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OCR for page 1
1
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
,
In the last 20 years, some ship operating companies, notably those in
Northwestern Europe and Japan, have accomplished substantial
mann Ping
te<:h-
productivity gains through various combinations of shipboard
nology, changes in ship operating company and vessel crew organization,
and government maritime policies. The need to encourage the competi-
tiveness of the U.S.-flag fleet has raised interest in the productivity
improvement that might be realized through innovations in manning
practices, and in the costs and consequences.
~ ~ — — ~ ~ —~ ~
. . _
At the request of the Maritime Administration (MarAd), the
National Research Council established the Committee on Effective
Manning under the auspices of the Marine Board. The charge to the
committee was to provide technical background and analysis in support
of management, labor, and government decision making regarding the
means and process by which effective manning may be best accomplished
in the U.S.-flag merchant fleet. The committee conducted its work by
means of review of both published and nonpublished information, an
information-gathering trip to Northwest Europe, and a meeting of the
committee with U.S. government, industry, labor, and research princi-
pals in ship operations. This section presents the committee's
summary, conclusions, and recommendations.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
Ineffective manning. encompasses innovations in the crewing of merchant
vessels, including number of personnel and functional organization, to
improve cost-effectiveness, the human environment of the workplace,
and safety. It also includes supporting innovations in vessel design
and operating technology, the management structure and operating
practices of ship operating companies, the policies and practices of
labor unions, government regulations and programs, and the structure
and process of collective bargaining. Some manning changes that
increase productivity have adverse socioeconomic effects, i.e. , they
decrease employment and increase workloads. These frequently are
coupled with compensating increases in wages and prerequisites.
OCR for page 2
2
However, other manning innovations have the potential f or
simultaneously increasing productivity and improving working con-
ditions, e.g., new types of training, increased flexibility regarding
assignment of duties within and across departmental lines, and crew
participation in work planning aboard ship.
Effective manning changes characteristically consist of smaller
complements of seafarers tasked with enlarged technical and manager ial
responsibilities. The shipboard changes ares enabled or supported by
technology advances and changes in shore support, management duties,
and logistics. The range of innovations includes changes in vessel
design, technology and equipment; the organization of crews; and
union/company arrangements, shoreside support, and individual
corporate policies.
Changes in vessel design, technology, and equipment have included
automated engine room' changes in maintenance requirements, schedules
and responsibility, and bridge and navigation automation. They have
also encompassed changes in mooring, anchoring, and cargo operations
to minimize manpower requirements, as well as improvements in communi-
ca~ions and superstructure design.
Changes in the organization of crews have included
intradepartmental f legibility ~ i. e., enlarging mariners ' duties within
the individual deck, engine, and steward departments), interdepart-
mental flexibility ~ i.e., assigning mariners duties in different
departments), departmental integration ~ i.e., general purpose crew,
and integrated off dicers ), shipboard management teams, and more
part icipat ive war k planning .
Notable changes in union/company arrangements, shoreside support,
and individual corporate policies have been longer-term association of
employees with ship operating companies and with vessels, efforts to
close the traditional status gap between officers and other crew, and
decentralization of ship operating company management to place more
decision-making authority onboard.
As important as the substance of the innovations is the process
by which they have been developed and implemented. The process of
change teas been led by individual companies. Government agencies,
shipping associations, trade unions, and research institutes have
played roles, but have been more successful in cooperative efforts
wi th innovating companies .
Based on the Northwest European and Japanese experience with
effective manning, the committee was able to identify the key elements
of the change process. 'these are: ( 1~ leadership in the form of top
management commitment; ~ 2 ~ union, management, and government coopera-
tion; ~ 3 ~ the opportunity for participants, especially crew, to
discuss, review, and shape the innovations; and (4 ~ efforts to achieve
a high level of crew continuity to prevent constant drain of newly
acqu i red s kills and value.
OCR for page 3
3
In Europe, the rate of diffusion of manning change and the quality
of the innovations were enhanced through mechanisms for participants
to meet and exchange experience. Furthermore, most manning changes
entailed upgrading the technical skills of participants as a result of
expanded responsibilities and organizational change.
Some manning changes in Europe and elsewhere have violated laws
or practices and required variances, which have had to be modified to
enable diffusion of manning changes in the industry. In those
instances where seagoing billets have been reduced and mariners'
workloads increased, seafaring unions and their members have
negotiated appropriate compensation.
U.S.-flag oceangoing general cargo vessels carry crews of about
40, and tankers carry about 30. Ship manning levels can be reduced to
about 30 for container ships and 20 for tankers with the adoption of
automation technologies which eliminate the necessity of engine-room
watchstanding and reduce the labor element of several shipboard tasks.
Reorganization of shipboard work to employ unlicensed mariners and
officers capable of performing both deck and engine duties would
reduce manning requirements by several more billets.
The traditional maritime nations of Northwest Europe and Japan
embarked on a transition away from traditional manning and organiza-
tional practices in the mid-1960s to early 1970s for two principal
reasons. One, they were eager to improve the attractiveness of the
seagoing career to alleviate a shortage of manpower; a better educated
labor force with employment options ashore was less willing to accept
existing shipboard working conditions. Two, operators wished to
reduce operating costs to compete better with the expanding low-labor
cost fleets of the third world and flags of convenience, and the
heavily subsidized fleets of the Eastern bloc countries.
Effective manning changes simultaneously improved the
satisfication of mariners with a seagoing career and the efficiency of
operations. At the same time, the nature of the manning changes
coincided with larger national commitments to greater involvement of
workers in job-related decision making. The interest in manning
innovation in Europe and elsewhere led to the formation of long-term
research programs, information-sharing networks, and an awareness of
the mutual management and labor gains achievable through cooperative
efforts. Interest overseas has been strengthened as a result of the
challenges posed by the international shipping depression which has
extended from the late 1970s to the present. Ship operators and
seafaring unions are engaged in many individual and cooperative
pro jects to improve the effective use of seagoing labor.
Ine U . S. -flag merchant mar ine also has undergone some manning
changes. Some modest crew reductions have been based primarily on
technological advances. Fewer innovate ions have been directed toward
OCR for page 4
4
improving the productivity, safety, and job satisfaction of mariners.
Changes that have taken place seem not to build on one another, nor
have they been widely diffused throughout the industry. There is,
however, some evidence that competition is having a favorable effect
on the introduction of effective manning practices into the U.S.-flag
fleet;
The economic challenges faced by U.S. operators and unions today
are similar to those facing European and Japanese counterparts. There
is a strong incentive to minimize the costs and maximize the contribu-
tion of seagoing labor, and in all traditional maritime nations, there
is currently an oversupply of mariners.
Differences, however, do exist. The U.S. operators are faced
with a sizable unfunded pension liability. The median ages of the
U.S. seagoing work force and vessels are far older than overseas
counterparts. With the exception of temporary shortages of manpower
in certain segments of the merchant marine, U.S. operators have not
exper fenced a prolonged shortage of manpower which overseas stimulated
interest in effective manning.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The question ar ises, how best can inno~rat ions in the manning of vessels
be developed and introduced in the U . S . merchant f lest? Changes ar e
required at two levels--the industry/institutional level and the
company/union level. Cooperation is essential at both levels, although
the focus at each level will be dif ferent.
At the industry level, the task includes addressing obstacles to
change, especially certain laws and regulations and unfunded pension
1 iabilities . Industry level initiatives also are required to ensure
that the cur r icula of the U.S. maritime training institutions keep
pace with chang ing manning concepts. These initiatives require the
cooperative work of management, unions, and in some instances,
government. The multiplicity of separate and some time s competing
mar itime unions deserves the pr iority attention of union leaders.
Another set of initiatives at the industry level can encourage
manning changes: workshops which permit potential participants to
learn about and assess alternative manning concepts and strategies for
introducing change ; workshops which enable actual participants in
change projects to exchange experience; and research which documents
the lessons learned from change efforts.
Specific effective manning changes should be conceived, approved,
monitored, and evaluated at the company or ship-specific level--by
union and management. It is at this level that the parties themselves
determine the manning policies that fit their particular circumstances,
the pace of change, any constraints, and economic and human goals to
guide their efforts.
OCR for page 5
5
Although the remoras of constraints at the industry level will
improve the climate for innovation and will permit more substantial
changes in manning policies, there is no reason why company initiatives
should wait for those changes . Some innovations are now pass ible . As
a case in point, the committee considers that it will take considerable
time and effort on the part of companies, unions, and the government
to resolve the unfunded pension liability problem. While resolution
of this problem is likely to affect union participation in manning
changes, experimental efforts directed at, for example, crew continuity
on the vessel must not wait for that problem to be solved.
To remove barr iers in laws and encourage manning exper imentation
and innovation, the committee recommends that the Coast Guard initiate
changes in U. S . laws, rules, and policies . Remedies for the following
should be developed and enacted or implemented:
o Specific manning requirements, such as that for a radio officer,
may no longer be necessary in 1 ight of technolog ical advances and
state-of-the-ar t equipment installed on U. S . -f lag ships .
O The situation of conflicting statutes and judicial interpretations
concerning the three-watch law and related laws has become even
more confusing as a result of technology advances which have
obviated the necessity of many watchstanding duties, especially
in the eng ine depar Onent.
O The Crossover Laws (46 USC 8104 (673) I, which stipulates that
the seafarer may not serve in both deck and engine departments in
a single voyage, and the statutory division of deck and engine
licenses may no longer be productive or necessary in light of
technology advances and sh ipboard organizational developments
that have been demonstrated over seas .
Updating of the unlicensed mar iner designation in regulations and
on certificates of inspection would seem to be required as the
result of the recent recodification of Title 46, U.S. Code. The
revised law requires that a seafarer's documents specify the
ratings in which the seafarer is authorized to serve. The law
requires further that the seafarer be author ized for service in
the capacity in which he is employed .
If timely and complete change is not deemed likely, the Coast Guard
should establish an administrative mechanism providing exceptions to
rules on a case-by-case basis to allow experiments in effective
manning.
For its part, MarAd should review the ef feet that the Operating
Differential Subsidy program has on the climate for innovation, and on
mar itime training in the United States . it then should develop
alternative government programs that provide for the national defense
OCR for page 6
6
while also providing necessary incentives for ship operators to
innovate and operate ships as cost effectively as possible, and which
also promote continued excellence of mar itime training in the United
States .
To effect specif ic changes in vessel manning, the committee
proposes that individual companies or unions, or combinations of
companies and unions, as appropr late:
o
o
Enter into discussion with respect to initiating experiments in
effective manning.
Agree to modify labor agreements as necessary to accommodate
these exper iments.
O Seek temporary relief f tom regulations to implement change
exper iments aboard ship .
o
Canvass training schools and related facilities for assistance in
launching these exper iments.
Based on the Northwest European exper fence, the labor-'nanagement
discussions should concentrate on such important items as continuity
of employment aboard the vessel, redistr libation of shipboard labor and
job responsibilities between ship and shore, and other changes that
may be available as a result of existing or new technology and do not
require resolution of industry-wide obstacles to change pr for to their
enactment.
The discussion of reanning ideas and possibilities among specif ic
prospective partic ipants can be instrumental to promoting and launch ing
effective manning changes in the United States. MarAd can play an
important but limited role in this as a catalyst. It could, for exam-
ple, coordinate the formation of an industry-operated Ship Operation
Research Center, as recommended by an earlier National Research Council
report (National Research Council, 1983), to promote information
exchange on ship operation innovation, including effective manning.
Finally, the committee recommends that MarAd convene a second
confereme on effective manning similar in format to the first
conference, about ~ ix months after the public release of this report,
in order to stimulate an industry dialogue on ef fective manning and
encourage specif ic initiatives .
Representative terms from entire chapter:
manning changes
