The IMO Standard Marine Communication Phrases - a communicative Survival Kit

02 Sep 2013 Bulletin: Issue 14 - Communication Resource

Investigations into the human factor regarding disasters at sea, which focused on communication behaviour, revealed that one third of accidents happen primarily due to insufficient command of Maritime English.

In VTS (Vessel Traffic Service) controlled areas, for instance, communicatively relevant factors contribute up to 40% of collisions involving the human element; most of them caused by failures in radio communication even in routine conversations, but some also through face- to-face communication deficiencies.

Port State Control inspectors often encounter problems in getting elementary information from ships' officers due to their substandard English. Pilots frequently voice their concern in this respect too and multi-ethnic officer staffs occasionally fail to communicate effectively when managing panicking crowds on board distressed vessels, etc.

More than 86% of all SOLAS vessels are presently crewed with multilingual personnel who, for diverse reasons, are frequently unable to render the Maritime English skills required, risking and even causing damage to lives, property and the environment.

This eventually made IMO re-consider how to minimize Maritime English communication problems. In 2001, IMO adopted the Standard Marine Communication Phrases (SMCP) and via STCW95 they became a mandatory part of the education of officers at all white- listed training institutions.

The phrases provide a sort of Survival Kit; they include all essential safety-related communicative events where spoken English is required. Being trained in the use of the SMCP, officers will definitely encounter less communication difficulties managing safety-related situations, performing navigational duties, and organ- ising or supervising cargo operations.

The SMCP have been available since 2001. It is therefore understandable that only those generations of officers having graduated after 2001 are familiar with them, and they do not represent the majority of active officers yet.

However, IMO strongly recommends using the SMCP in preference to other wordings; in this way combined with an efficient system of instruction they will become an efficient safety language. At the annual International Maritime English Conferences, for instance, a frequent topic of discussion is the methodology of designing tasks for teaching the phrases in real-life situational contexts. This assists teachers how to draw maximum profit from the SMCP to the benefit of future officers.