7/27/2019 Using IT to work smarter, not harder

1/1MITE October/November 2013 3

LEADER

more transparent to their stake-holders, whether share-holders orthe wider public. Achieving thistransparency typically calls forincreased data collection and fre-quent performance reports.

For many years, those work-ing at sea were isolated from thistyranny of paper-pushing. Thehigh cost and low throughput ofthe communications technologyavailable to vessels meant thatonce a ship had sailed beyondthe horizon, its crew were effec-tively incommunicado - except for

the occasional emergency mis-sive, crackling over the radio orspewed forth by fax.

Of course, this state-of-affairshad its downsides. The techno-logical barriers that preventedcontact from shore-based man-agers also stymied any possibil-ity of the crew staying in touchwith their dearest and nearest.Furthermore, the world hadntactually stopped turning, sothere would be a backlog offorms to be filled in and admin

to be done by the captain as soonas the ship reached its destina-tion.

Fast forward to the presentand listen to the pitch of any sat-coms provider today and onebenefit they will invariablymention is that their fat-pipebroadband will bring the office tothe ship. This must be music tothe ears of a shore-based execu-tive looking to lessen his work-load by that wonderful techniqueknown as delegation. But did

anyone stop to ask the captainhis view? Or at least ask for hisinput regarding what capacitywas available on top of thatminor matter of keeping a vesselcosting between $50-100m and its

Back in the 1960s,when computers firstbegan to capture thepublic imagination,

futurologists of the day excitedlypredicted the arrival of the paper-less office. This new-fangledtechnology would, they said, lib-erate us from daily drudgery, re-sulting in shorter working weeksfor one and all.

Things didnt quite work outthat way. In fact, it would be fairto say the complete opposite hap-pened. Offices remained as full

of paper and folders and filingcabinets as they ever were. Andthe subsequent invention of pho-tocopiers and laser-printers byXeroxs engineers in Palo Alto,California, in the 1970s only com-pounded the problem.

Instead of liberating us, com-puters made it easier to generatework - and share it - in doublequick time. Who doesnt spendhalf their working day fighting adeluge of email, trying to holdback a never receding tide of

messages? The emergence of mo-bile technology made mattersworse still. Instead of nine-to-five,devices like the Crackberrymean workers are often expectedto be on call around the clock. Somuch for those visions of shorterworking weeks!

Against this backdrop, societyhas also become more risk averseand we have witnessed a mush-rooming of health and safety reg-ulation. While introduced forgood reason, it often carries an

overhead of red-tape. The rulesare sometimes interpreted in anover-zealous fashion and imple-mented in a cack-handed man-ner. In the past few years,organisations are keen to become

equally valuable cargo operatingsafely and efficiently?

The administrative burdenon a captain and his crew mightsound a fancy cop-out but theweight of paperwork now beingpushed on to a vessel is becom-ing a serious issue. Even the IMOis concerned and is currentlyseeking input into a consultationon the matter. How come? Be-cause compliance-related adminduties, particularly those in-tended to record that safety regu-

lations and best-practices arebeing followed, are actually get-ting in the way of those sameprocedures being carried outwith due care and attention.

The Danish Maritime Author-ity is especially eager to ensurethis issue is properly addressed.It recently commissioned a sur-vey into the realities of workingon-board a modern vessel. Itsfindings are detailed in this issue[pp14-17]. What crew most dislikeisnt the paperwork per se. They

understand the reasons for rulesand regulations and are support-ive of their objectives. They alsorealise a certain amount of adminis inevitable.

No, what they dislike most isthe frequent and needless dupli-cation of effort involved. Theycomplain about a lack of stan-dardisation and international co-ordination. They grumble thatthe same electronic communica-tion and IT used to deliver theextra workload is not being ap-

plied to make accomplishingtasks more straightforward.

For more musings on the intersect between ship

ping and technology (and occasional breaking

news), follow MITE on Twitter: @MITEeditor

Work smarter,not harder

Kevin Tester

Editor