Possible Management Issues and Poor Practices in Marine Law and Management - Assignment Example

Possible management issues and poor practices in marine law and management Possible management issues and poor practices in marinelaw and management Introduction Law is a component that guides all individuals in the daily activities and actions to ensure that they are harmonious. It helps in the sense that it helps to punish those who cannot abide by them. Depending on the nature of events that take place in different areas, there are different kinds of laws that have been formulated for specific purposes to suit the various operations. One of these is the presence of marine law that is created to explore how the sea can be regulated in an international manner. They are mainly applied for transport, navigation, security, conservation, exploitation of resources as well as the other related purposes. In this case, while adhering to these laws and regulations, there are likely to be management issues that propel these activities. There are also those poor management practices that need to be dealt with for the smooth running of most activities. There are a number of factors that should be considered when handling any ships that are already on sea. These require that the right guidelines and practices are observed to ensure that the operations that are conducted within the ship meet the specified rules and regulation. In this sense, all those who are involved in the practices must adhere to them in order to observe a high level of harmony. The other important factor is to respect the mixed representation of the human resources capital within the ship. Most of the times, depending on their areas of expertise, the sea vessels are operated by individuals from different nationalities. This calls for the need for a proper organization culture that will help to respect other people’s culture and to enable them to work within a conducive environment that will assist them to be sufficient(Section 7(5) of the Pilotage Act 1987). 1. The case that is described in this event is that of negligence of duty by the seaman. According to the specified guidelines, the seaman is expected to ensure that the drip trays that are placed under the manifold are cleared of any oil before the ship sets off to any destination. This is a process that should be confirmed so as to avoid the pollution of the sea by the oil from the vessel. The Criminalization Directive and Framework Decision states that all the marine vessels should take responsibility in order to ensure that the sea and the other water bodies connected to them are not polluted to prevent negative harm to the local inhabitants as well as the biodiversity that depends on the water for their normal activities. Otherwise, legal actions are to be taken for ship source pollution. Thus, the lack of care by the able seaman to make sure that the drip trays were checked in good time is a case of negligence of duty that is likely to cause the vessel a lot of harm in terms of legal compensation for damages. The vessel possesses a good management practice where there is a person in charge of the drip tray who ensures that it is emptied at all times to prevent leakages while the vessel is on transit. However, some of the poor practices that can be noticed from this scenario is the lack of proper management on the vital areas and practices. The understanding of the instructions to clear the drip trays by the able sea man were nodded to after they were given by the 3rd mate. There was no proper follow up as to whether the required actions were taken. It was assumed that once the information had been passed, it was bound to be executed (Mandaraka-Sheppard 2014, p. 90). However, there was a need for confirmation to ensure that the correct practices have been followed. With this, the other party would have noticed that this step had not been taken (Nixon 2004, p. 123). Alternatively, there should be an assistant to the able seaman who should be faced with the task of helping the seaman to make certain that all the duties are performed before the ship sets off on any journey. With this, it would have been possible to notice the lack of action. In turn, it would have eliminated the chances of causing the spillage and the subsequent overflow of this oil over the deck to result in the harmful effect to the human beings and the plants and animals around the area. Rules and regulations have been made by the European Union at the regional level regarding the protection of the environment and marine safety (Pamborides 1999, p. 56). 2. There are a number of marine laws and management practices that regulate the ships and the vessels against loading of the vessels with a lot of goods that are beyond the capacity of the ship. In addition, proper management strategies should be put in place to ensure that costs are not raised unnecessarily and time is not wasted on the p[art of any user. In this case, the good management practices include the presence of the independent surveyor to inspect the tanks for overloading the inertion of the tanks with the oxygen gas. As such, it is mandatory for the independent surveyor to ensure that the inertion of the tanks with the oxygen is done at the correct and appropriate capacity. However, one of the poor management practices is that the independent surveyor does not have specific times to make inspections on how the gas capacity has been loaded. Instead of checking after the ship has already berthed, it should be done before in order to make sure that any necessary changes can be made. Another point of poor management in the MV “shield happiness” is the lack of keenness and attention while performing certain duties. For instance, the personnel in charge of filing the tanks with inert Oxygen does not perform his duty diligently. Instead of filling it with the required amount of gas it is done in a lesser capacity. This is serious to the operation of the vessel. It is thus against the regulations that are placed by the international maritime authority, which states that all the operations and functions that influence the functions of the sea vessels must be done diligently and to the best of their levels to ensure that no dangers or harm are presented to those on board as well as those who are near the vessels such as at the shore or at the harbor (Section 53 of the Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act 1847). Besides the inconvenience that is caused by the poor management on the ship and its operations, there are also some delays that result and hence affect the cost that are to be incurred by the management and the ship owner. In this respect, it is imperative to employ personnel with the relevant know how in order to ensure that all tasks are performed correctly. It is also important that all the inspections are performed at the right time ort earlier in advance in order to make sure that any mistakes can be rectified in good time to avoid any inconveniences and additional costs to the ship owner (Baughen 2012, p. 45). 3. This case involves the lack of awareness regarding the duties that are supposed to be performed by each of the individuals. After the third mate receives the letter about the need to replace the absorbent materials he was not aware of what next step he needed to perform. In this scenario, the only proper management step is the notification about the running out of the absorbent material during the SOPEP. Great communication channels and strategies are some of the elements that facilitate operations in any sea vessels. They are recommended by the regulations and statutory placed to govern the personnel and staff members in most of the marine bodies. The poor management in this case arises from the lack of proper training of the personnel. This is addition to the fact that their duties are not appropriately outlined for them. They do not know what is expected of them and thus do not conduct some duties which slow the operations of the ships. These may also lead to harm in case the actions to be performed are crucial. Instead of the Master reacting by calling names to the 3rd officer it was appropriate to remind him of his duties. This incidence can be avoided in the future in case the new and old staff members are given continuous training and reminded on the duties they are supposed to perform in their various capacities. Good interrelationships between the staff members should also be encouraged at all times (Mandaraka-Sheppard, 2014, p. 186). 4. The laws and regulations of the marine and maritime operations require that the voyagers must be adequately trained to perform their respective duties. Their rights should also be considered in such a way that they should not be kept in the ship for a longer time than is expected for their voyage. In addition, they should be given salaries and wages that are commensurate with their duties. If this is not done, then there is a high likelihood that most of the tasks will be completed with less efficiency. This is the case in this scenario where the voyagers for lack of enough time to take a holiday or a vacation off the MV” shield happiness” they start to perform their duties with less concentration or level of effectiveness. Alternatively, their lack of ability to follow instructions during the drilling process could be as a result of the inadequate training that they receive. In this respect, it is vital that the management ensures that the personnel who are given a particular task are well trained to avoid such kinds on unnecessary delays. They should also ensure that the voyagers only spend the amount of time that is allocated to them to be on sea. This helps them to take a break and be in a position to perform their duties effectively. Besides this, the wages that are given to them should be according to those that are recommended by the regulating body. Instead of waiting for the inspection to be carried out at the port, it is significance to carry out internal inspection so as to avoid the wastage of time. Thus, the personnel can perform this task instead of waiting for the Port State control to make the report on the way the jobs are performed. These can then be corrected in good time to avoid delays (Edga, Aldo & Hugh 2003, pp. 69-110). 5. This is an indication of the lack of proper planning and communication on the various areas that need to be repaired. In the event that there is a procedure that is to be performed on the vessel, then all the relevant parties should be made aware. However, there is a good side of the management in the sense that while the ship is still on a lay berth, as it waits the orders, one of the chief officers takes advantage of the weather to overhaul the lifting plant system. It is also appropriate that the second engineer had planned to strip down the hydraulic system. These are some of the good strategies as placed by the authorities which expect that constant repairs and the complete overhaul should be done on most of the machinery parts (Nordquist 2007, 87). Conclusion It is apparent that from the responses given by the management, most of the problems that are experienced in relation to poor management at the MV “shield happiness” are as a result of insufficient staff members. The number of people required to perform certain tasks are less. This forces some of the personnel to hold more than one duty hence the lack of ability to perform each of them in an effective manner. Besides the lack of sufficient staff, there is also a major problem that is related to the lack of enough or relevant training given to the personnel. Although they are made aware of their roles, they do not have a clear understanding as to how well they can perform the tasks. It is for this reason that most of the duties are performed in the wrong way. There are no trained individuals to train the staff who are expected to complete certain duties. The third problem with management is the attitude of the senior managers. They are not responsible as is directed by most of the international maritime guidelines. As such, they do not take any actions despite the fact that they are aware that the staff that is sent as part of the personnel of the MV “shield happiness” are not competent and lack the required knowledge. With this, they tend to shift these responsibilities as well as others to other people. References Baughen, S. (2012). Shipping Law. New York: Routledge. Edgar Gold, Aldo E. Chircop, & Hugh M. Kindred. (2003). Maritime Law. London: Irwin Law. Mandaraka-Sheppard, A. (2014). Modern Maritime Law and Risk Management. New York: CRC Press. Nixon, W. Dennis. (2004). Marine and coastal law: cases and materials. Westport, Conn. [u.a.] :Praeger. Nordquist, N. M. (2007). Law, science & ocean management. Leiden ; Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. Pamborides, G. P. (1999). International shipping law: legislation and enforcement. Athens: Sakkoulas. Section 53 of the Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act 1847 Section 7(5) of the Pilotage Act 1987 Read More