ON METHODS OF ENSURING MARINE NAVIGATION SAFETY

ON METHODS OF ENSURING MARINE NAVIGATION SAFETY AND OVERCOMING NEGATIVE FACTORS WHICH AFFECT MARITIME BUSINESS AND PERSONNEL TRAINING

Sergei V. Pesterev
Admiral Nevekskoy Maritime State University, Vladivostok

Nikolai I. Pereslavtsev
Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University, Vladivostok

Natalia V. Shishkareva
Admiral Nevelskoy Maritime State University, Vladivostok

Abstract: The authors examine the methods of ensuring navigation safety; tell about the problems arising in the process. One of such problems is COVID-19 pandemic. The consequences of the coronavirus negatively affect the full-fledged training of the skilled maritime personnel; generate a crisis in the field of cargo and passenger transportation and port services, which, in turn, directly affects the level of navigation safety. Based on this, the authors describe their own views on ensuring navigation safety, maritime business and the work of educational institutions. As a proposal, the reasonability of creating a commercial partner enterprise with maritime shipping companies and Russian universities for joint implementation of the cadets’ and students’ educational and work practice.

Keywords: educational process, student work practice, mutually beneficial cooperation, multi – purpose vessel, port, intermodal transportation

The issues of ensuring marine navigation safety have always been of great importance in the organization of maritime business and training of ship and port personnel. To do this, it is necessary to provide high-quality technical maintenance of the port infrastructure and shipboard equipment, theoretical and practical training of qualified ship and shore personnel who are ready not only to perform routine duties, but also to overcome emergency situations.

In the last two years COVID-19 pandemic became one of the factors affecting safety issues during organization of maritime business. Rapid spread of coronavirus infection has creat-ed a global

crisis in the field of maritime transportation in general and the training of marine specialists in particular. Various countries started to use quarantine measures to protect their population, entry from abroad was restricted, remote forms of work began to be introduced. All this has restricted the volumes of transport and tourist flows, caused an incomplete loading of passenger and cargo terminals in the seaports, a decrease of quality training for specialists in the field of navigation safety.

Quarantine measures were being imposed even on the vessels being at sea. Ship personnel was not allowed to go ashore, it became difficult to carry out a crew change. The personnel sent to work and graduates of maritime universities could not come on board of their ship to replace colleagues, regardless of its legal affiliation to Russian or foreign company.

For instance, the port of Vladivostok refused the application of the cruise company “Costa Asia”, which planned to carry out up to 10 Japanese cruises in the 2021 season with a visit of the capital of Primorye. The ship “Costa Serena” of the same cruise operator was not allowed this year to visit the port of Korsakov. American cruise company NCL was not been able to send the ship “Norwegian Jewel” to Vladivostok as a part of its preparation for the tourist season in Alas-ka.

Port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky cancelled all port calls for 2021 due to the closure of checkpoints – more than 15 cruise vessels [1].

It should be noted that these restrictions ultimately have a negative impact on the state of technical and passenger infrastructure in seaports. Without solving these problems, the negative consequences may become irreversible and, ultimately, undermine Russia’s positions in the global cruise industry.

Period of distant learning, introduced in educational institutions due to the pandemic has revealed its shortcomings.

The purpose of study at any university is to teach you to think critically, discuss, think about information, express your opinion and listen to the opinion of others. All this is possible only “face to face” with the teacher and colleagues in the educational process [2].

Distant forms of work are not a suitable environment for achieving this goal. As a result, many students and cadets memorized information during distant learning, but could not apply it in practice correctly.

With traditional learning, each academic year should end with practical training (“training and production practice”) purposed to teach cadets and students how to use theoretical knowledge. However, often during online-education the cadets instead of gaining practical skills were just learning theoretical material on board of vessels moored in the port. Moreover, many cadets and students were left without the “training and production practice” at all.

To carry out high-quality “training and production practice” is one of the most acute prob-lems for transport universities in the process of training skilled professionals. This problem has appeared a long time ago, after privatization and sell-out of state-owned enterprises, commercial marine fleet and commercial ports and has noticeably worsened in the last two years due to COVID-19 pandemic [6].

Marine enterprises and organizations often have to move to distant work, with “half-closed doors”, as a result the quality of practice training for cadets and students, and therefore the level of their competencies related to the safety of transport process, has noticeably decreased.

Methods of ensuring navigation safety – these are the methods of protecting navigation ob-jects (ships, crew members and passengers, shipping routes and the natural environment) from the negative effects of natural and man-made environmental factors, as

well as manifestations of human factor relating to navigation as a large system that includes sea vessels and provision of infrastructure.

The issue about the methods of ensuring navigation safety is a principal one. The com-plexity of this issue is due to the need to distinguish between the methods of ensuring navigation safety and the methods providing the functional effectiveness of navigation itself [3].

The methods of ensuring navigation safety are listed in international conventions and rules, textbooks and articles [7]. They may be divided into following groups:

  1. 1)  Technical;
  2. 2)  Organizational;
  3. 3)  Ergonomic;
  4. 4)  Informational;
  5. 5)  Legal;
  6. 6)  Social

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