Page 18: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2026)

Training to speak? How did the response affect what the team did servation was raised too late. That is still valuable evidence. next? These questions make the human factor observable It creates a chance to discuss the hesitation without waiting and give people a way to practise it. for a poor outcome. Equally, an early challenge and a well- judged response should be recognised, even if no dramatic

The Bridge is Not the Whole System maneuver follows. The quality of the team’s process mat-

The same issue arises in the engine room, on deck and ters alongside the result.

between vessel and shore. A handover can omit a constraint Observation needs clear criteria. “They communicated because the person giving it thinks the receiving team al- well” is too vague to guide development. Did the person ready knows. A crew member can notice a departure from describe the change? Explain its operational implication? normal operation yet struggle to raise it across rank or de- Receive an acknowledgement? Con? rm the next action? partment. Shore management can create schedule pressure These are behaviors that can be practiced, observed and without intending to discourage a pause. discussed. Follow-up on board can help establish whether

This is why I believe leadership matters at every level. they survive outside the training environment.

The conditions for good decisions are set by many small This also gives managers better questions to ask after a interactions, not only by the person who gives the ? nal dif? cult operation: what information was available, who order. Before an operation, a leader can state which chang- held it, when did it become shared, and what made the es would cause the team to stop and reassess. During it, conversation easier or harder? The answers may point to they can ask for a second view. Afterwards, they can thank coaching, a handover practice, workload or a shore-side someone for raising a concern even if the original plan decision. Blaming the last person in the chain rarely gives proved sound. Those responses tell people whether speak- the organisation the whole picture.

ing up is genuinely useful.

The responsibility runs both ways. Team members need The Next Critical Moment to describe a concern promptly and precisely. Leaders need I am not suggesting that emotional intelligence alone to make it possible for that concern to be heard. Neither will prevent incidents or guarantee performance. Ships behavior is strengthened by a poster declaring that every- need sound equipment, technical competence, pro- one has a voice. cedures and effective oversight. My point is that these investments depend on people connecting with one an-

How Would an Operator Know it is Working other at the right moment. The ability to notice our own

A completed course is evidence of attendance, not proof response, communicate a concern and hear one from that behavior has changed. We need to look for the actions someone else deserves the same practical attention as the that the course was intended to develop. In a simulator ex- other parts of the operation.

ercise, for example, an assessor can note when a deviation The next critical moment may look entirely routine un- was detected, when it was voiced, how the message was til someone sees a small difference. Will that person speak? acknowledged and whether the plan was revised. A struc- Will the rest of the team listen and act? If we train techni- tured debrief can then explore both the technical result cal skills thoroughly but leave these human capabilities to and the decisions that produced it. chance, what information might never reach the people

An exercise can end safely even when an important ob- who need it?

18 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • November 2026

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