Quality, Safety, Health & Environment

Bulletin Board 1Q-2016

Volume 34 31st March, 2016

Message from Capt Toshikazu Saito, the President of KLSM

Dear Staff both on-board and ashore, This year we held the Annual Management Review Meeting on the 28th of Janu-ary, coincidentally the same date with the previous year, in Tokyo office. We regard this Meeting as one of the central pillars of our PDCA cycle, or the Continuous Improvement process: we check the progress and achievements of our organization against the targets set at the beginning of the year, find out our strong and weak points respectively, discuss how to conquer those weak points while further enhancing our strong points, and set KPI targets and action plans for the year. The result of our review toward the individual KPI can be found on pages 2 to 5 of this issue. In general, we’re satisfied with the achievement in 2015. There were no major accidents those which claimed human lives, or serious damage to environment. We had another very successful year in SIRE vetting results with twenty zero-observations awards and average of 2.21 observations per inspection. One of the LNG Carriers achieved zero-accidents throughout the year. What a accomplishment! That means we succeeded to provide relia-ble ship management service to our customers. On the other hand, crew health and safety remain our greatest concern: i.e., higher LTIF and TRCF than in-dustrial average, and slightly increased emergency disembarkation from medical reason. Your safety and your health are something we cannot protect through unilateral actions ashore. Your commitment is essential. I’m not talking about the company reputation nor cost. It matters, because it hurts YOU. In Japanese, we said “one moment of carelessness brings you the lifelong pain (注意一秒怪我一生).” That also means one careful mo-ment will save you from the long-lasting pain. On this QSHE Bulletin, we have provided you a lot of unpleasant topics such as accidents, injuries and near-misses took place in our whole fleet. We hope such painful and some-how disgraceful moments of your fellow seafarers tell you the precious lessons, and your future on board will be safer and happier. Let’s reach out for brighter future! I believe we can! Wishing you a safe voyage and calm seas, always. Capt Toshikazu Saito, The president of KLSM

KLSM AWARDS“ZERO OBSERVATIONS” AWARDEES (Vetting Inspection)

INJURY FREE MILEAGE — as of 31 Dec 2015

Name of vessel Last Injury Till the date Injury free period/Mileage Injury free days/ mileage

1 VIKING RIVER 09-Jun-11 31-Dec-15 4 years, 6 months, 22 days 1666

2 SENTOSA RIVER 06-Jul-11 31-Dec-15 4 years, 5 months, 25 days 1639

3 TANGGUH JAYA 27-Oct-11 31-Dec-15 4 years, 2 months, 4 days 1526

Total 20 Zero-Observations awards were achieved throughout 2015. This is our best record since we start the award system. It is a great honour.

GRACE RIVER wonderfully had Zero-Observations three times in the year, 2015. The 2nd award was for CDI vetting on the 30th of October and the 3rd one was for SHELL vetting on the 17th of November. KLSM really appre-ciates their tremendous effort.

GRR

TAMAGAWA received the 1st award in 2015 for SHELL vetting on the 20th of December. Well done!!!!!

Zero Accidents in 2015 TANGGUH JAYA achieved Zero-Accidents throughout the year 2015. It could only be accomplished with the team work of a total of 89 crew members.

<Oil & Gas Carriers Fleet>

A campaign focused on “Health Risk Assessment for the fleet” was carried out for the period between 15th November to 31st

December 2015. We summarise the campaign result as below.

Background for Campaign: Illness cases had been going up and down in the last many periods. There have been some oc-casions where seafarer had to disembark in emergency medical grounds. In some of the illness cases here seafarer had to be admitted to the hospital at the port of disembarkation for immedi-ate medical attention. Objectives of the campaign: 1. To identify health concerns for crew through advanced Health risk log. 2. Individual crew commitment towards healthy life.

Vessels’ participation in the Campaign:589 crew on 20 vessels participated. We’d like to thank all ves-sels for their active par-ticipation. The Age-wise distribu-tion of crew as per the Graph.

Detailed report of on each area of analysisPART A: Blood Pres-sure Index (BPI)-(Meaning of High blood pressure)—It is a com-mon disease in which blood flows through blood vessels (arteries) at higher than nor-mal pressures.Analysis- It is observed that a large percentage of the crew(63.2%) reported to be Pre-hypertension stage. Crew were divided into 4 age groups, 20years to 30 years, 31 to 40 years, 41 to 50 years and 51 to 70 years. Age Group wise

Blood Pressure Index analysis shows that in all age groups ma-jority are in the Pre-hypertension stage. Also, Pre-hypertension cases are high in deck, engine & catering departments. It is a unified problem across all departments.

Guidance on “Pre-hypertension”What is Prehypertension?It is an American medical classification for cases where a person's blood pressure is elevated above normal, but not to the level con-sidered hypertension (high blood pressure).

What's the risk to you?During such campaign if you are indicated as ‘Pre-hypertension’ (in excel the sheet) then you're more likely to get high blood pressure (Hypertension). But this is only a estimation and not a conclusion.

7 Steps to Tame Prehypertension1)Check your diet. Consider diet which is rich in fruits, vegeta-

bles, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products. It curbs fat and cholesterol.

2)Watch the salt. Most experts recommend cutting back on salt.3)Move more. Get at least 30 minutes of moderate activity

every day, most days of the week.4)Get to a healthy weight. Extra pounds make pre-

hypertension more likely.5)Alcohol consumption affects health. (Please follow

KLQSMS guidance).6)Curb stress. It's unclear whether chronic stress, by itself, can

raise your blood pressure in the long run. But it can make you more likely to overeat and skip exercise.

7)Keep up with your blood pressure. Monitor your blood pressure at regular intervals

PART B: Body mass Index (BMI) is a value derived from the mass (weight) and height of an individual. The BMI ranges are based on the relationship between body weight and disease and death.Analysis– It was observed that 34.11% , 1/3 of the crew, was overweight and 28.93% of them was “Very Overweight”.In age groups, on average it was observed that Overweight cases was the highest. However, in age group 20 to 30 Normal cases were more, while in Age Group 41 to 50 Very overweight cases were higher.

Guidance on the problem identified: “Obesity”Consequences of elevated level of BMI level in adultsObesitymeans having far too much body fat. It can seriously affect health.Obesity puts extra stress on bones, joints, and organs, mak-ing them work harder than they should. Too much body fat rais-es blood pressure and cholesterol, and makes heart disease and stroke more likely. It also worsens conditions like osteoarthritis, back pain, asthma, and sleep apnea. Too much fat causes in-flammation that can damage cells. Obesity is also linked to several types of cancers. It can also make body respond less well to insulin, which controls blood sugar. Over time, that can lead to Type-2 diabetes.

What's the risk to you?During the campaign if you are indicated as ‘overweight’ then you're more likely to invite troubles related to Obesity as ex-plained above. However, it is only an estimation and not a con-clusion.

Overall ConclusionHealth condition should be given good attention by all individual. Monitoring of one’s health condition on a regular basis will give a good idea on the body needs. If the indications are ignored then the damage caused to body can be irreversible.

It does not need much to maintain a healthy body. Most people, at any weight, need to eat more fruits, vegetables, and lean pro-teins. They also need to cut out junk food and sugary drinks.It needs small commitment to one’s self- 30 mins of exercise per day. Moderate intensity of exercise. An active workout for 10 min. Limiting time spent on sitting to 2 hours per day. Eating healthy food and maintaining healthy diet. No smoking. Extremely limiting alcohol.

Wishing all towards healthy living.

HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT—CLOSING REPORT—

Healthy Living

Near-Miss Reports

Outline of the incident: Routine maintenance of Puri-fier Bowl cleaning, involving cleaning of disc stack, was carried out. The chemical for disc stack cleaning was a strong acid, but it was prepared in a metal drum, instead of a plastic container. What was the problem? The acid may have eroded the metal drum, resulting in spillage of the chemical.Corrective action: All crew members were briefed about the correct handling of chemicals, and the haz-ards involved in chemical handling. Also, the im-portance of MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets) were explained to all.

Metal Drum used for Acid

Outline of the incident: While the monthly fire drill using the fire hose connected to the fire main and un-der pressure, the hose nozzle came off from the cou-pling side. The coupling had been slackened from noz-zle side thread over the period of time, and been un-noticed during routine inspections. What was the problem? It could have injured person-nel standing nearby, also it couldn’t function in real fire case.Corrective action: All fire hose nozzles have been in-cluded in the monthly inspec-tion checklist as one of the check items.

Fire Hose Nozzle came off

Outline of the incident: A pre-departure preparation was taken place on the bridge at night. The naviga-tional lights was not switched on timely, but it was overlooked.What was the problem? It might have caused colli-sion. The departure checklist (KLQSMS-Y-F-04) was not followed appropriately.Corrective action: The near-miss was discussed both in the toolbox meeting and Monthly Safety & Health meeting. A ship-specific pocket checklist was drawn and being used during arrival at & departure from a port as supplementary to Y-F-04.

Navigational Lights not Switched On

Outline of the incident: During the class inspection, in which the testing of Emergency Fire Pump was in-cluded, the fire main isolation valve to E/R was shut in order to build up the fire-line pressure quickly. After-wards, the crew member forgot to re-open it. On the following day, it was noticed that no washing water came out for heaving up anchor.What was the problem? Should it be unnoticed long-er, it’d contribute the worsening fire outside E/R, in case of an accident.

Corrective action: It was discussed in the toolbox meeting. The inappropriate designation of important job, such as operation fire-fighting appliances, to the person who is not directly involving the operation, should be avoided in future.

Fire Main Isolation Valve kept Closed

Outline of the incident: A routine inspection and trial running of the Emergency Generator was carried out on a container carrier. During the testing of safety de-vices, it was noticed that the wire cable attached to the Quick Closing Valve mechanism was jammed and stuck out of the pulley.What was the problem? After testing on the previous inspection, the wire cable had got loose, but had been left unnoticed. The final checking after the operation had not been done.Corrective action: The case was discussed in the Toolbox Meeting, with emphasis on the safety procedure, mainte-nance and safety operation.

Quick Closing Valve Cable

Cable Wire slipped out of the pulley

Outline of the incident: As No.1 Oiler started the lathe machine, suddenly the machine started very near to its chuck, and stopped soon. What was the problem? The feed direction lever and nut lever which had been used for threading was re-mained to that position, not returned to neutral posi-tion. If any object had been applied to the machine, such unintended moving could have resulted in injury to the operator.Corrective action: A placard saying “If not use put to neutral position” was posted near the equipment, at the same time, the engine personnel was briefed that the person who used the lathe machine should confirm to properly secure it at a temporary stop, as well as at the completion of the work.

Lathe Machine not properly finished

Speed Change Lever was left at “HIGH” position

The lever tagged with

corresponding speed setting for additional

safety.

Noticeable safety Placard posted

Near-Miss Reports

Outline of the incident: A cargo tank main hatch was opened for some work. The deck crew who opened the hatch forgot to place the safety pin to secure the cover in open position. What was the problem? Without safety pin, the cover might have closed accidentally at any moment, which would have resulted in a severe injury to the person who engaged in the work. Corrective action: In the following toolbox meeting the importance of safety awareness was reminded. The safety pin shall be always used while cover is opened, in order to avoid an accidental fall down of the cargo hatch cover.

Main Hatch opened without Safety Pin

Outline of the incident: To clean the Aux. Boiler Booster Pump Duplex Strainer, the change-over valve was shifted from service strainer (to be cleaned) to the stand-by strainer. Though the valve was shifted, the lock was not put in lock-position. Without being proper-ly secured, it was found after the cleaning that a small amount of oil was spilled from the service strainer.

What was the problem? The procedure for cleaning the strainer was not followed, since the personnel was not familiar with it, or he was in hurry.

Corrective action: The procedure of cleaning the strainer was posted near the strainer to remind the person of the proper line of action.

Suction Strainer Change-over ValveOutline of the incident: While casting off the tug lines, a crew member was going to take the turn of the mes-senger rope on the warping drum to slacken it. Before he could securely twine the rope around the warping drum, the tug boat moved away, the weight on the rope kept increasing until it finally slipped from the hands of the crew member. What was the problem? The crew member misjudged the pull on the tug line and tried to slacken it slowly, thus he cannot bear the tension on the rope. The slip-ping tug line could have injured his hand, or someone nearby. Corrective action: The crew were trained on hazard identification during making fast or cast-ing off tugs, and on safe procedures for carry out such op-erations.

Mishandling of Tug Line

No Data received on Loading MonitorOutline of the incident: During the loading operation, OOW noticed that no data were being received on the monitor from a particular cargo tank. He immediately informed C/O, who started monitoring and using UTI meter and Compound Gauge on Pressure Valve to detect the tank pressure.

What was the problem? The cause was equipment failure. Thank for due attention by OOW and swift steps taken by C/O, it did not develop into any real trouble.Corrective action: All cargo equipment should be checked and tested before cargo work. All deck offic-ers shall be reminded to monitor cargo work all the time.

Change-over Valve Lock for Change-over Valve

Safety Pin

Risk of injury to hand!

Tension from contin-uous pull of tug

Trying to slack-en the line using

warping drum

WRONG

CORRECT

Using bits to slack the tug line

Tension from continu-ous pull of tug boat

Introduction of Best Practices Reported

AED is important equipment in reviving the casualty suffering from cardiac arrest. Usually this equipment is stored inside the ship's hospital which is most of the time kept locked & only Master or Medical Officer is having the key.In order to make this equipment accessible, a mini locker is installed in the passage way near the entrance of the ship's hospital. In case of emergency anyone can access quickly this equipment to provide Advance Life Support to the victim.

1. AED Accessible Storage

The Best Practice No.1 is a contribution from Mr Rommel B. Ramos (Bosun) of “AL RAYYAN”

2. Morning Exercise

The Best Practice No.2 is a contribution from Capt M.L. Prudente Jr. (Master)of “HANGZHOU BAY BRIDGE”

Since no proper marking was done for the PA system / Fire

and General Alarm speakers, in case of an emergency, crew mem-bers would find it difficult to identify the alarm system. All PA sys-tem / Fire and General Alarm speakers on board properly marked and painted red. Same explained to all crew during drills and training session.

3. Alarm Speaker Marking

The Best Practice No.3 is a contribution from Mr Paritosh Palkar (Cadet) of “VIKING RIVER”

The Best Practice No.4 is a contribu-tion from Mr Antonio A. Dectolero(Bosun) of “SETAGAWA”

4. Covering the Garbage Collecting Area with Sliding DoorCovering the garbage collecting area with a sliding door not only gives a very clean and neat look, but also enhances the hygiene level by preventing the flies and Insects from entering the Garbage collecting area.

Fabricated plastic curved

mirror for the gangway watch to easily monitor persons coming from the accommodation ladder without leaving his post on top of the hatch coam-ing platform. Note: In M-series container vessels the upper deck passage and entrance in accommodation access is divided by a continuous hatch coaming.

5. Plastic Curved Mirror for Gangway Watch

40cm

The Best Practice No.5 is a contribution from Capt Rogelio L. Dela Cruz(Master) of “MANHATTAN BRIDGE”

Gangway

To AccommodationTo Accommodation

First thing in the morning before the KYT Meeting begins, we may be able to fit for a 15 minutes exer-cise. This jump starts our metabo-lism not only by burning our calo-ries but to energize for the day. Morning exercise benefits to take care of our bodies, healthy mind set and regulating blood pressure, heart rate, etc. If prayer is for the soul, ex-ercise and healthy food is for the body.

8. FPD Box for Port and Stbd Lifeboat

9. FPD Box Fixed Near Life Boat

Best Practice No.6 is a contribution from Capt MZ Rahman (Master) of “HANOI BRIDGE”.

6. Row No. MarkingOriginal row markings on hatch covers get obscured when containers are loaded thus making it difficult to identify the container location instantly (we need to count the row num-bers to find the exact location of a container). Hence vessel re-marked the row No. at the extreme end of hatch covers and row No. is visible even when the container is loaded.

Original row mark which gets obscured.

After remarking the row No. and it is visible after the container is loaded.

FPD box for stowing of fall preventing device, for port and starboard lifeboats respectively, are installed near upper deck accommodation entrance.

7. Remotely Controlled Hydraulic Valves

Since there was no proper valve indication, the crew found it difficult during cargo loading and discharging operation, to identify the position of the discharge and filling valves.It is easy for the crew to identify the position of the valve being operated.

The Best Practice No.7 is a contribution from Mr A Bhanu K. Akkayagari(G/E) Mr Randy A. D. Rosario(G/O) and Mr Alberto P. Ariola(G/O) of “VIKING RIVER”

No indication of how much % valve is open / shut.

Valve posi-tion indica-tors after installing on the filling and discharge valves.

Close up view the valve posi-tion indicator for accurate position.

Near upper deck weather tight doors port/stbd side

FPD rigging instructions posted. FPD kept inside the box.

Best Practice No.8 is a contribution from Mr Sankho Chowdhury (3/O) and Mr Jamuna Khushwaha Rambali (Pumpman) of “SENTOSA RIVER”.

Best Practice No.9 is a contribution from Mr Ravi Tewari (3/O) of “NAGARAGAWA”.

More Best Practices Reported

SEA BREEZEAloha

(The Band on Honolulu Bridge)Filipino seafarers are known for their love for Karaoke. No ex-ception in Honolulu Bridge, people on board wash away their weary day, singing or listening to their favourite tunes after din-ner. I believe music has been one of the greatest refuges to seaman for centuries and Karaoke is just the latest form of that refuge. But things looked really blur for us when the one and only Karaoke machine broke in the beginning of our passage from Singapore to New York.The vessel had a drums kit (with broken cymbals and withered high hats) and a guitar (with amplifier that could hardly match the sound of the ragged sounding drums). After a few days without karaoke we learnt that there were good musicians on board who could roll with a song and of course no shortage of Singers on board. Therefore, the good thing came out of the bad, Karaoke failed us that gave us a solid sounding Band on board. They played on a regular basis to cheer the saggy spirits on board. To replenish the band we bought a new Guitar (with amplifier to blow a small room apart), a guitar sound processor (to add colour to the music), a bass guitar (with a perfect ampli-fier) and of course new Cymbals and high hats to get rid of the old ear bursting ones, and there was no turning back.We named the band “ALOHA” and they play old school, rock, R & B, melodies, folk, any music that is requested to them, it takes only a few minutes to get the chords/tabulations on the musi-cians smart phone to jam it up, thank KLSM for an excellent WiFi coverage on board…We are so glad to have the band on board, provided a great bonding among crew, thankful to the crowd for all cheering and really hope that it goes on through the time even when there is a new Karaoke machine on board (!!!!!?????）

Aloha

Contribution from the Staff of “HONOLULU

Article contributed by Mr Ismail Hossain, 2/O of “HANOI BRIDGE”

Singing is an art that opens out a way for the imprisoned splendor within us to es-cape. One needs not to be professional singer to enjoy the blessings of singing. It refreshes and erases stress off our mind even during the toughest period of life. Hence, upon sailing from Savannah to Sin-gapore, it was decided to organize a singing competition. It was a very long passage and we thought a sea of boredom would be over us, as on container vessels we are not used to such long voyage. How wrong we were!! We never felt how the days past, and it’s simply because of this event. Before the competition began, we were a bit unsure how the re-sponse will be from the crew, as Bangladeshi seafarers are gener-ally introvert and not known to be singing openly. But we had a very pleasant surprise in the waiting. For the next few days by the virtue of a fascinating and well-arranged entertainment show on board HANOI BRIDGE named "K” LINE POWERED, HANOI BRIDGE-SINGING TALENT HUNT we passed real exiting days. After work-ing whole day, those evenings were like tonic. The competition came as a festival for us. Venue for the competition was Crew's Lounge and Karaoke system was used for the event.

During those days we were not lazy and we worked even harder. Everywhere the topic of the discussion was song. The greatest success of the arrangement was participation of every crew mem-ber. Though none of us ever sang in front of crowd, this event made it possible. Many hidden talents were discovered in the pas-sage of competition. We had a lifetime memorable event. Such feeling and finding were never possible if that event was not ar-ranged. The get-together for competition made on board people to come closer. Our days were not very smooth but those evenings

created wave of joy everywhere. The presence of all staff was the most wonderful thing of the show. Their full time presence encour-aged us greatly.Another source of encouragement was the prizes for the winner. The Club fund was very nicely utilized for those prizes. Despite small prizes, each participant was greatly excited.Though none of us are professional or not even good singer but every song was greatly appreciated by the audiences which lifted up the spirit of every competitors. It was a great and grand show. Our life is tough without family and friends but life on board can be made easier with such events. It makes us stronger during daily work, less mental stress and fully concentrates on routine jobs. We experienced the toughness of the competition, happiness of win-ning, sorrow of losing: a complete package of entertainment. Guess who is the finding of this year? It's none other than 2nd Officer Mr. Ismail Hossain.

HANOI BRIDGE motto was "I don't sing because I'm happy; I'm happy because I sing" and finally we realized that without music, life would be extremely dull.

HANOI BRIDGE SINGING CONPETITION: a Gateway to endless Fun, Stress Reducer & Self Confidence

SEA BREEZE

Contributed by Mr Santosh H. Kattimani, C/E of “TAMAGAWA”

In all aspects of our lives, communicating is an essential skill that we use to make friends, build relationships, and carry out everyday functions at work and play. Everyone has their indi-vidual style of communication, some people being more effec-tive at it than others. Your ability can determine how success-ful you will be at maintaining relationships or progressing through the ranks in the workplace. Rarely does this ability or lack of it become life threatening. If the communication pro-cess breaks down, we can retreat to another room, office or even get away from the situation . . . and life will go on.At sea, the situation is very different. Your safety, along with the safety of crew and vessel, is dependent on how well peo-ple communicate. Not only the safety concerns, but everyday life on the vessel can be “awkward” if the communication process breaks down. There is nowhere to retreat to or get away from the situation – the issues are full front and center. Using the wrong wording or a “perceived” improper tone can easily lead to mutiny. Appropriate communication on the ves-sel will not only make it safer and maintain an amicable atti-tude amongst crew, but will also make daily life much more pleasant.Communication is the process of exchanging information, knowledge, emotion and understanding between parties. This process can be executed in 3 ways.1. One way communication Transmission from sender to receiver with no desire or

intention for feedbacko Fast, simple instructionso With no feedback, we are unsure if the message was

heard or understoodo Crew may not hear the full message or misinterpret it,

resulting in confusion. This misunderstanding will leave both parties frustrated and stressed.

2. Two way communication Transmission of information back and forth between par-

ties This process requires more time You receive feedback that helps you determine whether

the message has been received and interpreted properly If the message has been misunderstood, the sender of

the message know it immediately and they will transmit the message again, with increased volume or different choice of wording

3. Non-verbal communication Transmission of information/feelings through gestures and

body language Non-verbal communication may be the only way to trans-

mit your message, if there is a lot of background noise or a substantial distance between the two parties, as can often be the case when we are at sea.

If we combine non-verbal methods with a verbal mes-sage, we will increase the impact of the transmission and it may be deciphered and understood quicker

However, when utilizing 2 ways of transmission at a time, be sure that they are in sync and delivering the same message. Or it’ll confuse the recipients with 2 mixed messages. Focusing on 2 way communication is the key to increasing safety on the vessel. Use standard, known, and agreed phrases to simplify the process and reduce the chances of confusion Listen ALL to respond, to ensure the message has been re-

ceived, decoded, and the recipient is ready to act on the mes-sage

If feedback is not received or the feedback is not relevant to the expected response, the message must be repeated. You may have to enhance the message using more volume or

gestures. Remember that you are in a noisy environment and it can be difficult to hear.

Try to make eye or physical contact during the communication process, it’ll improve awareness and effectiveness of the mes-sage.

An effective communicator needs to be an attentive listener. This can be quite difficult at sea, with wind and wave back-ground noise, and the message being muffled through layers of head wear. If the audience is not focused on the speaker, only part of the message is received, resulting in frustration and hos-tility in both parties.

If the physical environment (weather/mechanical breakdown) continues to deteriorate, emotions will run high and possibly get out of hand. The communication process becomes disrupt-ed and can completely break down. Crew relations and safety will be jeopardized.This is a time when effective communication most needed, so all crew can work as a team. Quite often, changing envi-ronmental conditions require quick thinking, problem solving, and creative ideas. If the crew is communicating well with each other, they will remain focused, allowing ideas and so-lutions to flourish.No two crew members are wired the same, each one com-municates in their own way. There are also situations where crew members need to react very quickly. An approaching hazard may require immediate response to command and there may be little time for 2 way communication. The “order” comes across urgently and the crew needs to react with speed and precision. It will be the tone of voice and the volume that will demand the appropri-ate response. Many times, it is just this tone and volume that gets the backs up of crew members. Therefore, in the gen-eral day-to-day running of the vessel, communication needs to be clear and concise, involving participation from both par-ties. This takes time and quite often a concerted effort.There are other situations on a vessel that are not conducive to effective communication – anchoring and docking come to mind. These can be stressful situations, because at the same time the parties are trying to communicate, they are focused on their individual task. The crew members are separated by some distance, background noise levels are high, and there is little or no eye contact. That is, everything that you need for communication to be effective is removed from the equa-tion! In these cases, it is important to come up with a plan of action and communicate it with the crew prior to entering into the situation.

Communicating on radio offers own challenges. The only tool we have to get the message is our voice; no non-verbal com-munication. Most times we cannot see the recipient, or even know if they’re there. The recipient has their own challeng-es... static, poor reception and background noise. There may even be a language barrier. They don’t know you, see you or even know where you are. In radio communication, you only have the tone and volume of your voice to get your message across.In this case, you must use carefully chosen words to give the recipient a true picture of your situation and avoid any confu-sion. You need to understand the recipient’s challenges and help them overcome them by speaking slowly and clearly, enunciate every word and pause between them. The only way that you know that they have received and understood the message is to have them repeat it back to you. Since you cannot see them, you will know if they are taking action or what their response is unless they tell you so, you may have to deliberately ask them.

Effective Communication on Board

Q.S.H.E. Events & Exercise

The 8th KLSM Seminar for the container staff was held this year at Singapore on the 1st of March 2016. The semi-nar was the first of its kind for many reasons. It was the first time KLSM Singapore was hosting such a seminar and that, too, in its own office premises. It was also the first time that our seafar-ing staff of 3 Nationalities came together for one seminar. Yes, the event saw the attendance from the senior offic-ers of the Container fleet from Bangladesh and India along with the Electrical Officers from Myanmar, making it truly a memorable occasion. Along with our seafaring staff, KLSM Singapore was priv-ileged to host our esteemed delegates who joined us forthe occasion. Capt Saito, Mr Ogawara and Capt Otsuda from KLSM Tokyo, Mr Emdadul H. Chowdhury and Capt Saydur Rahman from Haque and Sons, Bangladesh, Mr Pan Boon Pin from Monsoon Maritime, Myanmar, Capt Higashijima and Capt Goyal from KLSM Mumbai and Capt Katsuhide Fukuda from KLPL Singapore.The proceedings started on the 29th of February with a welcome dinner for all the visiting staff at the Fern Tree Café, Hotel Miramar. On the 1st of March all the seafaring staff and delegates from KLSM as well as the manning offices assembled at the KLSM Singapore office which was to be the venue for the day’s proceedings. After the opening address by the President, Capt Saito, the morning session had presenta-tions on MLC and STCW requirements, Competency Management System, Environmental awareness and the recent injuries in the fleet, while the afternoon session was kept for workshops and group interactions. Mr Ed-ward Ion from Helix Media as the external guest speaker, spoke on the do’s and don’ts of media handling which was followed by an interesting open forum. The 7 year ‘Loyalty Awards’ were presented by Mr Ogawara and

Capt Saito while Capt Shoji Fuku-da, MD of KLSM Singapore, gave the closing ad-dress and vote of thanks to end the afternoon pro-ceedings.The formalities done and dusted,

it was time to relax and enjoy the evening for which all the visiting staff, delegates and their families along with the KLSM Singapore staff got together at the Orchid Room of Hotel Miramar for the cocktails and dinner. The animated conversations, the loud ‘Kanpai’s’ with the clinking of glasses, the rippling laughter and sighs of amazement at stories recounted drowned the lively back-ground music were evidence of a wonderful time shared by all.An added attraction on the next morning was a visit to the Singapore Port Operations –VTIS Centre for all the Deck Officers which provided a good insight on how the traffic in the Singapore Straits was monitored and controlled.We look forward to more such positive interactions be-tween the ship and shore staff which bring the KLSM family together creating lifelong ties.

8th KLSM SEMINAR (Containers) - SINGAPORE

On the16th of January 2016, FUJIKAWA called to Kharg Island, NOIC Terminal Berth No.5, Iran. This is the first Japanese ship calling Kharg Island termi-nal since the sanctions against Iran had been re-laxed.Mr Kourosh Moghaddam, the NOIC representative from Teheran, and Mr Gholamhossein Gerami, the terminal representa-tive, visited the vessel to express their gratitude. The ship staffs provided

them a warm welcome to the vessel on behalf of other “K”LINE vessels.We’d like to express our thanks to the Master and the ship staff, especially the galley staff, well prepared for a warm welcome for the special guests on this historical calling.

Calling Kharg Island Jetty no.5