Resource management
Governing: STCW A-VIII/2 Part 3, paragraph 8; Table A-II/1 'bridge resource management'; Table A-III/1 'engine-room resource management'; MCA The Human Element, team skills.
The STCW principles
Every watch, deck or engine, is run on these principles (A-VIII/2, para 8, summarised):
- Proper arrangements for watchkeeping personnel according to the situation.
- Limitations in qualifications or fitness taken into account in deploying people.
- Everyone understands their individual role, responsibility and team role.
- Master, chief engineer and OOW keep a proper watch, making the most effective use of resources: information, equipment and people.
- Watchkeepers understand the functions and operation of equipment and can handle it.
- They understand the information from each station and how to respond.
- Information is shared by all the watch.
- Appropriate communication in any situation.
- Notify the master or chief engineer without any hesitation when in doubt.
Tables A-II/1 and A-III/1 then require knowledge of resource management covering allocation, assignment and prioritisation of resources, effective communication, assertiveness and leadership, situational awareness, and consideration of team experience.
What makes a team work
The MCA guide summarises research across safety-critical industries into five team skills:
| Skill | On a yacht |
|---|---|
| Back-up behaviour | The deckhand notices the OOW overloaded during anchoring and takes the radio traffic |
| Team leadership | The OOW sets roles, expectations and priorities, and asks for feedback |
| Adaptability | Recognising a changed plan (weather, guest request) and re-planning safely |
| Mutual monitoring | Cross-checking each other's actions and correcting constructively |
| Team orientation | Seeing the shared goal rather than departmental territory |
It adds three types of team glue: similar mental models (everyone understands the plan and each other's role), mutual trust (mistakes and misgivings will be handled constructively), and effective communication (lesson 2.1).
The two-person watch
On many yachts the watch is an officer and one deckhand, or a single engineer on call with an unmanned machinery space. That makes:
- the lookout's briefing essential: what to report, how, and that reporting too much is fine;
- call-me criteria in night orders specific, not 'if in doubt';
- the engineer's duty-call arrangements and alarm response agreed with the bridge;
- interdepartmental awareness: interior crew on deck at night, galley using high loads, guests swimming off the platform.
Engine room
ERM applies the same principles below: planned maintenance versus watch duties, isolation and permit communication with the bridge, handover of plant state, and the junior engineer's freedom to call the chief. Many engine incidents begin with a change in plant state the bridge did not know about.
Pilotage and the pilot
A pilot joins the team, not replaces it. Exchange information, agree the plan, keep monitoring position, and challenge if needed; the master remains responsible.
WARNING — The one-person bridge A single officer on the bridge in coastal waters with guests aboard, tender traffic and phone calls is a resource management failure waiting to happen. Call for help early.
TIP — After-action review Five minutes after berthing or anchoring: what went well, what did not, what we change next time. It builds all five team skills.