Abstract:
The safety issue remains sensitive among the mariners and authorities
despite improvements made. A safety checklist on navigation and
communication equipments was developed, based on the requirement
by the Malaysia Marine Department and SOLAS. The survey has been
done on UMT Vessels which are RV Discovery, Discovery I, Discovery
II, Discovery IX and Discovery VII. The interview of UMT vessels'
crews is conducted to obtain more information and to support the
checklist. This study is done to indicates the availability of navigation
equipments onboard UMT vessels and whether the crews are familiar
with the equipment and able to operate the navigation equipment
effectively. The findings showed that most of the crews have the
certificate to operate the navigation equipments. On the other hand,
data for competency of crew revealed that most of the crews had
positive safety attitudes and were knowledgeable in handling the
navigation equipments from experience. Interestingly enough, the
results indicated that a high number of crews showed their interest in
handling the navigation equipments training. Finally, some
recommendations that would help to improve the safety of navigation
were presented.
