company's assistance as needed.

Using the authority

Overriding authority is a duty as much as a power. A master may refuse to sail in unsafe weather, delay departure until the crew is rested, slow down, deviate, or refuse cargo that cannot be loaded safely. Record the facts and reasons in the log book. Inform the company promptly. Ask for help early instead of hiding a problem. Master's discretion for security decisions under SOLAS XI-2/8 is covered in Law: ship security officer.

Command on board

The master delegates through standing orders, night orders and the department heads. Delegation does not remove the master's responsibility. The master supports officers who make sound safety decisions, even when they cost time. A pilot advises, but the master keeps command and may take over. Charterers give employment orders; the owner and master remain responsible for navigation and safety.

Remember

  • SOLAS V/34-1: nobody may prevent the master's decisions needed for safety or the environment.
  • ISM 5: the SMS must state the master's overriding authority.
  • The master implements policy, motivates, gives orders, verifies and reviews the SMS.
  • Record reasons for safety decisions and inform the company early.
  • Delegation and pilots do not remove the master's command responsibility.

Common mistakes

  • Wrong: If the charterer insists on an arrival time, the master must meet it.

    Right: Charterers give employment orders. Under SOLAS V/34-1 they cannot restrict the master's safety decisions.

  • Wrong: Overriding authority means the master never needs to explain a decision.

    Right: Record the facts and reasons, inform the company and request support. Authority comes with accountability.

Worked case

The charterer's operator emails that the ship must sail tonight to meet the arrival deadline, despite a gale forecast at the port exit and a crew that worked 18 hours on cargo. The company's operations manager adds 'please do your best'. You are the master. What do you do?

Show the answer

Assess the risk: weather, crew fatigue and rest-hour limits. If sailing is unsafe, delay departure using your overriding authority under SOLAS V/34-1 and ISM 5. Record the forecast, rest records and reasons in the log. Reply to the company and charterer with the facts and a new departure time. Ask the company for support. Commercial pressure does not override safety.

Practice question

Your safety assessment shows departure must wait. The company asks you to sail while it reviews the evidence. What should you do?

  1. Delay departure, record the reasons and request support
  2. Sail while the company decides whether delay is justified
  3. Ask the charterer to approve the delay before acting
  4. Transfer the departure decision to the operations manager
Show the answer

Answer: A. SOLAS V/34-1 protects the master's professional safety decision. Delay departure when safety requires it; record your reasons and request company support. Communication supports the decision rather than postponing it.