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The bridge TEAM is the place where Together Everyone AchievesMore, and an effective team onboard a ship is the most valuableresource of shipping today. So investing in the right Bridge ResourceManagement training is crucial to keep it working cohesively. Capt.J Dakic, Capt. D Milinic and Capt. S Tripovic of the BRM teamat Azalea Maritime LLC discuss the value of effective shore-basedtraining and look at what such a course should coverBridge Resource Management(BRM) is a team approach,where all available materials andhuman resources are used toachieve safe operation. Bridgeteam members are trained to be aware oftheir responsibility, prepared to recogniseworkload demands and other risk factors,and able to handle any situation. Weaknessin bridge organisation and managementhas been cited as a major cause of marinecasualties around the world. BRM reducesthat risk by helping a ship’s crew anticipateand correctly respond to the changingsituation of their ship.When BRM is practised correctly onboard,the result should be a bridge team that: Maintains its situational awareness Continually monitors the progress of thevessel, making proper adjustments andcorrections as necessary, to maintain asafe passage Acquires relevant information early Appropriately delegates workloadand authority Anticipates dangerous situations Avoids becoming pre-occupied with minortechnical problems and losing sight of thebig picture Undertakes appropriate contingencyplans when called for Recognises the development of anerror chain Takes appropriate action to break theerror-chain sequence. (Source: Dept. ofEcology, WA)BRM training in a training centre/instituteashore addresses all the challenges facedby the bridge team onboard ship on a dailybasis. The way these subjects are addressedis the key element to effective BRM training,resulting not only in a successful “lessonlearned” at the end of the course, but, moreimportantly, that these lessons are put intopractice in real life onboard ship.The best way of addressing thesetopics may be summarised by an oldChinese proverb:“Tell me and I will forget, show meand I may remember, but involve me and Iwill understand.”The key issue in BRM training is toinvolve the trainees. This allows them notjust to be spectators in the theoretical partof the training and mere participants in thesimulator training, but to actively promotediscussion during the workshops (ratherthan lectures) and in the active discussion,experience and opinion sharing after eachsimulator exercise. This helps them to pointat the lesson learned.Been there, done that?Navigation has not been a one-manshow for a long time now, and the idea ofthe BRM training is to create a defencemechanism against the one-person-errortype of incidents and accidents.Sometimes, course participants have anissue with the fact that the trainees havealready “been there, done that”. Even inthose cases, good workshops, well facilitatedby the instructors, are an excellent place toexchange experiences, thoughts and ideas.Unfortunately, there have been a lotof incidents, accidents and near missesreported. Discussing them as a part of theBRM training is an excellent tool for involvingall the trainees in the operation, from theexperienced Master to a future officer thathas just completed his cadetship onboardship. A well-facilitated discussion coveringBRM topics can sometimes continue afterhours during breaks or over dinner, witheverybody taking an interest and becominginvolved. Good exchange of informationand experience is essential. Unreportednear misses experienced by the traineesthemselves often emerge during theworkshops too, and can be efficiently usedfor improvement.The vast experience of the senior officersparticipating in the training has proven to bea major resource when discussing subjecttopics. Conversely, junior officers, eventhose reluctant to do so in the beginning,often “open up”. They begin to interactwith the senior ones, thus promoting goodcommunication, which is essential for a wellfunctioning team. Junior officers refreshingtheir BRM skills stated that the experienceduring their first round of training helped themgain confidence when they first joined theship as junior officers. They were more willingto feed information, put forward opinionsand “challenge” their superior officers. Seniorofficers, in turn, confirmed the need forfeedback from all team members, in order todelegate and distribute workloads.Screen testsAnother important issue addressed duringtraining is the integration of the pilot intoa bridge team, both in workshops andsimulator exercises.One of the biggest challenges of modernnavigation is the quantity of resources thatrequire management on a daily basis. Theseinclude sophisticated electronic equipment,charts and publications, environmentalfactors, Vessel Traffic Services (VTS),passage plan, internal and externalcommunication equipment, persons withlocal knowledge (pilot) and bridge team.The 21st-century seafarer is faced witha large quantity of information to process,most of which is shown on various screenson the bridge. The seafarer must be ableto filter the relevant ones and use thosethat are actually needed, using good, oldfashioned common sense, always keepingin mind that the most important screenonboard a ship is THE WINDOW!A well-trained bridge team is essential tomeet these challenges. Communication isthe principal thing to be improved and mustbe worked on continually, as this leads toeverything else working better.Unfortunately, there are too manyexamples of things not functioning properly.One example is the Tricolor case, where poorstandards of watch-keeping, too few watchkeepers, heavy workloads, poor bridgeorganisation, partial processing of nauticalsafety and reduced awareness of what washappening outside the bridge windows in ahighly frequented and well-regulated sailingarea led to two collisions and over 100 nearmisses before the wreck was dispersed.Regular BRM refresher courses arean important, valuable tool for enhancingskills, from both the trainer’s and trainee’sperspectives. As one senior officer said, “Itdoes not matter how many times I attendBridge Resource Management training,there is always something new to learn.”

Building bridges forbest practiceBridge Resource Management (BRM) can be a vessel’s greatest strength or itsweakest point, depending on how effective it is. We investigate best practice, bothashore and onboard, and take a look at the future, and the welcome arrival of ECDISEffective BRM helps a bridgeteam anticipate and respondcorrectly to their vessel’schanging situation. Successfulmanagement and utilisation of allavailable resources, human and technical,ensures the safe completion of the voyage.By contrast, poor Bridge ResourceMan

In the early 1990s, the maritime industry adopted a formal approach to teamwork, derived from the aviation industry and defined by the IMO as Bridge Resource Management (BRM). BRM is the effective management and utilisation of all resources, human and technical, available to the bridge team, to ensure the safe completion of the vessel’s voyage. In essence, BRM is the process and practice of .